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IPFS is very close to what you describe (Merkle trees! Globally-identified hashes!) but it doesn't claim to be a blockchain because it doesn't have a consensus
by trentmc 10y ago
IPFS is very close to what you describe (Merkle trees! Globally-identified hashes!) but it doesn't claim to be a blockchain because it doesn't have a consensus mechanism, let alone a way to prevent double spends.
And that's ok! It's designed for different problems, like file system style blob storage. It's not about "whether something is a blockchain", it's about "what's the right tool for the job"? I see value in complementary decentralized pieces of file systems, databases, processing, and more.
- davidgerard 10y agoIPFS is very close to BitTorrent entirely using magnet: links, which does indeed have something close to a consensus mechanism (everything is checksummed to the hilt). > It's not about "whether something is a blockchain" It arguably is when you call your post "Blockchains for Artificial Intelligence".
- trentmc 10y ago> have something close to a consensus mechanism For this context it's really about whether or not it can prevent double spends. Currently, it can't. Though its protocol stack has a place for consensus algorithms to achieve CAP-style strong consistency; and the IPFS team is working on consistency algorithms. > It arguably is when ... Point taken. The post is about things that many people consider to be blockchains or at least blockchain-like; BigchainDB, Ethereum, and others are in that category.