Distributed Ledger Technology

Blockchain

A distributed, immutable digital ledger that records transactions across a network of computers without a central authority.

Consensus Mechanism

The method by which a distributed network agrees on the current state of the ledger and validates transactions.

Proof of Work

A consensus mechanism requiring computational effort to validate transactions and create new blocks, used by Bitcoin.

Proof of Stake

A consensus mechanism where validators are selected based on the amount of cryptocurrency they hold and stake.

Delegated Proof of Stake

A consensus mechanism where token holders vote for delegates who validate transactions on their behalf.

Byzantine Fault Tolerance

The ability of a distributed system to reach consensus despite some nodes acting maliciously or failing.

Merkle Tree

A hash-based data structure that efficiently verifies the integrity and consistency of large sets of data.

Hash Function

A mathematical function that converts input data of any size into a fixed-size output, used extensively in blockchain security.

Cryptographic Hash

A one-way function producing a fixed-length output that is computationally infeasible to reverse or find collisions for.

Public Key Cryptography

An encryption system using mathematically linked key pairs — a public key for encryption and a private key for decryption.

Digital Signature

A cryptographic mechanism that verifies the authenticity and integrity of digital messages or documents.

Decentralised Application

An application that runs on a decentralised peer-to-peer network rather than a single centralised server.

A decentralised oracle network that connects smart contracts with external data sources, APIs, and payment systems.

A blockchain network where participation is restricted to authorised entities, common in enterprise applications.

A programming language designed for writing smart contracts on the Ethereum Virtual Machine.

Locking up cryptocurrency holdings to support blockchain network operations and earn rewards.

A service that provides external real-world data to blockchain smart contracts that cannot access off-chain information directly.

A technical specification defining the interface and behaviour of tokens on a blockchain, such as ERC-20 for fungible tokens and ERC-721 for non-fungible tokens.

A node in a proof-of-stake blockchain responsible for verifying transactions and proposing new blocks.

Financial services built on blockchain technology that operate without traditional intermediaries like banks or brokerages.