In one aspect, the invention comprises a system and method for control of a transaction state system utilizing a distributed ledger. First, the system and method includes an application plane layer adapted to receive instructions regarding operation of the transaction state system. Preferably, the application plane layer is coupled to the application plane layer interface. Second, a control plane layer is provided, the control plane layer including an adaptive control unit, such as a cognitive computing unit, artificial intelligence unit or machine-learning unit. Third, a data plane layer includes an input interface to receive data input from one or more data sources and to provide output coupled to a decentralized distributed ledger, the data plane layer is coupled to the control plane layer. Optionally, the system and method serve to implement a smart contract on a decentralized distributed ledger.