Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by janrinok on Sunday December 17 2017, @09:01AM   Printer-friendly
from the tngaled,-tangeld,-er-tanglde dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow8317

Bitcoin isn't the only cryptocurrency on a hot streak—plenty of alternative currencies have enjoyed rallies alongside the Epic Bitcoin Bull Run of 2017. One of the most intriguing examples is also among the most obscure in the cryptocurrency world. Called IOTA, it has jumped in total value from just over $4 billion to more than $10 billion in a little over two weeks. But that isn't what makes it interesting. What makes it interesting is that it isn't based on a blockchain at all; it's something else entirely.

[...] Instead of a blockchain, IOTA uses a "tangle," which is based on a mathematical concept called a directed acyclic graph. Sønstebø says his team pursued an alternative approach after deciding that blockchains are too costly—it has recently cost as much as $20 per Bitcoin transaction because of high demand—and inefficient to operate at the scale required for the Internet of things.

[...] So IOTA has dispensed with the miners. Instead, when a user issues a transaction, that individual also validates two randomly selected previous transactions, each of which refer to two other previous transactions, and so on. As new transactions mount, a "tangled web of confirmation" grows, says Sønstebø.

Source: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/609771/a-cryptocurrency-without-a-blockchain-has-been-built-to-outperform-bitcoin/


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 17 2017, @03:16PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 17 2017, @03:16PM (#610988)

    It doesn't seem to work right:
    https://github.com/iotaledger/wallet/issues [github.com]

    I think in general these "corporate coins" will be run by marketing departments and hence not work out. Doesn't mean they have no use and you can't make money trading them though.

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 17 2017, @07:02PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 17 2017, @07:02PM (#611043)

    I tried to use their wallet on GNU/Linux the other day. it's a POS, unfortunately. I don't know why they didn't just fork something like Ark's wallet. should be easy and works well+easy to use.