What is Blockchain Technology?

One of the majorly hyped supply chain trends for 2021 is blockchain technology. Euromoney describes blockchain as “a system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack, or cheat the system.” Essentially, it is a digital ledger where transactions are duplicated and distributed across a computer network, similar to blocks in a chain. Every time a new transaction occurs, a record is added to every participant’s ledger, meaning that any tampering or hacking attempt would be immediately apparent. 

For example, Bitcoin’s entire cryptocurrency network relies on blockchain technology to create their shared public ledger. Investopedia notes that studying how Bitcoin has implemented blockchain is a beneficial way to further understand the technology overall. They use it to store the entire history of all Bitcoin transactions and to enforce that none of the historical information on transactions can be altered. 

Supply Chain and Cerasis both list blockchain as one of their Top 2021 Supply Chain Trends to Watch, and say that more and more organizations are turning to blockchain technology to provide supply chain visibility and make the entire process more transparent overall. However, Forbes insists that at this moment, blockchain is simply technology that is getting a lot of publicity without yet proving much value. 

You can learn more about the latest supply chain trends at the Retail Supply Chain & Logistics Expo happening on September 1 & 2, 2021 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Get your free tickets today!