Blockchain Types: Can We Come To a Permissioned Consensus?

By Paul Denis on ALTCOIN MAGAZINE

Typically, when Blockchain is mentioned, it is compared to regular database methods. However, that is just one aspect of the technology. What about distributed consensus? Shouldn’t the consensus facet be at least as interesting, if not more? What is the role of consensus in different types?

What is a blockchain?

First off, for unfamiliar readers, I would like to start with a small introduction to what “Blockchain” typically refers to. While most people have heard of the terms distributed ledger technology (DLT) or blockchain by now, not everyone will understand what it actually means and describes.

In very simple terms, it describes a ‘database’ that is distributed across all of the participants of such a data network. Each entry in that database is mathematically linked to the entry before that, which is linked to the entry before that, rinse and repeat. This, in itself, is not that innovative. The same can be achieved by cooperating with people in the same (online) spreadsheet and locally storing a real-time version. However, the power of a blockchain becomes evident when it is combined with a distributed consensus mechanism.