Blockchain Layer

This section describes how the blockchain layer of FLock enhances both incentivisation and security.

Incentivisation

The blockchain layer plays a pivotal role in reward distribution. It ensures that participants can securely lock in their stakes, fostering an environment of trust and transparency. The process is designed to incentivise participation by allocating rewards based on contributions, thus encouraging a more engaged and active community. Through the use of smart contracts, the system automates the rewards process, making it both efficient and fair. This automation not only reduces the potential for human error but also ensures that rewards are distributed in a timely and fair manner.

Security

At FLock, we propose a generic framework that can integrate an FL system with a blockchain system and can defend against poisoning attacks without adopting complex cryptographic protocols, which is adopted from our peer-reviewed work.

Specifically, FLock employs a proof-of-stake mechanism with the goal of ensuring robust security and consensus within the network. Such system enhances Byzantine fault tolerance by aligning participants' incentives with network integrity— those who act dishonestly or fail to reach consensus risk losing their staked tokens. This economic disincentive promotes honest behaviour, ensuring the network remains secure and reliable.

The table below describes how FLock mitiagtes vairous types of risks which could occur in decentralised training platforms.