Permissioned Versus Permissionless Blockchain

Iliana Oris Valiente

As noted elsewhere in this book, the blockchain or distributed ledger phenomenon began with the original implementation of Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency, and the underlying “Bitcoin blockchain” – otherwise referred to as the “blockchain”. In its earliest days, the Bitcoin blockchain was mainly considered a hacker technology that used cryptocurrency to purchase illicit items off the “dark web” – the term commonly used to refer to World Wide Web content that exists on darknets, overlay networks which use the Internet but require specific software, configurations or authorisation to access. Darknet websites are often associated with black market operations, selling or brokering transactions involving drugs, weapons, counterfeit currency, forged documents and other illicit goods, as well as the sale of legal products. The pseudonymous¹¹Pseudonymous, a word derived from pseudonym, meaning “false name”, is a state of disguised identity. nature of the public Bitcoin network was appealing to the dark web-based marketplace; those participating in trades could exchange goods and make payments anonymously without the need of a bank to facilitate and therefore track transactions. What enabled