What Are Decentralised Applications (DApps)? How Do They Work?

Posted by John Kammy on January 2nd, 2021

What Are DApps?

Decentralized Applications or DApps are basically digital applications or programs that operate on a blockchain or a P2P network of computers. Putting it in another way, the open-source software that leverage on blockchain technology is known as Decentralized Application (DApps).

It is a protocol that runs on a distributed computing system. Unlike the centralized platform, no third party is involved in any of the transactions done on the decentralized platform.

Therefore, it solves the issues related to data ownership and anonymity by gaining control of your own data and establishing anonymous access to applications over the internet. A decentralized platform is also known as a peer-to-peer(P2P) network due to the absence of any middleman.

DApp Features

Now that you know what is DApp, let’s move further into the criteria wherein you can judge a DApp:

Open Source: Basically, DApps are governed by autonomy and the consensus or majority of users decide all the changes. Also, the source code of the app is available to all.

Decentralized: To avoid the perils of centralization, all records of the app’s operation needs to be stored on a public and decentralized blockchain.

Incentives: The blockchain validators need to incentivized by gratifying them with cryptographic tokens.

Algorithm: The decentralized application community should agree to a cryptographic algorithm, basically to show the proof of value.