"An attempted nomenclature of cryptographic ledgers"

#1

A functional nomenclature of cryptographic ledgers

In the interest of bringing some much-needed sanity to the discussion surrounding “blockchain technology” I have attempted to establish a functional nomenclature of cryptographic ledgers.

This follows on the heels of work by our own @Wayne who recently wrote about “Open vs Closed Blockchains.”

Earlier this week I watched Blythe Masters and other banking executives perform remarkable feats of linguistic gymnastics to avoid using the words “bitcoin” and “blockchain”.

I am reminded of this XKCD comic:

While it’s clear that the industry needs to settle on common terminology, it’s not yet clear what that terminology will be.

How would you distinguish between the different types of cryptographic ledgers out there?

#2

If someone came to you and said:

“Blockchain ID is this really great identity system that you can use for authentication in your app…it is implemented in a closed blockchain that is a permissioned ledger. Apple and Google control the permissions”

What would you say?

#3

I would say sounds great but not for me, I’m only interested in secure, public blockchains like Bitcoin.