DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology)

Think of a ledger that is not kept by a single person, but is copied simultaneously across hundreds of computers spread around the world. Every time someone records an entry, all the copies update and check against one another. If someone tries to cheat by altering their own copy, the rest do not agree with it. That is distributed ledger technology (DLT).

Thanks to this, there is no need for a single bank or notary to say “I hold the truth”: the truth is held by everyone at once. Blockchain is the best-known type of DLT, and it is the foundation on which tokens are created and transferred.

Distributed ledger technology (DLT) is a technology that enables the operation and use of distributed ledgers, understood as information repositories that store data and are shared across a set of network nodes synchronised through a consensus mechanism. Blockchain is one of its most common implementations.

The EU reference legal definition is set out in the MiCA Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, Art. 3(1)(1), and is reiterated in the DLT Pilot Regime Regulation (EU) 2022/858 on market infrastructures based on DLT. EU rules adopt a technology-neutral approach: DLT is the technical means, while the legal classification of the recorded asset (a MiCA crypto-asset or a financial instrument subject to MiFID II Directive 2014/65/EU and to Ley 6/2023 LMVSI) determines the applicable regime.