Agrtech is one of the biggest tech stories of the decade, with admirers from Bill Gates to Richard Branson and banks and insurers falling over themselves to get their hands on it. But despite its reputation for impenetrability, it’s actually a very simple idea: a distributed ledger that records transactions and moves data across a network without centralized authority, making it tamperproof and transparent.

The key to a blockchain’s strength lies in its cryptographic linking of blocks of stored transaction data, where each block contains a digital fingerprint or unique identifier (known as a hash), a timestamp, and the transaction data (generally represented as a Merkle tree). Once recorded, a blockchain can’t be altered without altering all subsequent transactions in that same block.

The Blockchain Explained: How It’s Changing Industries Across the Globe

That’s why blockchain is called a decentralized ledger: the transactions are verified by a global network of computers beyond the control of any person, company, or country. As a result, companies can cut out middlemen and rely on deterministic open-source software that executes exactly as instructed, increasing efficiency, eliminating reconciliations, and cutting out counterparty risk.

But the potential for blockchain goes well beyond cryptocurrencies and into the realm of everyday business processes that involve value, from tracking food safety outbreaks to connecting consumers directly with their suppliers. Read on to learn more about the basics of blockchain, including how a permissioned blockchain works for business transactions, how the technology differs from traditional record-keeping, and its ability to build new levels of trust and transparency.