Distributed Ledger

A ledger records the transactions pertaining to the accounts that are stored on it and updates the balance of accounts to reflect these transactions. 

Distributed ledgers are databases of records stored across multiple computers on a network. Implementing a distributed ledger eliminates the need for a trusted third party to update and maintain the records in it.

Instead the nodes maintaining a distributed ledger must reach consensus on what the current state of the ledger is and agree before any updates can be made to it. Records in the ledger are secured cryptographically and accessed through the use of public/private key pairs.

Blockchain’s are the most prominent example of distributed ledger’s in action.

Further Distributed Ledger Reading

Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology