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DracoBFT: The consensus layer that powers Hotstuff L1

DracoBFT starts from the HotStuff family stake-weighted leader selection, pipelined block production, two-chain deterministic finality, partial synchrony with n = 3f + 1 Byzantine tolerance. 200k+ TPS. 75ms block time. 150ms finality. Sub-second, deterministic. No probabilistic tail. No 12-second voting windows.

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Key innovations

  • HotStuff-family BFT: Pipelined, 2-round deterministic finality
  • Chained Change-Log Commitments (CLH): Only hash keys that changed per block instead of recomputing a global state root
  • Side-loops: Auxiliary execution domains where validators do real-world work without blocking consensus

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Side-loops: Validators as Service Providers

DracoBFT introduces side-loops: auxiliary execution domains where validators perform real-world operations without blocking consensus.

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What kind of operations?

  • zkTLS verification: Validators prove API responses came from specific servers cryptographically. Not “we asked 20 nodes and took the median.” Actual proof this data came from Chase, from Coinbase, from Plaid, from wherever.
  • Cross-chain state verification: Verify state proofs from other chains as validator duties, not bridge operator trust. Enable timestamped state verification for EVM chains as well as HyperCore.
  • Private computation: Compliance checks, identity verification, sensitive financial logic off main chain but cryptographically bound to it. Credit scoring. Qualified Investor verifications.
  • Payment orchestration + routing: Validators directly route payments, operate fiat on/off-ramps, and get paid for doing so. Orchestrate fiat rails solving for hyper local fiat connectivity.
Crucially, these tasks do not block consensus. A validator working on a side-loop task doesn’t slow down block production. The core chain keeps humming at 75ms blocks. When the side-loop work complete their respective verification, the validator auto submits a transaction to the chain’s primary event loop. External execution becomes:
  • Trust-minimized: Cryptographic proofs, not reputation
  • Non-blocking: Parallel to consensus
  • Economically native: Validators get paid for services, not just block rewards