In the fast-evolving landscape of digital technologies, distributed ledger technologies (DLTs)—commonly known as blockchain—have emerged as a highly disruptive force that holds the potential to change how transactions are conducted fundamentally and assets are managed. Drawing comparisons with the revolutionary impact of the internet’s foundational TCP/IP protocol, DLTs have opened up new horizons regarding security, speed, and decentralization.
DLTs offer unique features such as improved accountability, pseudonymity, and the ability to operate in a decentralized network environment. These features have implications far beyond the initial context of cryptocurrencies, initially exemplified by Bitcoin (Nakamoto, 2009), a cryptocurrency that introduced a new way of conducting transactions without a central authority, thus lowering costs and improving efficiency.