Distributed WHAT IS A DISTRIBUTED LEDGER ?

A distributed ledger is a form of digital database that is updated and held by every member independently in a large network space. In this type of ledger there’s isn’t any central authority to broadcast the records to every member.

Instead, all the nodes will hold the ledger and construct it independently. But in that case, the nodes on the network will need to have access to the transaction lists and giving out their own conclusion before adding it on the distributed ledger.

Usually, every node on the network tends to go through an agreement process to come to a single conclusion. The system actually differs from distributed ledger to distributed ledger.

After the agreement, the distributed ledger gets updated, and all the node on the network will update their every own ledger as well. The system makes the overall architecture of the interface quite complex compared to typical database systems.

Distributed ledgers come with a special dynamic system that can outdo the capabilities of typical paper-based ledger systems. In short, with different types of DLTs, you will be able to form new technologies and enable security across the whole digital world.

Usually, in this kind of typical systems, there’s always a matter of trust. However, this new DLT is introducing a new kind of technology that gets rid of the “trust” issues and builds everything on total transparency.

With this new invention of the distributed ledger system, now you can experience the revolution of information gathering and communicate beyond the traditional ways. You can apply it to both dynamic data and static data schemes.

Distributed ledgers simply put the power back in your hands. It’s more about managing the whole system rather than merely a simple database.

MYTH BUSTER: NOT ALL DLTS ARE BLOCKCHAIN

With the sudden rise in popularity of Bitcoin and many cryptocurrencies, the word “blockchain” has become a favorable choice of topic. People now use this word as a synonym for everything associated with cryptocurrencies and token economy.

Even the crypto movement is sometimes referred to as “blockchain movement.”

So, you see in a way blockchain happens to be used a lot in many contexts. There’s only a handful of people out there that really wants to distinguish blockchain and distributed ledger solutions from one another.

However, it’s best not to mismatch both of them as DLT and Blockchain can’t be interchanged.

THE MAIN DIFFERENCE

The term distributed ledger technology is one kind of Umbrella-Term that covers the technologies where the ledger system is distributed among everyone using it. Here, different types of DLTs can be either private or public; it depends on the characteristics of the technology.

The blockchain is one kind of distributed ledger implementation and more preciously the first ever functional one. The technology kind of stormed the new digital world and many people started to believe it’s the only form of distributed ledger system.

So, people often used them interchangeably, which led the whole misconception that DLT is another name of Blockchain.

In simple terms, blockchain is just one of the subcategories of the distributed ledger system. For example, there are different kinds of fruits and one of them is “Apple.” Here, the term “Apple” falls in the fruit category. So, the apple is one kind of fruit, but not all fruits are apple.

In the same way, blockchain is one kind of DLT but not all DLTs are blockchain.

WHY DISTINGUISH THEM?

The crypto world just came into being a few years back, meaning it’s still an immature technology. Over the next few years, we will see exponential growth as it has the potential to change the typical ways completely.

There are many projects out there that are dealing with the whole concept of different types of DLTs rather than only sticking with blockchain. Distributed ledger implementation is a vast category, and if we really want more innovation, we have to come out of our “blockchain” shell.

There are already many different types of DLTs into play, and hopefully, we will be able to see more additions in the newer future. But for now, shifting to distributed ledger implementation would be the wisest choice for any kind of growth.