How Does the Proof-of-Work Consensus Mechanism Relate to Block Rewards?

Proof-of-Work (PoW) is the algorithm that requires miners to expend computational power to solve a complex mathematical puzzle. The miner who solves the puzzle first gets to propose the next block and is granted the block reward.

The reward is the incentive that drives participation in the PoW process, ensuring the network's security and decentralization by making attacks economically prohibitive.