Add the Consensus fortnightly update for 2025-04-02 (#569)

Author: dnadales

blog/2025-04-02-consensus.md

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+---
+title: Consensus Team Update
+slug: 2025-04-02-consensus
+authors: dnadales
+tags: [consensus]
+hide_table_of_contents: false
+---
+
+## High level summary
+
+- Well-Typed has presented the penultimate milestone for the `lsm-tree` library. Table unions are now fully supported, tests include IO-error injection, and compatibility across Linux, Windows, and macOS has been demonstrated.
+    - The next milestone will finalize the library's development, enabling its integration as a persistent backend for storing ledger state.
+- Several Consensus team members attended the Peras workshop. There is a brief presentation that can be accessed by following [this link](https://moduscreate.zoom.us/rec/share/a9wMSF373RrN0-UFMPZec02YQTRA_AQotaC7r3kD4GnEA8yeyUAkOfQ0lzcioxpn.dcXTAW8BXwdRH3d4) (password is `GDdL*6M%`). A [design and implementation plan](https://tweag.github.io/cardano-peras/peras-design.pdf) has been drafted. The next steps for Peras involve a decision by relevant stakeholders (Intersect Technical Steering Committee, involving SPOs and users) regarding the [tradeoffs](https://tweag.github.io/cardano-peras/peras-design.pdf#chapter.6) inherent to the protocol, such as additional operational costs, rewards and protocol parameterization regarding settlement times.
+- We held our technical working group meeting ([recording](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hQW6QmivgzJtUk6OUZMyT0uD0QVCwNFA/view)), where we discussed:
+    - The possibility of incorporating batch VRF support into `ouroboros-consensus`.
+    - CDDL definition for Consensus: [draft PR](https://github.com/IntersectMBO/ouroboros-consensus/pull/1422) and next steps.
+	  - Should we support for NTC for older eras? ([#1429](https://github.com/IntersectMBO/ouroboros-consensus/issues/1429)).
+- Exposed a function that asks Consensus for the versions in which a particular query is supported, offloading this logic from cardano-api ([#1437](https://github.com/IntersectMBO/ouroboros-consensus/pull/1437)).
+- Exposed Byron cddls to be used from Consensus ([#4965](https://github.com/IntersectMBO/cardano-ledger/pull/4965)).
+- Added `QueryStakePoolDefaultVote` for 10.3 ([#1434](https://github.com/IntersectMBO/ouroboros-consensus/pull/1434 release consensus for node 10.3)).