What is the distinction between a blockchain and a distributed ledger?

Blockchain has a

shared and replicated

ledger comprised of

information stored in

“blocks” and sits below

a distributed ledger

and acts as a way to

verify transactions

submitted by

producing a new

“block” to the chain.

Distributed ledger is a

record of consensus

with cryptographic

audit trail maintained

and validated by

nodes. It can be

decentralized or

centralized

While often used interchangeably, a blockchain and a

distributed ledger are distinct – though subtly different –

technologies.

A distributed ledger is a record of consensus with a

cryptographic audit trail which is maintained and

validated by several separate nodes*. This

cryptographically assured and synchronized data can be

spread across multiple institutions. Distributed ledgers can

be either decentralized, granting equal rights within the

protocol to all participants or centralized, designating

certain users particular rights. Actors typically employ

distributed ledgers when they need a tool which permits

the concurrent editing of a shared state while maintaining

its unicity. The ledger’s state is determined through a

consensus algorithm, which can vary in its mechanics but

ultimately serves to validate information from inputs to the

network

Often described as the technology that

underpins the Bitcoin network, a

blockchain data structure has a shared,

replicated ledger comprised of digitally

recorded and unchangeable data in

packages called blocks. A blockchain sits

below a distributed ledger and acts as a

way to order and validate the transactions

in the ledger. While a blockchain

automatically produces a new “block”

after certain predetermined criteria is met,

a distributed ledger only verifies a

transaction once it is submitted, as

opposed to pushing out empty blocks. A

blockchain is a way to implement a

distributed ledger, but not all distributed

ledgers necessarily employ blockchains.

*In a distributed ledger, it is not necessarily

the case that all nodes either receive all

the information or, if they do, can

understand it. In the Ethereum model, for

example, all nodes receive and

understand all the information. In Corda,

only the nodes involved are aware that a

transaction exists

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