{"article":"/posts/what-is-consensus-in-crypto/","blocks":[{"id":"block-0","needsReview":false,"text":"If you spend enough time around cryptocurrency communities, there's one word you'll hear almost everywhere: consensus.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-1","needsReview":false,"text":"A new project needs to build consensus. When the market falls, people are encouraged to strengthen it. When an ecosystem starts expanding, the community is told to bring more people on board. Sometimes, even a reasonable question about a project's direction is met with the same response: you need to believe in the consensus.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-2","needsReview":false,"text":"The more often I hear it, the more I wonder what people actually mean by it.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-3","needsReview":false,"text":"Through my involvement in different crypto communities and my interest in ecosystem development, I've noticed that people have very different ideas about what building consensus involves. Some believe it means attracting more members, others see long-term holding as a sign of commitment, while others focus on spreading information and promoting projects through social media.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-4","needsReview":false,"text":"None of these activities is necessarily meaningless. Every new technology needs people who are willing to introduce it, explain it, and help others understand why it matters. But if a community has thousands of members talking about the same project while very few of them understand the technology or use its products, what exactly are they agreeing on?","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-5","needsReview":false,"text":"And if that agreement is mostly about the hope of a higher price, is it really the kind of consensus that can support an ecosystem over time?","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-6","needsReview":false,"text":"Where Does Consensus Come From?","translate":true,"type":"heading"},{"id":"block-7","needsReview":false,"text":"In everyday language, consensus means reaching some form of shared agreement. I find it easier to understand through something we all experience: buying and selling.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-8","needsReview":false,"text":"Imagine walking into a shop and finding something you want. The seller has a price in mind, and you decide whether you're willing to pay it. If both sides accept the terms, the transaction takes place.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-9","needsReview":false,"text":"That doesn't necessarily mean the buyer and seller believe the product has exactly the same value. The seller is thinking about costs and profit, while the buyer is deciding whether the product is worth the money. What they have agreed on is the exchange itself.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-10","needsReview":false,"text":"This raises an interesting question. Does a product become valuable because someone puts a price tag on it, or does the willingness to buy it reveal that value?","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-11","needsReview":false,"text":"I think there's a difference between the usefulness of something and the price people are prepared to pay for it. A product can have practical value before anyone buys it, while its market price develops through supply, demand, and actual transactions. One completed sale tells us that two people accepted the terms at a particular moment, not that everyone else agrees with the price or that it will remain unchanged.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-12","needsReview":false,"text":"That brings me to one of the best-known stories in Bitcoin's history.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-13","needsReview":false,"text":"When Bitcoin launched in 2009, there was no mature trading market or widespread payment network behind it. To most people, it probably looked like little more than numbers on a computer screen. For the early developers, miners, and enthusiasts, however, those numbers represented an experiment in transferring value without relying on a central authority.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-14","needsReview":false,"text":"On May 22, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz exchanged 10,000 BTC for two pizzas through the BitcoinTalk community. Bitcoin had already seen early exchange rates and transactions involving traditional currencies, so this wasn't the moment it first acquired a price. Still, it became an important example of Bitcoin being used to obtain something in the physical world.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-15","needsReview":true,"text":"Interestingly, the pizza restaurant didn't accept Bitcoin directly. Another community member, Jeremy Sturdivant, arranged the purchase and received the BTC in return. Their exchange can still be found in the [original BitcoinTalk discussion](https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=137.0).","translate":false,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-16","needsReview":true,"text":"![Original 2010 BitcoinTalk post by Laszlo Hanyecz offering 10,000 BTC for two pizzas.](/images/bitcoin-pizza-original-bitcointalk-post.jpeg \"bitcoin-pizza-original-bitcointalk-post\")","translate":false,"type":"image"},{"id":"block-17","needsReview":false,"text":"Looking back, it's easy to think those were two extraordinarily expensive pizzas. But in 2010, nobody knew how far Bitcoin would go or whether people outside a small group of enthusiasts would ever want to use it.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-18","needsReview":false,"text":"For me, the most interesting part isn't what those 10,000 BTC would be worth today. It's that one person was willing to offer a digital asset and another was willing to accept it in exchange for something tangible.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-19","needsReview":false,"text":"That single transaction didn't establish Bitcoin's permanent value, but it demonstrated a possibility. If more people were willing to accept and use it, Bitcoin could gradually find a place in economic activity beyond the community that created it.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-20","needsReview":false,"text":"Technical Consensus Isn't the Same as Agreement on Value","translate":true,"type":"heading"},{"id":"block-21","needsReview":false,"text":"The everyday meaning of consensus is relatively straightforward, but in blockchain technology, the term has a more specific purpose.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-22","needsReview":false,"text":"Traditional financial systems generally rely on banks and other centralized institutions to maintain and verify transaction records. Blockchain networks take a different approach by allowing computers that don't necessarily know or trust one another to maintain records according to shared protocol rules.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-23","needsReview":true,"text":"In the original [Bitcoin white paper](https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf), Satoshi Nakamoto described a system based on Proof of Work (PoW). Ethereum followed a different path and moved to Proof of Stake (PoS) in 2022, a change explained in its [official documentation on consensus mechanisms](https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/consensus-mechanisms/).","translate":false,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-24","needsReview":false,"text":"These mechanisms help networks validate transactions and agree on the state of the blockchain. They don't determine how much Bitcoin, ETH, or any other cryptocurrency should be worth.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-25","needsReview":false,"text":"That's where I think a lot of community discussions become confusing. Technical consensus, community agreement, and market valuation are related in some ways, but they're not interchangeable.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-26","needsReview":false,"text":"A blockchain can operate reliably without attracting many real users. A project can have a huge community without building products that people consistently need. And even when both technology and adoption improve, the price of its token can still fall because of market conditions, token supply, liquidity, or changing expectations.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-27","needsReview":false,"text":"Believing in a technology and believing that its token is fairly priced are two different things.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-28","needsReview":false,"text":"Why I Think Consensus Needs Real Use and Circulation","translate":true,"type":"heading"},{"id":"block-29","needsReview":false,"text":"When I think about how agreement develops around money, I often find myself comparing cryptocurrencies with the fiat currencies we use every day.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-30","needsReview":false,"text":"Why can a banknote with a face value of 100 yuan buy real goods? Not because the paper itself is worth that amount, but because it belongs to a monetary system supported by laws, institutions, economic activity, and public trust.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-31","needsReview":false,"text":"Of course, 100 yuan won't always buy the same amount of goods. Inflation and changing economic conditions affect purchasing power, even when the number printed on the banknote stays the same.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-32","needsReview":false,"text":"We accept money partly because we expect to be able to use it again, whether that's for shopping, paying for services, or settling debts. The same money continues moving between customers, businesses, employees, and suppliers.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-33","needsReview":false,"text":"Cryptocurrencies don't have the same institutional foundations as national currencies, but I think there's a useful comparison here.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-34","needsReview":false,"text":"If a digital asset has plenty of holders but very few people willing to accept it in exchange for anything, much of its demand may depend on investment expectations. When people begin using it for goods and services, and those receiving it can use it again, other kinds of demand may gradually develop.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-35","needsReview":false,"text":"However, there's an important difference between real-world circulation and liquidity on an exchange.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-36","needsReview":false,"text":"A cryptocurrency can record enormous daily trading volume without being widely accepted for payments. Much of that trading may come from investors speculating on price movements rather than people buying goods or services.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-37","needsReview":false,"text":"The opposite can also happen. A shop may accept a cryptocurrency, but that doesn't mean the merchant can easily exchange it for another currency at a reasonable price. If converting it is difficult, expensive, or involves considerable price risk, accepting it may create problems for the business.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-38","needsReview":true,"text":"This is also one reason stablecoins have become part of the wider discussion around digital payments. Although [USDT and USDC](https://flowanriver.com/posts/from-thinking-all-stablecoins-were-the-same-to-understanding-usdt-and-usdc/) are both designed to maintain a value close to the US dollar, their structures and risks are not identical. Understanding those differences matters when considering how digital assets can move between people and businesses.","translate":false,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-39","needsReview":true,"text":"The relationship between acceptance and use isn't unique to cryptocurrency. The Bank for International Settlements discusses this in its research on [money and the architecture of trust](https://www.bis.org/publications/iii-anchoring-trust-money-innovation-beyond-stablecoins), explaining how people are more willing to accept a form of money when they expect others to accept it too. As more people use it, that wider acceptance can encourage further use.","translate":false,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-40","needsReview":false,"text":"This makes me wonder whether crypto communities should spend as much time discussing circulation as they do discussing long-term holding.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-41","needsReview":false,"text":"Imagine a customer buying a product with cryptocurrency. The merchant receives the tokens and then uses them to pay a supplier or purchase another service. If this can happen repeatedly at costs and risks that businesses can reasonably manage, economic activity within the ecosystem has a better chance of becoming sustainable.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-42","needsReview":false,"text":"Simply moving tokens between wallets doesn't automatically create value, and frequent trading doesn't necessarily indicate real demand. But for a cryptocurrency that aims to support payments or commercial activity, the ability to circulate matters just as much as people's willingness to hold it.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-43","needsReview":false,"text":"What My Experience With Pi Network Taught Me About Merchant Pricing","translate":true,"type":"heading"},{"id":"block-44","needsReview":false,"text":"Pi Network is one example that comes to mind when I think about these questions.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-45","needsReview":false,"text":"How much should Pi actually be worth? I don't know, and I don't think a price suggested by any particular community can become a standard that everyone must accept.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-46","needsReview":false,"text":"What interests me more is that some merchants have been willing to accept Pi for goods and services, while some holders have chosen to spend their Pi instead of simply keeping it in their wallets.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-47","needsReview":true,"text":"According to [Pi Network's official review of its first 100 days of Open Network](https://minepi.com/blog/100-days-open-network/), the 2025 PiFest campaign recorded more than 125,000 registered sellers, including around 58,000 classified as active, while Map of Pi attracted over 1.8 million users. Those figures show participation, but they don't tell us how many purchases were completed, their total value, or how regularly customers returned.","translate":false,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-48","needsReview":true,"text":"Pi Network's [development over the past seven years](https://flowanriver.com/posts/pi-network-seven-years-original-vision/), from mobile participation to ecosystem applications, raises some interesting questions about how community belief develops into actual use. But there's another side to this story that I experienced firsthand.","translate":false,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-49","needsReview":false,"text":"Back in 2022, when Pi Network was still in its Enclosed Mainnet period, I tried listing my own products on an ecosystem marketplace. Some users from different countries showed interest in what I was selling, and the experience gave me an opportunity to look at an early crypto ecosystem from a merchant's perspective rather than simply watching token prices.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-50","needsReview":true,"text":"![pi-network-pifest-2025-merchant-data](/images/pi-network-pifest-2025-merchant-data.jpeg \"Pi Network's official 2025 PiFest report showing registered merchants, active sellers, and Map of Pi participation.\")","translate":false,"type":"image"},{"id":"block-51","needsReview":false,"text":"Some people might be curious about how much Pi I asked for my products. But the exact number isn't really the point. What matters is the risk merchants face when the asset they're accepting doesn't have a widely agreed, reliable reference price.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-52","needsReview":false,"text":"For a business, this can work both ways.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-53","needsReview":false,"text":"If a merchant accepts a relatively small amount of Pi for a product and the value they can eventually realize from those tokens doesn't cover the cost, the business may lose money. On the other hand, if the Pi received later rises substantially in value, the merchant could benefit.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-54","needsReview":false,"text":"The difficulty is that nobody knows what the future price will be when the transaction takes place.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-55","needsReview":false,"text":"Once a product has been sold, the purchasing costs, production expenses, and delivery obligations are real. Those bills don't disappear just because the merchant believes a digital asset might become more valuable someday.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-56","needsReview":false,"text":"As someone who has worked with physical products, I can't look only at what a token might be worth in the future. I also have to think about how today's suppliers, production costs, and shipping expenses will be paid.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-57","needsReview":true,"text":"The market conditions in 2022 were also very different from those after Pi's Open Network launch. During the Enclosed Mainnet period, Pi could be explored for goods and services within the ecosystem, but exchanging it for fiat currencies or other cryptocurrencies was prohibited under the network's rules, as explained in [Pi Network's official Enclosed Mainnet Q\u0026A](https://minepi.com/blog/enclosed-mainnet/).","translate":false,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-58","needsReview":false,"text":"It wouldn't make sense to take a later exchange price and use it to judge whether an early merchant's pricing decision was right or wrong.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-59","needsReview":true,"text":"![Pi Network's official Enclosed Mainnet Q\u0026A explaining restrictions on exchanging Pi for fiat and other cryptocurrencies.](/images/pi-network-enclosed-mainnet-trading-restrictions.jpeg \"pi-network-enclosed-mainnet-trading-restrictions\")","translate":false,"type":"image"},{"id":"block-60","needsReview":false,"text":"This helps explain why the same type of product can sometimes carry very different Pi prices across an ecosystem. One merchant may be comfortable accepting fewer tokens, while another asks for considerably more because of production costs, uncertainty, or a different view of future value.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-61","needsReview":false,"text":"I don't think asking for a higher price means a merchant has stronger consensus, just as offering a lower price doesn't automatically mean they're contributing more to the ecosystem.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-62","needsReview":false,"text":"Every merchant has costs to manage, and no one should have to sacrifice their business simply to prove faith in a cryptocurrency.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-63","needsReview":false,"text":"If merchants can use the Pi they've received to buy supplies, pay for services, or exchange it through permitted channels at manageable costs, they have more practical reasons to continue participating. But if every sale leaves them carrying financial risks they can't reasonably control, belief alone won't keep that business model going for long.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-64","needsReview":false,"text":"For me, a sustainable crypto ecosystem needs more than customers willing to spend. It also needs merchants who can afford to keep accepting the currency.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-65","needsReview":false,"text":"That's why I believe circulation, real demand, and the financial pressures on businesses deserve more attention in conversations about consensus.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-66","needsReview":false,"text":"Who Can Take Part in Consensus, and What Can Ordinary Holders Do?","translate":true,"type":"heading"},{"id":"block-67","needsReview":false,"text":"When people talk about participating in crypto consensus, the first suggestions are often to buy tokens, hold them for the long term, or bring more people into the community.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-68","needsReview":false,"text":"But participation doesn't have to be limited to those activities.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-69","needsReview":false,"text":"At the protocol level, different blockchains have different requirements. Bitcoin miners participate in creating blocks, while full nodes independently check transactions and blocks against the network's rules. Some Proof of Stake networks allow qualified validators to participate by staking assets, although that can involve technical requirements and financial risks.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-70","needsReview":false,"text":"Community participation is broader. Developers build applications, merchants explore business uses, users test products and report problems, while writers and educators help explain technologies that many people find difficult to understand.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-71","needsReview":false,"text":"For an ordinary token holder, I think a good place to start is simply understanding what they're holding. What problem is the project trying to solve? What role does the token play? Which features are already working, and which are still part of a future plan?","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-72","needsReview":false,"text":"If the project has products available, people can try them when there's a genuine need and when the legal and financial risks are acceptable. A useful report about a confusing feature or a technical problem may be more valuable to a development team than another social media post predicting a token's future price.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-73","needsReview":false,"text":"I have also been spending time organizing and explaining blockchain-related information. One thing I've learned is that collecting articles and announcements isn't particularly difficult; deciding which information is reliable, checking the original source, and making sure my own interpretation isn't mistaken for an official statement takes much more work.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-74","needsReview":false,"text":"I see that as a meaningful form of participation, even though it may have no direct effect on a token's market price.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-75","needsReview":true,"text":"Of course, joining community discussions doesn't necessarily grant governance rights, and owning tokens doesn't automatically mean someone can change a blockchain's protocol. [Ethereum's governance process](https://ethereum.org/governance/), for example, involves developers, researchers, node operators, and other participants rather than simply assigning protocol decisions according to ETH holdings.","translate":false,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-76","needsReview":false,"text":"I also don't think long-term holding should be the only measure of someone's commitment.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-77","needsReview":false,"text":"One person may own a large amount of cryptocurrency but rarely use its ecosystem. Another may contribute useful feedback, develop an application, or help other users understand the project without investing much money.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-78","needsReview":false,"text":"People have different financial circumstances and different reasons for participating. Buying, holding, spending, or selling an asset should remain an individual decision rather than a test of loyalty to a community.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-79","needsReview":false,"text":"When the expectation becomes that everyone must keep buying or refuse to sell to demonstrate consensus, I think it's worth asking what kind of agreement the community is actually trying to maintain.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-80","needsReview":false,"text":"What Can Consensus Really Create?","translate":true,"type":"heading"},{"id":"block-81","needsReview":false,"text":"I don't doubt that consensus matters.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-82","needsReview":false,"text":"For a technology to move beyond an idea, it needs developers willing to work on it, users willing to try it, businesses prepared to explore possible applications, and people who believe the effort is worth continuing.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-83","needsReview":false,"text":"But agreement alone can't replace real demand, and it certainly can't guarantee a rising market price.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-84","needsReview":true,"text":"From Bitcoin's early pizza purchase to today's experiments with cryptocurrency payments and digital ecosystems, we've seen that acceptance takes time. The broader development of [digital finance](https://flowanriver.com/posts/from-fed-policy-to-crypto-evolution-how-digital-finance-is-entering-a-new-era/) also shows how the conversation is expanding beyond trading to include payments, stablecoins, and financial infrastructure. But turning these possibilities into something people regularly use still involves difficult questions about pricing, liquidity, business costs, and how risk is shared.","translate":false,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-85","needsReview":false,"text":"What interests me most isn't how many community members are willing to repeat the same price expectation. It's how many understand what they're participating in, whether they can take part under reasonable conditions, and whether people are beginning to use the products because they genuinely need them.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-86","needsReview":false,"text":"And shared goals don't mean everyone has to agree on everything. Developers, merchants, customers, and token holders all see a project from different perspectives. When problems arise, being willing to acknowledge them and discuss possible solutions may do more for long-term trust than asking everyone to keep believing.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-87","needsReview":false,"text":"I've come to think that consensus can begin with a small group of people who share an idea, and communities can certainly help it grow. But if that belief is going to last, eventually it needs something more substantial than promotion.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-88","needsReview":false,"text":"For a digital asset intended to function as a means of exchange, that means people need to be willing not only to hold it, but also to accept it, spend it, and pass it along under conditions they can reasonably manage.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-89","needsReview":false,"text":"Whether those activities eventually support a particular market value is another question, one that can only be tested through demand, supply, and what actually happens over time.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-90","needsReview":false,"text":"Perhaps the more meaningful sign of progress will come when communities no longer need to remind everyone to keep holding, because more people are choosing to use the currency for reasons that make sense in their everyday lives.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-91","needsReview":false,"text":"To me, that's a much more interesting conversation than trying to predict how high a cryptocurrency might go.","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"},{"id":"block-92","needsReview":false,"text":"*Disclaimer: This article reflects my personal observations of cryptocurrency communities and my experience exploring early ecosystem commerce, alongside publicly available technical information. My discussion of Pi Network is intended to examine merchant pricing, circulation, and ecosystem participation, not to endorse the project or predict its future price. Nothing in this article constitutes investment, financial, or legal advice. Digital assets involve price volatility, liquidity constraints, and regulatory risks, and readers should consider the laws applicable in their own jurisdictions.*","translate":true,"type":"paragraph"}],"count":93,"date":"2026-10-27","description":"What does consensus really mean in crypto? From Bitcoin's pizza purchase to Pi Network, explore real-world adoption, circulation, and merchant risks.","tags":["Crypto","Blockchain","Bitcoin","Pi Network"],"title":"What Is Consensus in Crypto? From Bitcoin Pizza to Real-World Value"}