Share this article
Blockchain Project Thundercore Releases Code for 'Pala' Consensus Protocol
Blockchain provider platform ThunderCore announced the open-sourcing of a new consensus protocol called Pala.
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 9:12 a.m. Published May 15, 2019, 3:50 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
Public blockchain platform provider ThunderCore has just released proof-of-concept code for a new consensus protocol, dubbed Pala, on GitHub.
According to Elaine Shi, chief scientist for ThunderCore, the work represents "a dream consensus protocol."
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
As stated on the newly released GitHub page:
"Pala is a byzantine fault tolerant consensus protocol...It can achieve low latency and high throughput in a partially synchronous network setting."
In layman terms, for blockchains that use a system of block creation and transaction validation known as proof-of-stake (PoS), Pala is way in which to switch out certain bad actors from the network without sacrificing speed or liveness.
ThunderCore was previously reported by VentureBeat to have raised $50 million in their pursuit of a highly-scalable PoS blockchain. The startup's public blockchain network, also called ThunderCore, launched this month and is fully compatible with applications running on the world's second largest blockchain platform, ethereum.
The ThunderCore blockchain also leverages the ethereum network for chain finality.
On the newly released ThunderCore blockchain, bad actors in the PoS system are detected and switched out by leveraging finality on the ethereum blockchain. The ethereum blockchain essentially acts as a network for the ThunderCore blockchain to fall back on should consensus be broken.
However, confirmations of blocks and transactions on the ethereum blockchain takes roughly 10 minutes to generate, according to Shi.
"When we want to use the slow chain for the fall back detection...we are going to suffer from slow chain confirmation times," said Shi. "This is what ThunderCore is doing right now."
With Pala, ThunderCore is able to rotate out bad actors without touching the "fallback" chain. Shi emphasized that Pala will be integrated into ThunderCore's mainnet network once fully tested.
Shi told CoinDesk:
"Open-sourcing the Pala protocol is an important milestone for us. It means other projects can use the protocol for other blockchain platforms if they need fast consensus."
Elaine Shi image by Christine Kim for CoinDesk
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Bitcoin stuck near $88,000 as gold's and silver's record-breaking rallies show exhaustion signs
"Gold and silver casually adding an entire bitcoin market cap in a single day," wrote one crypto analyst.
What to know:
- Bitcoin is off its worst levels of the weekend, but still near the year's low at $87,700.
- Facing the same news cycle as crypto, precious metals continued to surge higher, but a quick retreat from their highs on Monday suggested a bit of exhaustion was setting in.
- Analysts remain dour on the outlook for crypto prices given the looming government shutdown as well as delays in passage of the Clarity Act.
Top Stories
