As part of the Bitcoin rollout (2009), alias designer Satoshi Nakamoto also devised the first blockchain database.  This database is unique in that it records transactions without the need for a central banking authority.  This decentralized technology involves a global network of computers used to jointly manage data that records Bitcoin transactions.  The name blockchain is derived from the way the information is collected – in blocks, found every ten minutes or so, in a random process called mining.  As the transactions transfer ownership of Bitcoin balances, each of these blocks represents an update of the user’s balances on the network.

In January the ABA published a good-read piece on The Promise of Blockchain in Law, and in a recent Bloomberg article about How Blockchain Technology is Transforming the Legal Industry was published was published this month.  Both are important reads for lawyers – whether their firm ever employs this technology – they should at least be informed enough to respond to inquiries from clients on this frequently surfacing technology issue.