The blockchain is a decentralized ledger.

It was initially meant to record transactions in

that happen in cryptocurrency within a digital currency network. The key systems behind
“Bitcoin”, the first decentralized digital currency that was created by Satoshi Nakamoto
in 2009 were cryptography and blockchain. Blockchain is a kind of a Peer-to Peer (P2P)
network in which the participants or nodes do not need a central server to host the
blockchain and store the transaction history, unlike server-based systems. Rather, it stores
a copy of the blockchain or the transactions on all network members (nodes) and thus
provides a decentralized and distributed ledger[15].

Each network participant within the blockchain contains both a public and a private key,
and each transaction launched contains some required data concerning the sender,
recipient, property data, time and identification for the sender's prior transaction [15]. An
asset could be a transaction within a supply chain between a purchaser and vendor or any
product. SHA256 (Secure Hash Algorithm 256), a cryptographic hash function creates a
hexadecimal string of 16 digits called the "hash". Hash is created using the transactional
information and the public key of the sender. The hash generated is transaction data
specific and a mixture of public key. A set of transactions divided at random is called a
block. To verify the authenticity of the transactions and the sender, this encrypted
transaction information is decoded. And it can only be decrypted by brute force (that is
randomly attempting different possible combinations). Mining is the hash solution
method. Miners are the nodes that check these transactions. Once the network generates a
block from the pool of unchecked transactions, accessible miners would compete to
check transactions by resolving the cryptographic hash[15].

A consensus algorithm governs the selection process of a blockchain miner. Each block
in a blockchain has three key parts - a hash (distinctive digital identifier), a timestamp
and the previous block's hash. The hash of the past block links the entire block chain
together and thus prevents any block between any two validated blocks from being
updated or inserted. Once it is verified, a transaction is recorded in the blockchain. To
alter the published transaction, an attacker must obtain 51 percent or more of the total
computing energy available in the scheme. Therefore, in a government blockchain
network, a shift in the published transaction value is very difficult. The blockchain is
therefore immune to malicious assaults and operations. Each subsequent block
strengthens the prior block verification and thus blockchain as a whole, leading to the
critical immutability attribute.

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Blockchain’s three significant features that make it an appealing alternative for tracing
and tracking supply chain asset are:
 Decentralized and distributed processing: there is no need for a core control
structure. The method will be distributed to all respondents or embedded
processors throughout the network.
 Synchronized records: Therefore, the ledger is circulated to all players making it
fraud evidence. It guarantees that there is no malicious activity or manipulation.
 Smart and secure information: We can customize the format of the data visible to
each stage in the supply chain by creating a cloud application that run on top of
blockchain architecture. Also the data and transactions in a blockchain are highly
safe and secure.