Active Node List (ANL) – (updated to Active Network)

What does Active Node List (ANL) – (updated to Active Network) mean?

A list maintained in the ledger of each chain with a record of the public key account, IP address, and current status of each node that participates in validating a given chain.

Note: The term active node list (ANL) was referred to in older articles and has been retired. The concepts are implemented in the Network Actor List and the Active Network.

The old entry follows.

Anonymous agents join, leave, and suspend their membership in the ANL by submitting the appropriate transaction to an existing node. Nodes may also be placed on suspension or audited out of the ANL for certain kinds of bad behavior.

Main Idea:

Constructing a dependable blockchain requires correct validation by a network of active nodes according to blockchain protocol.

Geeq’s Active Node List (ANL) keeps track of the active nodes that are validating each blockchain. Honest nodes are paid for their honest work. Dishonest nodes are audited out of the ANL and lose their Good Behavior Bonds (GBB).

The Problem:

Many blockchain technologies are permissionless at the network validation level, which means any node may participate. However, if nodes are anonymous, they may be free-riding or malicious. How does such a decentralized system protect the user and reward honest work, while allowing anonymous nodes the ability to join and leave the network as they see fit?

Want to read more? Here is a longer and more detailed article on Geeq’s Active Node List.

Used in a Sentence:

Geeq’s Active Node List (ANL) is an innovation that formalizes participation and rewards honest behavior for completely permissionless validation networks, while preserving convenience for honest nodes to enter, exit, and suspend their activity at their convenience.

Last Updated: July 8, 2023