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Using distributed hash tables

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Using distributed hash tables

A distributed hash table (DHT) system provides a lookup service similar to a hash table.

The Bitcoin Masterclass (Slovenia) Day 2

Dr Craig S. Wright, Chief Scientist at nChain, held the second edition of his Bitcoin Masterclass series at an exclusive venue in Slovenia in February. The Masterclass course forms part of a monthly series aimed at helping attendees understand the fundamentals of Bitcoin and the technology behind it.

The Bitcoin Masterclass series will give you a comprehensive overview of Bitcoin’s history, theory and design. Wright discussed the future of Bitcoin and the unbounded scalability of nChain’s blockchain solutions, with potential use cases across several industries.

In the first session on the second day of his Slovenian Masterclass, Dr Wright discussed using distributed hash tables to create a truly decentralised network. He also talked about how these types of networks can regain control from the Silicon Valley giants and return it to the individual.

DHTs and decentralisation

A distributed hash table (DHT) system provides a lookup service similar to a hash table. Key–value pairs are stored in a DHT, and any participating node can efficiently retrieve the value associated with a given key. The main advantage of a DHT is that nodes can be added or removed with minimum work around re-distributing keys.

Dr Wright noted that while people often describe distributed hash tables as ‘decentralised’, he noted that they are only decentralised in the sense that they are stored across multiple nodes.

He added that a single node going offline would lead to trouble, whereas having multiple nodes means the chance of information being lost is significantly lower. More nodes are better, but there are diminishing returns after the first few, he said.

Shifting the power away from Silicon Valley

Dr Wright explained that distributed systems offer solutions to the problems caused by big Silicon Valley companies. Establishing data access standards and utilising multiple access methods can bring improvements.

For instance, competing apps can access blockchain-stored data, enabling users to switch between apps while retaining data access through key authentication (e.g. using a seed phrase for wallet switching).

This competition among app developers will drive innovation, addressing the lack of innovation caused by monopolistic control in Silicon Valley. Distributed Hash Tables (DHTs) offer a decentralised approach to information distribution and storage.

Dr Wright also explores how peer-to-peer networks can enable secure and pseudonymous communication between two parties. This prevents data harvesters from gaining access to communications for personal agendas. Dr Wright emphasises that privacy is about empowering individuals.

In this session, Dr Wright also covered:

  • Robust microservices systems
  • Source-specific multicast
  • Hash stored in the blockchain
  • The right to privacy
  • ID searching on DHTs
  • Multicast groups

You can watch his full presentation below:

Ryan Brothwell

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