# Consensus Mechanism

*Crypto & Digital Assets — Finicade finance glossary*

A consensus mechanism is how a distributed network agrees on one version of history when participants can't trust each other and some may be actively hostile. It's the core computer science problem blockchains solve. Every design trades among three properties — decentralisation, security and throughput — and claims to have escaped that trade-off usually mean one of the three was quietly sacrificed.

**Also known as:** consensus algorithm, Byzantine fault tolerance

**Related terms:** [Proof of Work](https://finicade.com/glossary/proof-of-work), [Proof of Stake](https://finicade.com/glossary/proof-of-stake), [Node](https://finicade.com/glossary/node), [Blockchain](https://finicade.com/glossary/blockchain), [51% Attack](https://finicade.com/glossary/51-percent-attack)

Source: https://finicade.com/glossary/consensus-mechanism