Consensus
security · blockchain
The process by which blockchain participants agree on valid transactions, blocks, and ledger history.
- Also known as
- Social Consensus, Nakamoto Consensus
Consensus is how a blockchain network converges on one valid ledger state without a central database operator. Nodes enforce rules for valid transactions and blocks, while the consensus mechanism helps decide which valid block history becomes canonical.
Proof of Work, Proof of Stake, delegated systems, and Byzantine-fault-tolerant systems use different methods to select block producers and resolve competing histories. Each approach makes different tradeoffs among decentralization, finality, energy use, complexity, and governance.
Social consensus is the human layer: users, developers, miners, businesses, and infrastructure providers deciding which software and rules to run. If groups adopt incompatible rules, a chain split can occur.
Related terms
Proof of Work (PoW)
→A consensus mechanism that makes block production require verifiable computational work.
mining · blockchain · consensus
Proof of Stake (PoS)
→A family of consensus mechanisms in which validators commit stake to propose, attest to, and finalize blocks.
consensus · blockchain
Block
→A batch of valid transactions added to a blockchain, linked to the previous block by a cryptographic hash.
mining · blockchain · security