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                           What Is Blockchain?

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  • The term “blockchain” was first used by Satoshi Nakamoto in a 2008 paper conceptualizing the linking of sequential blocks of data in a networked cryptologic chain.

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  • Nakamoto created the cryptocurrency Bitcoin based on this idea. Bitcoin transactions operate on decentralized data housing. Transactions are made without an established intermediary, such as banks. These transactions rely on encryption for data verification and assurance. 

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  • Although most blockchain applications are used in cryptocurrency transactions, the same idea can be applied to any framework that requires assured, verified information.

 

  • Blockchain uses a system called Hash-Based Cryptology to assure security and trust. Hash uses an encrypted sequence of characters making it computationally impossible to derive the original without a “key.” 

 

  • This information is publicly available only for those within the system. No participant can modify a transaction once it has been recorded on the digital ledger. Ledgers are an inherent tool of business, but blockchain uses technology to overcome some of the disadvantages of private ledgers. 

 

  • If an error occurs, a new transaction must be used to reverse it and both transactions remain visible.  Thus, Blockchains become “immutable digital ledgers” which are chronologically and publicly recorded.

 

  • Each participant in the network can see evidence of all transactions, including any changes made in the record.​

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    http://www.ift.org/Knowledge-Center/Learn-About-Food-Science/Food-Facts/The-Potential-of-

    Blockchain-    Technology-Application.aspx

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   The value of blockchain use in traceability                        systems is based on:

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  •  The swiftness of inquiry.

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  •  The capacity of concurrent anonymity and transparency. 

        This makes it possible to trace product information while                           keeping important proprietary or

        business-competitive information hidden. 

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  •  The immutable and shared nature of the system guarantees all      participants - growers, suppliers, processors, distributors, retailers,  regulators and consumers -  access to an updated copy of the  shared ledger with trusted information. 

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  •  Each transaction is confirmed online by buyers and sellers at the  time of occurrence. 

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    http://www.ift.org/Knowledge-Center/Learn-About-Food-Science/Food-Facts/The-Potential-of-Blockchain-     Technology-Application.aspx

 

 

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yklairmont@kentlaw.iit.edu

   FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.

    Submitted for Legislative Advocacy at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Fall 2018.

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