fdevaulx
commented
6 years ago Firstly, BC is a repository, “ledger that stores records” ;
2ndly, records of interest : is record’s homogeneity a requirement, i.e. can it store records of different types ? It seems it can, then: “ledger that stores heterogeneous records of interest” ;
3rdly, records grouped in blocks, which, in turn, organized in a list : “ledger that stores heterogeneous records of interest grouped in blocks of the configurable size. Blocks of records are organized in a single linked list. Each block in the list is “chained” to the previous block using cryptographic methods, therefore, making blocks immutable”.
The only thing that’s left out of this definition is the “proof of work”.
What do you think about this “Blockchain” glossary entry instead? (I pulled it from our Primer)
Blockchain (further defined in the ACT-IAC Blockchain Primer) A blockchain is a type of distributed ledger “that stores a continuously growing list of grouped records, called blocks, which are linked and secured using cryptography.”[i] Each block of records is “chained” to the next block using a cryptographic signature or hash. Because of this cryptographic link, every new block contains a reference to the immediately previous block, a timestamp, and any transaction data.[ii] This improves the security of the distributed ledger and makes unauthorized additions, alterations, or deletions extremely difficult, if not impossible, to perform, hide or obfuscate.*
*https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/492972/gs-16-1 -distributed-ledger-technology.pdf