DLT’s are BitTorrent 2.0
Distributed Ledgers and a BitTorrent share the same genetic structure because they are both are shared across multiple locations and among multiple participants.
By contrast, once a BitTorrent is created it is essentially locked and cannot be modified. It can only be shared and distributed.
In a sense, a DLT is a MODIFIABLE BitTorrent. Input data can be inserted onto the ledger, at the same time it is being shared and distributed, which is the reason I look at a DLT as BitTorrent 2.0.
Another way to look at a DLT is it is a BitTorrent with a time stamped read/write database onboard.
From a cutting edge standpoint, BitTorrent has for the most part came and gone. Yeah, I know they still account for a large chunk of the total traffic on the internet.
DLT’s on the other hand, are now just starting to become hot and trending.
Comparing DLT’s and TPS!
The Blockchain (Mainly Bitcoin & Ethereum) itself is a DLT, based on blocks. The average Transactions per Second (TPS) for Bitcoin is between 2–4.
Ethereum on the other hand is around 4 TPS with out add-on technologies to make it faster. Recently there have been third party developers jumping on board to help improve Ethereum TPS up to as much as 9000 TPS, but again this is not native Ethereum technology. Ethereum 2.0 is coming and has been promised for several years now, which promises a big improvement on TPS, but so far, NOTHING.
A second type of DLT is currently out in the market place that shows a lot of promise. Hedera Hashgraph — Instead of using blocks, it uses directed acyclic graphs for time-sequencing transactions without bundling them into blocks. Currently Hedera Hashgraph TPS is being throttled down to 10,000 TPS.
Bitcoin pioneered decentralized infrastructure and Ethereum brought programmability to DLT’s for that reason I’m calling Hedera Hashgraph — DLT 3.0, simple because it is an improvement on the first two.
Why is TPS so important?
Simple answer — Scalability
Complex answer — Currently Visa is handling anywhere from 11,000 to 42,000 money transactions per second. Using Visa as a bench mark and knowing that if a DLT is going to be able to used on a global scale, no matter if the TPS is for processing monetary transactions like Visa is doing, or it for handling any other type of legal transaction.
