3.1 Introduction

Distributed ledger technology (DLT) is an emerging technology and there is a real buzz in several parts of the insurance industry, mainly generated by insurtech start-ups,2 that it can dramatically alter the way insurance business operates. In simple terms, DLT is a database that is distributed across several independent computing devices (nodes), such that changes to the data are protected and managed by cryptography and consensus, ensuring that data cannot be improperly tampered with and that all parties have identical copies that can be considered as a reliable source of truth.3 As such, many believe that in the insurance sector it can help to achieve efficiencies in risk pooling and claims management, and play a vital role in detecting and eliminating fraud.