ABSTRACT
Blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies offer new tamper-proof ways to verify identity and ownership, to make near-instant payments without the need for the involvement of third parties, to store value, to facilitate peer-to-peer fundraising and lending, to automate the execution of contractual agreements and related workflows, to improve auditability, to distribute data storage, and to do all of this more securely. Blockchain is one type of distributed ledger that consists of blocks of data linked or “chained” together using high-end cryptography. A permissionless blockchain is one where anyone can join the network and perform certain actions on the network without requiring permission from anyone else on the network. Mining is the process of verifying transactions to enable new blocks to be added to the blockchain network. A public blockchain is a permissionless blockchain. A private blockchain is a permissioned blockchain, which is owned by an entity.
