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Distributed Ledger Technology Review and Decentralized Applications Development Guidelines

Author

Listed:
  • Claudia Antal

    (Computer Science Department, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Memorandumului 28, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

  • Tudor Cioara

    (Computer Science Department, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Memorandumului 28, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

  • Ionut Anghel

    (Computer Science Department, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Memorandumului 28, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

  • Marcel Antal

    (Computer Science Department, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Memorandumului 28, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

  • Ioan Salomie

    (Computer Science Department, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Memorandumului 28, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

Abstract

The Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) provides an infrastructure for developing decentralized applications with no central authority for registering, sharing, and synchronizing transactions on digital assets. In the last years, it has drawn high interest from the academic community, technology developers, and startups mostly by the advent of its most popular type, blockchain technology. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive overview of DLT analyzing the challenges, provided solutions or alternatives, and their usage for developing decentralized applications. We define a three-tier based architecture for DLT applications to systematically classify the technology solutions described in over 100 papers and startup initiatives. Protocol and Network Tier contains solutions for digital assets registration, transactions, data structure, and privacy and business rules implementation and the creation of peer-to-peer networks, ledger replication, and consensus-based state validation. Scalability and Interoperability Tier solutions address the scalability and interoperability issues with a focus on blockchain technology, where they manifest most often, slowing down its large-scale adoption. The paper closes with a discussion on challenges and opportunities for developing decentralized applications by providing a multi-step guideline for decentralizing the design and implementation of traditional systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudia Antal & Tudor Cioara & Ionut Anghel & Marcel Antal & Ioan Salomie, 2021. "Distributed Ledger Technology Review and Decentralized Applications Development Guidelines," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-32, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jftint:v:13:y:2021:i:3:p:62-:d:507153
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Michel Rauchs & Garrick Hileman, 2010. "Global Blockchain Benchmarking Study," Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance Reports 201009-gbbs, Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    2. Luisanna Cocco & Andrea Pinna & Michele Marchesi, 2017. "Banking on Blockchain: Costs Savings Thanks to the Blockchain Technology," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-20, June.
    3. Del Rajan & Matt Visser, 2018. "Quantum Blockchain using entanglement in time," Papers 1804.05979, arXiv.org, revised Apr 2019.
    4. Vasiliy Elagin & Anastasia Spirkina & Andrei Levakov & Ilya Belozertsev, 2020. "Blockchain Behavioral Traffic Model as a Tool to Influence Service IT Security," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-12, April.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ahad ZareRavasan & Taha Mansouri & Michal Krčál & Saeed Rouhani, 2022. "Editorial for the Special Issue on Blockchain: Applications, Challenges, and Solutions," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-2, May.
    3. Gkogkos, Georgios & Patsonakis, Christos & Drosou, Anastasios & Tzovaras, Dimitrios, 2023. "A DLT-based framework for secure IoT infrastructure in smart communities," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    4. Yi-Hsiang Lu & Ching-Chiang Yeh & Yu-Mei Kuo, 2024. "Exploring the critical factors affecting the adoption of blockchain: Taiwan’s banking industry," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 10(1), pages 1-25, December.
    5. Haoli Sun & Bingfeng Pi & Jun Sun & Takeshi Miyamae & Masanobu Morinaga, 2021. "SASLedger: A Secured, Accelerated Scalable Storage Solution for Distributed Ledger Systems," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-19, November.
    6. Martin Kenyeres & Jozef Kenyeres, 2021. "Comparative Study of Distributed Consensus Gossip Algorithms for Network Size Estimation in Multi-Agent Systems," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-22, May.
    7. Anthony Jnr. Bokolo, 2022. "Exploring interoperability of distributed Ledger and Decentralized Technology adoption in virtual enterprises," Information Systems and e-Business Management, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 685-718, December.
    8. Mahdi Ghaemi Asl & Oluwasegun B. Adekoya & Muhammad Mahdi Rashidi, 2023. "Quantiles dependence and dynamic connectedness between distributed ledger technology and sectoral stocks: enhancing the supply chain and investment decisions with digital platforms," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 327(1), pages 435-464, August.
    9. Sławomir Bielecki & Tadeusz Skoczkowski & Lidia Sobczak & Marcin Wołowicz, 2022. "Electricity Usage Settlement System Based on a Cryptocurrency Instrument," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-35, September.

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