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X. Liu et al.
8.6 Blockchain and Internet of Things ....................................................... 414
8.6.1 Internet of Things ................................................................ 414
8.6.2 Weaknesses of Internet of Things ............................................... 415
8.6.3 Blockchains and IoT ............................................................. 417
8.6.4 How to Combine Blockchains and IoT ......................................... 418
8.7 Prominent Enterprise DLT Platforms .................................................... 419
8.7.1 Hyperledger Fabric .............................................................. 419
8.7.2 Ethereum ......................................................................... 420
8.7.3 IOTA .............................................................................. 420
8.8 Applications of Blockchain ............................................................... 421
8.8.1 Financial Services................................................................ 421
8.8.2 Healthcare ........................................................................ 422
8.8.3 Energy ............................................................................ 422
8.8.4 Identity Management ............................................................ 423
8.8.5 Supply Chain Management...................................................... 424
8.8.6 Other Applications ............................................................... 424
8.9 Other Aspects of DLTs.................................................................... 425
8.9.1 Scalability and Other Practical Considerations ................................. 425
8.9.2 Token and Token Economics .................................................... 427
8.10 Vulnerabilities of Blockchain............................................................. 428
8.11 Summary .................................................................................. 429
References ........................................................................................ 429
8.1 Introduction to Distributed Ledger Technology and IoT
8.1.1 What Is a Distributed Ledger?
Distributed ledger technology is a general term that is used to describe technologies
for the storage, distribution, and exchange of data between users over private or
public distributed computer networks. Essentially, a distributed ledger is a database
that is spread and stored over multiple computers located at physically different
locations. Each of such computers is frequently referred to as a node. A distributed
ledger can also be considered as a common datasheet stored on multiple distributed
nodes.
Figure 8.1 shows a centralized, a decentralized, and a distributed system.
Distributed ledger technology is based on distributed systems.
(a)
(b)
(c)
Fig. 8.1 (a) Centralized, (b) decentralized, and (c) distributed system