A gossip protocol (sometimes known as an "epidemic protocol") is a method for disseminating information across decentralized networks. It is similar to how gossip spreads in a human social network. For starters, a certain piece of knowledge is only known to a small group of people. The information is then disseminated to others, resulting in a chain reaction in which the entire group is aware. Nodes in a decentralized network send transaction data to a limited number of nearby nodes. This process is repeated until the complete network of "full nodes" has stored the same data. In general, the gossip protocol is more scalable and fault-tolerant than a single node broadcasting data to the whole system. However, because nodes must receive the same data several times, the procedure is time-consuming.
A gossip protocol is a techniquegossip protocol for spreading information over decentralized networks; it is also referred to as a "epidemic protocol" at times. 