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The tangle is a DAG (directed acyclic graph). A DAG is a viable data structure for a distributed database, but it has issues for a cryptocurrency where you want
by api 7y ago
The tangle is a DAG (directed acyclic graph). A DAG is a viable data structure for a distributed database, but it has issues for a cryptocurrency where you want to maintain consensus on a single objective global ledger.
- phire 7y agoThere are a bunch of cryptocurrencies which use DAGs. All of them claiming to be 100% unique and innovative. I saw one which claimed it was "impossible to 51% because it's a DAG and both chains just end up on the network" No. That means either you don't have consistency (which means 51% attacks could be theoretically implemented with way less than 51% of the hash rate) or that the consensus of which transaction are valid can be 51%ed. Iota is even worse. Doesn't even try to have a distributed consensus, just uses a centralized validator.
- bawolff 7y agoA DAG describes a wide variety of data structures and choices. Bitcoin is a DAG. Actually wouldn't any sort of structure that prevents double spending have to be a dag? In order to prevent double spending you need to put transactions in topological order (to know how much money the account has). If you can do that your data structure is a DAG.
- api 7y agoA block chain is a special sub-type of DAG in which (1) there is only one edge from each node to a predecessor, and (2) there is only one canonical path through the DAG at any given time and there exists an objective set of rules for selecting this path. Usually nodes that are not part of this path are eventually forgotten in a block chain.