blockchain
Pluralblockchains
- 1A shared record of past transactions maintained across a distributed network of computers, most often used for cryptocurrency.
Each transaction is verified by the network before it is added to the blockchain.
Some retailers now use blockchains to track shipments from the factory to the store shelf.
Note
A word younger than its idea: the 2008 Bitcoin paper keeps block and chain apart, speaking of a "chain of hash-based proof-of-work," and the compound grew from block chain written open. Technically it is an append-only ledger of cryptographically linked blocks, secured by consensus rather than a central authority. With the, it means one particular chain (the Bitcoin blockchain); bare, it names the technique; plural blockchains counts separate chains.
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Origin
Formed from block + chain, from the earlier two-word form 'block chain'. In the 2008 Bitcoin paper, 'block' and 'chain' appear separately, and the idea was described as a 'chain of hash-based proof-of-work' or a 'chain of digital signatures'.