Hierarchical blockchain consensus optimazation scheme

A computer program product for determining a consensus amongst a plurality of computing nodes within a network, the computer program product comprising:

• one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices, the program instructions comprising:
• program instructions to implement a hierarchy of computing nodes, wherein the hierarchy comprises a plurality of levels, and wherein an nth level comprises a plurality of subgroups of computing nodes, and wherein each subgroup contains a leader computing node, and wherein an n+1 level includes all of the leader computing nodes of the nth level;
• program instructions to transmit consensus-related messages from a first computing node of the plurality of computing nodes to a second computing node of the plurality of computing nodes, wherein the second computing node is within a same subgroup of the first computing node;
• program instructions to transmit consensus-related messages from the first computing node of the plurality of computing nodes to a third computing node of the plurality of computing nodes, wherein the third computing node is a leader computing node from a different subgroup of the first computing node;
• and
• program instructions to determine a consensus of the plurality of nodes, wherein the consensus is determined by content of the consensus-related messages received by computing nodes of the plurality of computing nodes located at a highest level of the hierarchy.

A computer system for determining a consensus amongst a plurality of computing nodes within a network, the computer system comprising:

• one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories, one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices, and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, the program instructions comprising:
• program instructions to implement a hierarchy of computing nodes, wherein the hierarchy comprises a plurality of levels, and wherein an nth level comprises a plurality of subgroups of computing nodes, and wherein each subgroup contains a leader computing node, and wherein an n+1 level includes all of the leader computing nodes of the nth level;
• program instructions to transmit consensus-related messages from a first computing node of the plurality of computing nodes to a second computing node of the plurality of computing nodes, wherein the second computing node is within a same subgroup of the first computing node;
• program instructions to transmit consensus-related messages from the first computing node of the plurality of computing nodes to a third computing node of the plurality of computing nodes, wherein the third computing node is a leader computing node from a different subgroup of the first computing node;
• and
• program instructions to determine a consensus of the plurality of nodes, wherein the consensus is determined by content of the consensus-related messages received by computing nodes of the plurality of computing nodes located at a highest level of the hierarchy.