Tangle vs Blockchain: Difference Between Tangle & Blockchain

Yashasvi Gupta
3 min readMay 28, 2021

Cryptocurrency is a digital medium of exchange that transfers and verifies funds using encryption. Bitcoin is the most widely used cryptocurrency for which Blockchain technology was developed. Even though Blockchain has been the standard cryptocurrency technology for the past few years, issues such as speed and scalability have led to the development of alternative technologies.

Tangle is a relative newcomer in the cryptocurrency world. In this article, we will examine the recent debate between Tangle and Blockchain and determine which is superior.

What is Blockchain?

Blockchain is a cryptographically secured ledger of transactions. It accepts Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum as well as other cryptocurrencies. The ledger is made up of transaction blocks, each of which is cryptographically linked to the next. Each block is linked to the one before it, allowing the ledger’s entire history to be preserved.

Nodes refer to all of the computers involved in these transactions. Ech node independently authenticates the transactions. This means that a transaction can take place once both nodes have confirmed it.

What is Tangle?

Tangle is a cryptocurrency transaction technology similar to Blockchain. A directed acyclic graph (DAG), which resembles a distributed ledger, is used here. DAG is not governed by any outside authority, such as a bank or financial institution.

The best part is that Tangle is IoT-friendly (Internet of Things). The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of interconnected devices that can communicate and share data. This means Tangle will be able to handle large-scale transactions between various connected devices quickly and seamlessly.

What are the differences between a tangle and a blockchain?

Structure — A blockchain is made up of a series of nodes, or data blocks, each one linked to the one before it is a long, ever-growing chain. A tangle, on the other hand, is made up of a collection of data nodes that all flow in the same direction. And, unlike blockchain, which can technically loop back on itself in a circular fashion, the tangle can only move in one direction at a time, never reversing. This allows for a faster data transfer.

Security — Due to its arduous block-formation process, which involves the solution of a mathematical problem and verification through group consensus, blockchain has a higher level of security. Before a device can complete its own transaction and thus create a data node, it must first validate two previous transactions. The tangle is less secure than blockchain due to this less robust procedure.

Decentralization — Both blockchain and the tangle are described as decentralized systems, meaning they are free of outside interference and the fees and obstacles that come with it. However, the tangle has had to put in place a safety net, which it refers to as a “coordinator node.” This node essentially introduces a centralizing factor into the tangle’s structure, undermining claims that it allows for completely autonomous, uninterrupted transactions between IoT machines.

Wrapping up

Blockchain weighs better here. It is far more secure than Tangle and allows for decentralized applications. For cryptocurrency transactions, more companies and users are turning to Blockchain.

Tangle is still in the early stages of development and has some flaws. Because it uses a central coordinator node, the technology cannot be called completely decentralized. This node verifies valid transactions, but Tangle data is not completely self-contained in this regard. The node addition protocol is also less detailed than Blockchain, making it less secure.

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