The US National Institute of Standards and Technology have produced a Blockchain Technology Overview (NISTIR 8202) with an excellent flowchart addressing “Do You Need A Blockchain?”:

NIST “do you need a blockchain flowchart” https://t.co/DvBXUjYmDF pic.twitter.com/eJC4MyFV82

— Justin Cormack (@justincormack) October 7, 2018

Chances are you’ve seen a shorter, more flippant version: “Do You Need A Blockchain? No” (thanks Betteridge), which is a pretty accurate rule of thumb. If you’re not totally clear you need a bit of currently-hyped tech then you probably don’t.

But not everyone has the technical context and experience to make that snap judgement, and this is where the NIST flowchart shines. It explicitly looks at desired properties and potential use-cases, and suggests alternative solutions.

You’ll probably still arrive at the same conclusion, because no you probably don’t need a blockchain, but the NIST flowchart is a handy tool to help you explain why.