We may have misused the term Blockchain. Here's what to say instead

It seems we have unjustly sang the modern anthem of the blockchain. In Africa, in 2018 they taught me how to use the term blockchain inappropriately. And I must confess that I was one of a group of people who used this term incorrectly.

The term Blockchain

Most often we use the term "blockchain" to describe all distributed ledger technologies (DLT). But in reality, not all DLTs are based on the blockchain. No. Nowadays there are different DLTs that use blocks, but these are organized in other ways than a chain. For example, there is a DLT called hashgraph and IOTA which uses a mechanism totally different from the "chaining" mechanism of the blockchain.

Do not offend architects of these DLTs by saying they are using blockchain. It is best to use the generic term Distributed Ledger Technologies when referring to their systems. The word blockchain can not be applied collectively to all DLTs.

More information on Hashgraph

The Hashgraph is different from the blockchain in the sense that there are no blocks formed in the hashgraph technology, so there will be no chain of blocks. Another method of obtaining consensus-based distributed ledger is the method of gossip.

The hashtag claims to replace the blockchain and improve the drawbacks of the blockchain. For example, it is said that hashgra processes more than a thousand transactions per second compared to blockchain 5. But at the same time there are no cryptocurrencies that run on hashgraph and it seems that the team is working only on private networks. So it's like comparing apples and oranges. Once the hashgraph becomes public and I can verify, it states that it will be easier and more valid to compare.

More information on IOTA

Rather than relying on blockchain, IOTA is based on its own invention called "Tangle". IOTA has been specifically designed to facilitate micro-transactions between machines connected by the Internet of Things. The creators claim that the technology is faster, safer and cheaper (as it does not charge transaction fees), which is optimal for a micro-payment environment. It's no wonder, the United Nations has collaborated with IOTA.

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