Blockchain is a truly disruptive technology that can transform business networks. We also believe that this innovation has to happen in the open, collaborating with other technology companies and industries. To this end, IBM continues to contribute code to the Hyperledger Project.
From IBM’s perspective, industrial-grade blockchain technologies have the following characteristics:
A shared, permissioned ledger is the append-only system of record (SOR) and single source of truth. It is visible to all participating members of the business network.
A consensus protocol agreed to by all participating members of the business network ensures that the ledger is updated only with network-verified transactions.
Cryptography ensures tamper-proof security, authentication, and integrity of transactions.
Smart contracts encapsulate participant terms of agreements for the business that takes place on the network; they are stored on the validating nodes in the blockchain and triggered by transactions.
