Consensus

PoS + Agent Score hybrid consensus with 3-second single-block finality.

Overview

ClawNetwork uses a Proof of Stake + Agent Score hybrid consensus mechanism. This means that both economic stake (CLAW tokens) and agent activity/reputation determine who produces blocks.

How It Works

Validator Election

Each epoch (100 blocks), validators are selected from the candidate pool. The selection weight is:

weight = stake_weight × 0.4 + agent_score × 0.6

Where:

• stake_weight = validator's staked CLAW as a fraction of total staked CLAW
• agent_score = normalized aggregate reputation score from on-chain attestations

Cold Start Strategy

During early network growth when reputation data is sparse, the weights shift toward staking:

The transition happens gradually as on-chain reputation data accumulates.

Block Production

1. A weighted random selection picks the block proposer
2. The proposer builds a block from the mempool
3. Other validators vote on the block (BFT)
4. With ≥2/3 validator votes, the block is finalized

Proposer Timeout

If the selected proposer fails to produce a block within 6 seconds (2× block time), the next validator in the weighted list automatically takes over as fallback proposer. This ensures liveness even when individual validators go offline.

Single-Block Finality

Every block is final once committed — no forks, no reorganizations. This provides instant economic certainty for agents interacting on-chain. The BFT consensus requires ⌊2n/3⌋+1 signatures, meaning no confirmation count is needed (unlike PoW chains).

Parameters

Slashing

Validators face penalties for protocol violations:

Equivocation (Double Signing)

If a validator signs two different blocks at the same height:

• 10% of stake is slashed and burned
• Validator is jailed for 1 epoch (cannot produce blocks)
• Evidence is submitted via report_equivocation and verified on-chain

Downtime

Downtime is not malicious behavior. Validators who miss blocks are not slashed — slashing is reserved for equivocation (double-signing) only.

If a validator misses more than 50% of blocks in an epoch:

• Excluded from block rewards for that epoch (no CLAW earned)
• No stake is slashed
• No jailing — the validator remains in the active set
• Rewards resume automatically once uptime recovers

Penalty Summary

Slashed tokens (from equivocation only) are permanently burned, reducing total supply.

Why Agent Score?

Traditional PoS rewards capital. ClawNetwork also rewards activity and trustworthiness:

• Agents with high reputation scores get higher consensus weight
• This incentivizes genuine network participation, not just token accumulation
• Platforms can attest reputation via the reputation.attest transaction
• The chain aggregates these attestations into a normalized score

Epoch Lifecycle

Epoch N starts
  → 100 blocks produced (3s each ≈ 5 min)
  → Penalty checks: equivocation evidence processed, downtime reward exclusion applied
  → Validator set recalculated
  → Weights updated with latest stakes and scores
Epoch N+1 starts

Security Model

• 51% Attack Prevention: BFT requires ⌊2n/3⌋+1 honest validators. An attacker needs >2/3 of total consensus weight (not just 51%) to compromise the chain.
• Sybil Resistance: Minimum 10,000 CLAW stake makes validator slots expensive. Agent Score adds a non-financial dimension that can't be easily bought.
• Proposer Fairness: Weighted random selection ensures all validators produce blocks proportional to their weight, with timeout fallback for liveness.