This document provides an overview of blockchain technology. It describes how a blockchain is a growing list of records or blocks secured using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, timestamp, and transaction data linking it to the previous block. Blockchains use a peer-to-peer network to validate new blocks and maintain a distributed ledger without a central authority. The first conceptualization of blockchain was for bitcoin, which uses the technology to power a cryptocurrency with a finite and decentralized currency.