+++
title = "Distributed Ledger"
author = "Yann Herklotz"
tags = []
categories = []
backlinks = ["2c"]
forwardlinks = []
zettelid = "2c1"
+++

The main idea behind crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin is that they are
just a record of who paid who how much. This is a public ledger that
anyone can read, however, it is supposed to be append only, meaning new
items only get added to the end of it, and the ledger in general can not
be modified.

However, to have a ledger it needs to be located somewhere and
controlled by a central entity. This can be solved by actually having a
distributed ledger, so each user actually has their own version of the
ledger, and checks it periodically to the other ledgers that other
people are keeping.