LedgerLoops

Cover Block

Field	Value
Name	LedgerLoops
Tagline	Decentralized peer-to-peer obligation clearing network for invoices and receipts between ledgers
Founded	2016 (rebooted from a 2011 OpenTabs proposal) [LedgerLoops]
Business Model	B2B
Industry	Fintech
Technology	Blockchain / Web3, distributed ledger primitives
Founder	Michiel de Jong [LinkedIn]

Links

• Website: https://ledgerloops.com/
• GitHub: https://github.com/ledgerloops
• Founder LinkedIn (Michiel de Jong): https://www.linkedin.com/in/michielbdejong/
• Whitepaper (PDF): https://ledgerloops.com/doc/whitepaper.pdf

The Short Version

LedgerLoops is a long-running open-source effort to build a peer-to-peer obligation clearing network that lets businesses settle invoices and receipts between independent ledgers without moving cash [LedgerLoops]. The project traces back to a 2011 post on the Unhosted mailing list proposing an IOU-centric e-invoicing protocol, and was renamed from OpenTabs to LedgerLoops in the fall of 2016 after a loop-resolution algorithm ("challenge and trigger") was added [LedgerLoops]. The technical premise: when a chain of mutual debts forms a loop across counterparties, the loop can be detected and cleared, reducing the working capital each party needs to keep on hand [LedgerLoops whitepaper]. Founder Michiel de Jong, who has previously worked on web standards and decentralized data (Unhosted, Remote Storage), continues to publish on the topic, including a recent retrospective titled "Network Ledger Technology: The First 15 Years" [LinkedIn]. The project remains bootstrapped, with no confirmed institutional funding rounds and no reported revenue [GetLatka].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Confirmed via LedgerLoops primary sources and founder LinkedIn; commercial metrics are sparse.

Taxonomy Snapshot

Axis	Value
Business Model	B2B protocol / open-source
Industry / Vertical	Fintech, e-invoicing, mutual credit
Technology Type	Distributed ledger, loop-detection algorithms
Founding Team	Solo technical founder (Michiel de Jong)
Funding	Bootstrapped; no disclosed institutional rounds

The Company in Brief

LedgerLoops began as a research and standards-adjacent project. According to the project's own "Initiation" page, the seed idea was a simple IOU-centric e-invoicing protocol proposed in a 2011 post to the Unhosted mailing list [LedgerLoops]. In the fall of 2016, a loop-resolution algorithm referred to as "challenge and trigger" was added, and the project was renamed from OpenTabs to LedgerLoops [LedgerLoops].

The founder, Michiel de Jong, describes the 2016 reboot: "In 2016 I rebooted the OpenTabs project under the name LedgerLoops, and included a more detailed (but unfinished) distributed loop detection algorithm, and an implementation of debt loop resolution using circular hashlock transactions" [LinkedIn]. His public profile lists Arnhem, Netherlands as his location [LinkedIn].

Milestones include: 2011 protocol proposal, 2016 rename and algorithm addition, ongoing GitHub activity across repositories including ledgerloops, snap-checker, nlt-kit, and the whitepaper repo [GitHub], and a 2024-era retrospective post by the founder framing the work as "Network Ledger Technology: The First 15 Years" [LinkedIn].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Founding chronology corroborated by LedgerLoops site and founder's LinkedIn essay; legal entity and HQ not in the public record.

What They Have Built

The core product proposition is that LedgerLoops "enables businesses to settle transactions without cash, enhancing cash flow and efficiency in peer-to-peer networks" [LedgerLoops whitepaper]. The system is "designed for those who frequently do business with each other" and works "like having a secret handshake that lets you settle your accounts automatically" [LedgerLoops].

Under the hood, the public artifacts point to several building blocks. The whitepaper repository and the main ledgerloops.com repository describe a distributed loop-detection approach, and the founder's own retrospective references "circular hashlock transactions" as the settlement primitive [LinkedIn]. Companion repositories on GitHub, including snap-checker and nlt-kit, suggest the project is structured as a protocol plus reference tooling rather than a hosted SaaS product [GitHub].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Product description sourced to primary site and GitHub; absence of third-party validation noted.

Market Research and Opportunity

The market that LedgerLoops addresses, business-to-business obligation clearing and the working-capital drag that trade credit creates, is large and structurally inefficient. Globally, e-invoicing mandates are pushing structured invoice data onto shared rails, which creates the data substrate that loop-clearing networks need to function.

Demand drivers include: high short-term interest rates making working capital expensive; the spread of structured e-invoicing mandates lowering integration costs; and the renewed interest in mutual-credit and community-currency networks.

Metric	Value
LedgerLoops reported revenue (trailing year)	$0

Data Accuracy: ORANGE -- Market context is reasoned from public knowledge of e-invoicing and mutual credit; no LedgerLoops-specific third-party TAM was captured.

Who Else Is Fighting for This

LedgerLoops is positioned against older, structurally different approaches to the problem of unpaid invoices and trapped working capital.

In multilateral mutual credit and community currency, established references are Sardex and WIR Bank. In supply-chain finance and dynamic discounting, Taulia, C2FO, and Kyriba address the working-capital pain by mobilizing third-party capital. In AP/AR automation, Bill.com, Coupa, and Tipalti own the system-of-record relationship. In crypto-native payment netting, the Lightning Network and various stablecoin rails have demonstrated hash-locked, multi-hop settlement primitives.

LedgerLoops has a defensible edge as one of the few publicly documented attempts to apply distributed loop-detection algorithms to ordinary B2B invoices rather than crypto payments, supported by more than a decade of design work [LinkedIn].

Opportunity

The size of the prize is to become the open-protocol layer for multilateral obligation netting between businesses.

Scenario	What happens	Catalyst	Why it's plausible
Grant-funded standard	LedgerLoops becomes the reference implementation for a research-funded obligation-clearing standard	NLnet or Interledger Foundation grant plus academic adoption	Founder's prior work in the Unhosted / Remote Storage standards community gives credibility [LinkedIn]
Mutual-credit upgrade	An established mutual-credit network adopts LedgerLoops's loop-detection algorithm	Pilot with a Sardex-style cooperative or a Cyclos deployment	The protocol is explicitly designed for "those who frequently do business with each other" [LedgerLoops]
Embedded clearing layer	An e-invoicing or AP automation vendor embeds LedgerLoops to offer cash-free settlement	Commercial partnership with a Peppol-connected provider	EU e-invoicing mandates create the structured data the protocol requires

Data Accuracy: ORANGE -- Scenarios are analyst constructions grounded in cited primary sources; no commercial traction is yet on the public record.

Sources

1. [LedgerLoops] Ledger Loops - Peer to Peer Obligation Clearing | https://ledgerloops.com/
2. [LedgerLoops] Ledgerloops Whitepaper (PDF) | https://ledgerloops.com/doc/whitepaper.pdf
3. [LedgerLoops] Realization | https://ledgerloops.com/realization
4. [LedgerLoops] Description | https://ledgerloops.com/description
5. [LedgerLoops] Initiation | https://ledgerloops.com/initiation
6. [LedgerLoops] Activation | https://ledgerloops.com/activation
7. [LedgerLoops] Contact | https://ledgerloops.com/contact
8. [GitHub] LedgerLoops organization | https://github.com/ledgerloops
9. [GitHub] ledgerloops/ledgerloops-whitepaper | https://github.com/ledgerloops/ledgerloops-whitepaper
10. [GitHub] ledgerloops/nlt-kit | https://github.com/ledgerloops/nlt-kit
11. [GitHub] ledgerloops/snap-checker | https://github.com/ledgerloops/snap-checker
12. [GitHub] A Revolution in Network Money (issue 83) | https://github.com/ledgerloops/ledgerloops.com/issues/83
13. [LinkedIn] Michiel de Jong profile | https://www.linkedin.com/in/michielbdejong/
14. [LinkedIn] Network Ledger Technology: The First 15 Years (Michiel de Jong) | https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/network-ledger-technology-first-15-years-michiel-de-jong
15. [michielbdejong.com] Network Ledger Technology: The First 15 Years | https://michielbdejong.com/blog/21.html
16. [GetLatka] LedgerLoop AI revenue and team profile | https://getlatka.com/companies/ledgerloop.ai