Stellar is a payment network based on blockchain technology and a novel consensus model called Federated Byzantine Agreement (FBA). FBA works by creating quorums of trusted parties. Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP) is an implementation of FBA.
Key issues identified in the Stellar whitepaper are the cost and complexity of current financial infrastructure. This limitation warrants the need for a global financial network that addresses these issues without compromising the integrity and security of the financial transaction. This requirement has resulted in the invention of SCP which is a provably safe consensus mechanism.
Original research paper for SCP is available at https://www.stellar.org/papers/stellar-consensus-protocol.pdf.
