DeFi Anyone Can Confidently Use
Learn about Radix and collect rewards as you journey through Jetty’s quests.
Start Now

Stay updated on the latest Radix news

By clicking “Submit”, you agree to our Privacy policy. We’ll occasionally send you emails about Radix.
Radix Blog Logo
Papers

Papers

White Paper
How Radix is building the future of DeFi

No maths. Read this to learn about how Radix is building the future of DeFi. 30 pages of pure DeFi goodness! - Read now

White Paper
Atomic cross-shard consensus

Math proof by the University of California, Davis - Read now

White Paper
A Breakthrough in Consensus Theory

Learn about Linear Scaling Without Breaking Composability - Read now

Economics
Radix Economics

Same content, less maths, more diagrams - Coming soon

The Radix Tokenomics: XRD and eXRD token details - Read Now

Developers </>
Use Radix
Desktop WalletHardware WalletExplorerInstapassInstabridge
Learn
Knowledge BaseBlogDeFi Download PodcastCareersCommunityEvents
Radix Home
Sign Up For Updates
Blog home
Product & Roadmap
Crypto & DeFi
Radix Labs
Product & Roadmap
Crypto & DeFi
Radix Labs

Cerberus Infographic Series - Chapter I

June 11, 2021


At Radix, our strategic vision has always been to build a single decentralized network that can scale DeFi seamlessly to every single person on the planet (even though we didn’t initially know that DeFi was going to be called DeFi).

We started with a deep dive into the mechanics of Bitcoin in 2012, identifying that blockchains fundamentally couldn’t scale. The conclusions from that research then led to the beginnings of this project in 2013, and the realization that the heart of the problem - and the solution - was always going to be consensus. And so at Radix, our quest for consensus lies at the heart of our very own story.

Knowing this, between 2013-2019, we experimented with various consensus protocols and data architectures: including blocktrees, Directed Acyclic Graphs, Channelled Asynchronous State Trees, and Tempo. But none of them were good enough.

That’s why after seven years of R&D, we finally cracked it in 2020. The holy grail of consensus: Cerberus.

But Cerberus is technical. Very technical. Only a handful of people understand it. After all, why are “linear scalability” and “atomic composability” so important to DeFi? What is partial ordering? What is a view change? Why is parallelism so important to scalability? What’s a merged proposal vertex? 

You have to be a hardcore consensus scientist to truly understand how Cerberus works.

No more.

Welcome to the Cerberus Infographic Series.

By joining us on this journey, you will understand how Cerberus works in detail. You will understand how Radix achieves infinite linear scalability while preserving atomic composability. You will understand why this is a game-changer for DeFi. And you will be in a small minority of people who understand how this technology is going to change everything.

Here’s the running order:

Chapter I: Introduction; Summary; Why Blockchains Can’t Scale

Chapter II: What is Radix?; The Shardspace and Validator Sets

Chapter III: Substate; Substate and Transactions

Chapter IV: Shard Allocation; Transactions

Chapter V: Nakamoto vs BFT-style Consensus; Consensus - Local Cerberus

Chapter VI: Consensus - Emergent Cerberus; Partial Ordering - Parallelization of Processing

Chapter VII: Maintaining a Record of Transactions; Sybil Resistance Through Proof of Stake; Conclusion

Chapter I: Introduction; Summary; Why Blockchains Can’t Scale

Download the PDFs or continue reading below!
  • Episode 1: Introduction
  • Episode 2: Summary
  • Episode 3: Why Blockchains Can’t Scale

‍

If you’re feeling adventurous before the rest of the chapters, you can take a look at the Cerberus Whitepaper or independent academic validation of Cerberus for the technical details! 

In the meantime, feel free to jump into the Radix Telegram channel or Discord to ask any questions, take a look at the Radix blog for the latest news and other topics, and sign-up for the Radix newsletter to get regular updates.‍

NEXT: What is Radix?; The Shardspace and Validator Sets

Posted by

Ben Far

Share this post

Related Articles

Token Holder Consultation: Repurposing the Stablecoin Reserve
Radix Code Audit by Zellic
Foundation Update: A Fork in the Road
Cuttlefish Live on Mainnet

Subscribe to our newsletter

Subscribe to receive the latest Radix updates.
By clicking “Submit”, you agree to our Privacy policy. We’ll occasionally send you emails about Radix.
Discover

Explore more topics

AMA
Community & Ecosystem
Crypto & DeFi
Events
Product & Roadmap
Radix Labs
Radix Report
Scrypto & Developers
Team
Tech Blog
Token
Community & Ecosystem
Token

Token Holder Consultation Is Now Live

May 9, 2025
Community & Ecosystem
Token

Backing Growth: Radix Incentives Campaign Proposal

May 8, 2025
Token
Community & Ecosystem
Crypto & DeFi

Token Holder Consultation: Repurposing the Stablecoin Reserve

May 6, 2025
Community & Ecosystem
Crypto & DeFi
Scrypto & Developers

Radix Code Audit by Zellic

May 2, 2025
Community & Ecosystem

Penrose Findings Overview

April 18, 2025
Token

Unlocking Growth: Proposal to Supercharge Adoption on Radix by Repurposing the Stable Coin Reserve

March 10, 2025
Links
  • BlogRSS
  • PodcastRSS
  • Privacy Notice
  • Careers
  • Radix Brand Pack
Whitepapers
  • DeFi Whitepaper
  • Consensus White Paper
  • Peer Reviewed Consensus Paper
Join the Radix Community
Discord
Facebook
Github
Medium
Reddit
Telegram
Twitter
Youtube
Linkedin
Can’t find what you need? Email us on: hello@radixdlt.com
© Radix Publishing Ltd, 2024. All rights reserved. Radix Publishing Ltd.

By clicking "Allow All", you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookie Policy.

Allow All