Mastercard develops a method for accelerated activation of nodes in a blockchain

The payment giant Mastercard is working on a new method of adding nodes to the blockchain network, which will significantly speed up the synchronization process. This is evidenced by the corresponding application, published by the Office for Patents and Trademarks USA.

The document describes an algorithm by which nodes can connect and verify the content of a particular blockchain. The main objective of the invention is to increase the speed at which nodes storing a full copy of the transaction history will be able to "catch up" with the rest of the network.

As stated in the application, "a blockchain may contain thousands, millions or even billions of records about transactions located in a large number of blocks, each of which must be verified before new ones are generated and added"

"Verifying such a large number of blocks can take considerable time, during which new blocks can be added to the blockchain, which makes it even more difficult to activate new nodes. Thus, a technical solution is needed to increase the speed with which the blocks are distributed and verified, which will reduce the time required to start a new node in the blockchain, "the patent application said.

To this end, Mastercard engineers propose using the so-called "high-speed flags" placed in the block headers. It is planned that with their help, the nodes will be able to scan the contents of the blockchain with increased speed. In addition, the application also describes a specially configured blockchain that will act as a software add-on for nodes and help increase their efficiency.