Consensus emerges from independent verification of each transaction by each full node on the network. Blocks are added to blockchains through mining nodes at different intervals depending on the how the protocol determines validity of blocks, and the participants ability to create those new blocks. Nodes then verify the new blocks and construct the chain. Nodes then select which blockchain they prefer, typically based on cumulative proof-of-work demonstrated on the longest chain, and consensus emerges.
October 2, 2013
The Silk Road, an online marketplace best known for selling illegal materials like drugs, is shut down by the BIFBI. The operation to catch the owner of Silk road named Ross William Ulbricht, using the pseudonym Dead Pirate Roberts, is called Operation Onymous. The FBI seized approximately 26k BTC from the Silk Road.