Distributed Ledger is a decentralized database used by multiple network participants Record and share transactions between. The authenticity and consistency of transactions recorded by each participant are guaranteed by consensus mechanisms and encryption tools. Blockchain is also a distributed ledger.

What is blockchain? What is the unique structure of blockchain? Please refer to the entry "What is Blockchain".

Main features of distributed ledgers

Decentralization

Different from the Centralized Ledger, the distributed ledger is jointly managed by multiple participants (nodes) rather than a centralized organization. Each participant needs to independently record the transactions that occur on the network and continuously keep the records synchronized according to certain rules (consensus).

What is a node? What does it do? Please refer to the entry "What is a node/validator".

Security

Because transaction records are not stored in a single system, compared with centralized ledgers, decentralized ledgers There is less chance of being attacked by a cyber attack. Each network participant maintains a complete and synchronized transaction record, so an attack on a single or partial participant will not cause the entire network to be affected.

Transparency

Transactions in distributed ledgers are transparent. All participants can access and participate in the ledger's records, and inspect the records. The records in the ledger cannot be easily tampered with unless most of the participants in the ledger are controlled.

51% attack is an attack method that maliciously controls the majority of the voice in the ledger. For more information, please refer to the entry "What is a 51% attack".

Classification of distributed ledgers

Distributed ledgers can be divided into BePublic and Private. Public ledgers can be read by anyone, while private ledgers can only be accessed by authorized users.

Depending on who can verify transactions, distributed ledgers can be divided into Permissioned (permission required) and Permissionless (permissionless). Permissioned means that only specific trusted users can verify transactions and modify ledger records, while Permissionless means that anyone can verify transactions and build ledgers.

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• What is a consensus mechanism?
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