Reaching decentralized consensus

This video by 3Blue1Brown covers the issue that arises when you have a large network of nodes trying to come to an agreement on what to do, and explains the proof-of-work consensus mechanism in more detail.

Creator	Time	URL
3Blue1Brown	8min	Full source

Takeaway A rule is needed to ensure a distributed network with no authority can agree on what to do. The proof-of-work consensus mechanisms uses cryptography and code to help nodes agree what new transactions to add and allows us to verify the entire history of transactions that have gone before. This enables full agreement and consensus without any central authority, which is groundbreaking to have been implemented at scale.