Blockchains and Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) are often mistaken for each other. More so DLTs are often incorrectly confined to the metrics of blockchains.

At its simplest appreciation a blockchain is a data structure that combines data using a linking mechanism based on the successive hashing of the previous items data.

Other explanations of blockchains include a decentralized database. This is where the vagueness enters as the storage structure is conflated with the system application and approach.

A DLT on the other hand refers to a more general concept of recording data on a ledger that is not centralized but rather spread across multiple nodes/entities/computers that have reached consensus on the order of transactions in the ledger.

In this sense networks such as Bitcoin, Ethereum or Hedera Hashgraph are all forms of DLT. Furthermore Bitcoin and Ethereum would applicable be characterized by the definition of a blockchain, Hedera Hashgraph however, would not match the given Blockchain definition as it uses a Directed Acyclycal Graph (DAG) data structure to store its data.

So next time you hear a network or the whole industry described as a blockchain, dig in and ask if this is in reference to the storage data structure or the overall network.

Notable concepts that further describe networks include Consensus mechanism, Finality and Governance. These will be covered in future posts.

Happy Nyche decentralizing.