275

Blockchain versus IOTA Tangle

on IoT applications. Technically, attention is drawn to blockchain’s and IOTA’s archi­

tectural features: their consensus protocol and data structure, to be exact. Blockchain

technology adopts PoW, PoS, Byzantine fault-tolerant, and others as the consensus

protocol. These methods require miners, attracting enormous computation resources

as well as high network fees. On the contrary, IOTA implements consensus using

MCMC plus tiny PoW. This approach does not require miners, nor does it consume

high computation power. Above all, it is fee free.

Furthermore, blockchain implements a hash-graph data structure that sequen­

tially attaches one block at a time. This results in high network overhead, high com­

puting overhead, high storage overhead and low throughput (see detailed summary

in Table16.1). The limitations account for the scalability bottleneck in blockchain

technology. However, IOTA adopts DAG, an enhanced data structure, to address the

scalability challenge of blockchain. In other words, IOTA is relatively highly scal­

able, fast, high throughput, and fee free. Moreover, it is designed explicitly for IoT

with low resource constraints.

In conclusion, owing to the prominent IOTA features outlined, it stands out as a bet­

ter IoT application option. It is noteworthy that the volatility of the IOTA token renders

it inappropriate for a business transaction. This drawback could be a research prospect.​

REFERENCES

A, S. (2018). Copyright in the blockchain era: Promises and challenges. Comput Law Secur

Rev, 34(3), 550–561.

Ashton, K. (2009). That “Internet of Things” Thing. RFID Journal, 22, 97–114.

Bansal, B., & Rana, S. (2017). Internet of Things: Vision, Applications, and Challenges.

International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT), 47(7), 380–384

May 2017. Seventh sense research group

TABLE 16.1

Comparison of Blockchain and IOTA

S/N

Description

IOTA Tangle

Blockchain

1

Consensus protocol

MCMC (coordinators) plus tiny PoW

PoW

2

Data structure

Direct acyclic graph

Sequential

3

Speed (TPS)

250

7

4

Computing resources

Low

Very high

5

Microtransactions

Support

Does not support

6

Transaction charges

Fee free

High transaction charges

7

IoT devices

Suitable

Unsuitable

8

IoT supported hardware

Available

Not available

9

Token volatility

Highly volatile

Moderately

10

Payment medium

Not suitable

Suitable

Ahi, A., & Singh, A.V. (2019). Role of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to Enhance Resiliency in

Internet of Things (IoT) Ecosystem. 2019 Amity International Conference on Artificial Intelligence

(AICAI), 782–786.