Blockchain Forensics

Blockchain

A distributed, immutable digital ledger that records transactions across a network of computers without a central authority.

Distributed Ledger Technology

A digital system for recording, sharing, and synchronising data across multiple sites without a central administrator.

Consensus Mechanism

The method by which a distributed network agrees on the current state of the ledger and validates transactions.

Proof of Work

A consensus mechanism requiring computational effort to validate transactions and create new blocks, used by Bitcoin.

Proof of Stake

A consensus mechanism where validators are selected based on the amount of cryptocurrency they hold and stake.

Delegated Proof of Stake

A consensus mechanism where token holders vote for delegates who validate transactions on their behalf.

Byzantine Fault Tolerance

The ability of a distributed system to reach consensus despite some nodes acting maliciously or failing.

Merkle Tree

A hash-based data structure that efficiently verifies the integrity and consistency of large sets of data.

Hash Function

A mathematical function that converts input data of any size into a fixed-size output, used extensively in blockchain security.

Cryptographic Hash

A one-way function producing a fixed-length output that is computationally infeasible to reverse or find collisions for.

Public Key Cryptography

An encryption system using mathematically linked key pairs — a public key for encryption and a private key for decryption.

Digital Signature

A cryptographic mechanism that verifies the authenticity and integrity of digital messages or documents.

A non-transferable digital token permanently associated with an individual's blockchain address, used to represent credentials, affiliations, and reputation in a verifiable manner.

Physical or traditional financial assets such as real estate, commodities, and securities that are represented as digital tokens on a blockchain for improved liquidity and accessibility.

Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge — a compact zero-knowledge proof requiring no interaction between prover and verifier.

A digital asset created and managed on a blockchain, representing value, utility, or ownership rights.

A technical standard for implementing fungible tokens on the Ethereum blockchain.

The ability of different blockchain networks to communicate, share data, and transfer value between each other.

A collection of funds locked in a smart contract that provides liquidity for decentralised trading and lending.

An uncollateralised loan in DeFi that must be borrowed and repaid within a single blockchain transaction.

Clustering

Unsupervised learning technique that groups similar data points together based on inherent patterns without predefined labels.

Compliance

Adherence to laws, regulations, guidelines, and specifications relevant to an organisation's business.