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Definition: gossip protocol


A peer-to-peer communications protocol. Also called an "epidemic protocol," a gossip protocol is used to broadcast data from one node to another in a peer-to-peer network. For example, in a blockchain-based decentralized network where nodes come online and go offline at any moment, the gossip protocol broadcasts transactions to all active nodes (see mempool).

Gossip in the Office
The gossip analogy comes from employees spreading a rumor around the office. One person tells someone a rumor, and that person tells another, who tells another and so on. See crypto glossary and consensus mechanism.