Improving transparency and efficiency in international trade through blockchain technology

Abstract

The inception of Bitcoin and the underlying blockchain technology has since established a system for digital transactions between two parties, predicated on cryptographic proof, thereby eliminating the need for an external financial institution ( Nakamoto, 2008 ). As per the definition provided by the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) (2018) , a blockchain is a tamper-resistant distributed ledger, safeguarded by cryptography, that maintains a record of all transactions occurring on the network and ensures transparency for all participants. These attributes render blockchain technology apt for industries necessitating secure, expedient, and transparent transactions, such as banking and finance ( Saheb & Mamaghani, 2021 ), supply chains ( Saberi et al., 2019 ), and healthcare (Samsir & Jain, 2022), among others.