What Is A Distributed Ledger

In the past decade, there’s been a lot of talk about distributed ledger technology (DLT), also known as blockchain. While the concept is not new, it’s only in recent years that DLT has captured the public’s imagination and become a household name. So, what exactly is a distributed ledger? In the most basic terms, a distributed ledger is a database that is spread across a network of computers, rather than being stored on a single server. This decentralized approach has a number of advantages, chief among them being that it is much more resistant to tampering and fraud. Each computer in the network holds a copy of the ledger, which is updated regularly as new transactions are registered. The ledger can be used to record any kind of information, but is most commonly associated with financial transactions. Bitcoin, the best-known cryptocurrency, is based on a distributed ledger. Every time a Bitcoin transaction is made, it is recorded in a “block” and added to the end of the Bitcoin “blockchain” – a publicly-viewable record of all Bitcoin transactions that have ever been made. The key feature of a blockchain is that it is “immutable” – once a transaction has been recorded, it cannot be altered or deleted. This gives blockchain an inherent security advantage, as it is very difficult (if not impossible) to tamper with the data. The decentralised nature of blockchain also makes it very difficult (if not impossible) for a single entity to control or manipulate the data. This is why blockchain is often said to be “trustless” – it doesn’t rely on any central authority to maintain its integrity. Of course, nothing is perfect, and blockchain is no exception. One of the main criticisms levelled at blockchain is that it is slow and inefficient compared to traditional database systems. Another criticism is that, because blockchain is a distributed database, it is inherently less private than a traditional database, as the data is publicly-viewable by anyone who has access to the network. Despite these criticisms, there is no doubt that blockchain is a disruptive technology with the potential to revolutionize the way we store and share data. And as the technology matures, we can expect to see more and more real-world applications for distributed ledger technology.