Page 32 - Understandinging Forensic Technology Landscape

Blockchain

Blockchain in the forensic context

Blockchain technology, or distributed ledger technology, once recorded. Individual transactions, once registered
is a transactional system that allows for tracking within a block, are considered unforgeable. Participants
and transfer of assets, recording of payments, and in public blockchains can verify transactions within the
recordkeeping among participants who require secure, chain with full transparency.
trusted, and transparent record-keeping in a manner
not achievable via traditional database and application- Blockchains are used to support cryptocurrencies such
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development architectures. A blockchain architecture as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP. Blockchains are also
can be public (fully decentralized), permissioned being developed for financial services, property title,
(partially decentralized) or private (centralized). agriculture, and logistics chains.

A blockchain’s ledger is distributed and replicated The following illustration demonstrates how
throughout the entire applicable network. Transactions transactions form blocks that are chained together
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on the ledger are grouped into “blocks” that are each in a blockchain framework:
cryptographically signed. The blocks become immutable

Image Source: The great chain of being sure about things, The Economist, economist.com/briefing/2015/10/31/
the-great-chain-of-being-sure-about-things, accessed March 6, 2020

31 It’s worth noting that there are thousands of cryptocurrencies, beyond Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP, traded on various exchanges using blockchains.
32 The great chain of being sure about things, The Economist, economist.com/briefing/2015/10/31/the-great-chain-of-being-sure-about-things, accessed March 6, 2020

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