Derivation of Categories for Interoperability of Blockchain- and Distributed Ledger Systems

Due to increasing security requirements e. g. for transaction based smart-x-technologies in distributed systems, blockchain technologies are predestined for secure data exchange and keeping in distributed systems. Although the underlying principle of almost every blockchain is the Byzantine fault tolerance (BFT), its implementation differs signiĄcantly between the technologies so that migration or interoperability between systems is nearly impossible. Additionally, this missing interoperability also reduces the chance for scalability between different extents of implementation as there is usually not a one-size-Ąts-all-blockchain: Different technologies have their advantages for different systems. Therefore scalability and interoperability are tightly coupled. As a basis for further research on and the derivation of generally scalable and interoperable architectures of blockchains, current technologies have to be made comparable and interoperability criteria have to be developed. This paper analyses current literature and introduces technical criteria for the comparison of blockchainand distributed ledger technologies (BC/DLT).With a list of eleven criteria popular BC/DLTs such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric, Ripple and Corda are compared regarding general features.