# The Istanbul BFT Consensus Algorithm

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.03613 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.03613/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 10 Feb 2020.

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Autonomous Agents on Blockchains: Standards, Execution Models, and Trust Boundaries](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.04583/) (2026)
- [Digital Twins for Dynamic Management of Blockchain Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.12477/) (2022)
- [Evaluation of a blockchain-enabled resource management mechanism for NGNs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.00457/) (2022)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This paper presents IBFT, a simple and elegant Byzantine fault-tolerant consensus algorithm that is used to implement state machine replication in the Quorum blockchain. IBFT assumes a partially synchronous communication model, where safety does not depend on any timing assumptions and only liveness depends on periods of synchrony. The algorithm is deterministic, leader-based, and optimally resilient - tolerating f faulty processes out of n, where n ≥ 3f+1. During periods of good communication, IBFT achieves termination in three message delays and has O(n2) total communication complexity.