It's a bad idea to downvote one of the only correct posts in the entire thread (at that time) because of its tone.
Bitcoin consensus is definitionally achieved by miner PoW. Yes, they are beholden to market pressure from users, but saying that concensus is "by the user base" is misleading. I'm using the terminology from the bitcoin white paper
Bitcoin consensus is definitionally achieved by miner PoW. Yes, they are beholden to market pressure from users, but saying that concensus is "by the user base" is misleading. I'm using the terminology from the bitcoin white paper