There is a common misconception that Blockchain and Distributed Ledger technology are the same thing. So what is the difference?

Distributed Ledger Technology

Here is a very good description of Distributed ledger technology:

Distributed ledger technology (DLT) is a digital system for recording the transaction of assets in which the transactions and their details are recorded in multiple places at the same time. Distributed ledgers have no central data store or admin functionality.

Source

In a distributed ledger, each node processes and verifies each and every item, which in turn generates a record for each item and therefore creates a consensus on each item. Distributed ledger technology can be used to record a variety of data.

Blockchain

Image Source

Blockchain, which powers Bitcoin is probably the most well know type of distributed technology. The blockchain bundles all Bitcoin transactions into blocks on a chain, from where it broadcasts the transactions to all the nodes in the network.

Blockchain is therefore only an specific type of Distributed Ledger Technology.

You can read more detail of the difference between blockchain and Distributed ledger technology here

Happy Steeming!

---