blockchain

noun

block·​chain ˈbläk-ˌchān 

: a digital database containing information (such as records of financial transactions) that can be simultaneously used and shared within a large decentralized, publicly accessible network

also : the technology used to create such a database

The technology at the heart of bitcoin and other virtual currencies, blockchain is an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way.

—Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani

Examples of blockchain in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Crypto Confidential: Forbes' definitive guide to crypto and blockchain, delivered to your inbox every Saturday. —Becca Bratcher, Forbes.com, 20 Apr. 2025

Editors and writers were encouraged to produce stories about the blockchain. —Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 18 Apr. 2025

Crypto staking involves temporarily locking up a certain amount of cryptocurrency to participate in a blockchain network. —Julia Shapero, The Hill, 18 Apr. 2025

Distributed via the Solana blockchain, $MELANIA initially soared to $13.73 per token and a market cap of $2.1 billion. —Gordon G. Chang, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

2011, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for blockchain

• abstain
• airplane
• alkane
• arcane
• arraign
• attain
• backplane
• betaine
• biplane
• butane
• campaign
• cetane