Distributed Ledgers Part V: The 8th Layer
"Tout, terriblement." Apollinaire.
For the first four parts in this series on distributed ledgers, see here, here, here and here.
I have argued in my previous posts that we are forced to think about a multiplicity of blockchains and distributed ledgers solutions for the financial services industry. The universe of distributed ledgers can be represented in its globally as a new layer which can be represented as an additional layer of the Open Systems Interconnection Model (OSI) or as the OSI is applied to the internet and the TCP/IP model.
We could call this additional layer the "Financial Transactions" layer or the Internets of Values layer.
What are the implications if this layer is multiple instead of being unified? Does it necessarily mean the layer will be balkanized and siloed? This is certainly a risk.
Efficiency dictates balkanization will be avoided. It might certainly take a long time though. Efficiency will bring a set of interoperability standards which will allow distributed ledgers to talk to one another, networks of distributed ledgers to talk to other networks. Interoperability will become key to success. Distributed ledgers will have to easily connect and talk to one another at the data and metadata level. Winners will espouse openness and interoperability thereby gaining more market share.
How can this be achieved? Either top down or bottom down. I have argued in previous posts that top down may not be the right approach - too much friction and also too many risks, one of them being monopolistic behaviors. The bottom up appeals to my libertarian views.
CEO & Founder Dynamic Ledger Solutions Ltd
9 年The thinking behind this is both ambitious and exciting - but I believe that if Blockchain solutions are to become a key component in Enterprise Software Architectures - that first you have to look at how best to integrate a Blockchain into a SOA framework.... The Blockchains value will truly be appreciated when it can be used seamlessly as part of an integrated Enterprise architecture and from there anything is possible. Where a Blockchain solution fits in "The Cloud' then becomes relatively straight forward and as a component in a highbred database architecture... RDBMS/NoSQL/Blockchain.... Hence Lightning BlockChain Enterprise www.sunandson.com/lightning (apologies for the plug - but as middleware I hope it helps move forward the majority of the Blockchain community solutions)
Founder & Partner at Ratchet Capital, Influencer Marketing, and Venture Creation | Driving Sustainable Economic Growth & Innovation Globally | CEO at Agricare Technologies | Advisor
9 年I think the Blocknet approach will give us early interoperability. It remains to be seen if the banking implementations, which I am sure are coming, will play nicely.
Cross-Industry Emerging Technology Innovation, Acceleration & Execution
9 年As in Product/Market fit there will be Blockchain/Market fit where ultimate custodians/owners will drive which chain is chosen in which jurisdiction and how they interact with internal balance sheet and income statement ledgers. Additionally I see vertical utility chains for consumer/LEI identity, KYC, Regs, etc. that cross asset classes. A lot of work to do...
High-Tech Entrepreneur | Executive | Advisor
9 年There is a specific reason why OSI is limited to 7 layers and US phone numbers (excluding area code) to 7 digits: human brain capacity. Also, from the architectural perspective, stacking the financial transactions (blockchains and distributed ledgers) layer on top of the application layer makes little sense: it's the financial applications that use this kind of "foundation tech." If you insist on making it layer 8, then you would need layer 9. If anything, the financial transaction micro-layer is simply part of OSI 7, on which vertical financial apps build.