Introduction to Blockchain with R

Several studies have pointed to the transformative effects of blockchain on wide spectrum of industries, including banking and finance, as well as accounting/audit firms. The primary objective of this paper is to develop a hands-on tutorial for helping accounting and finance students understand blockchain technology and how it works. To achieve these learning objectives, we adopt the following scaffolding approach: We use a combination of blockchain definitions and narrative story-telling to introduce blockchain concepts and build a foundational knowledge that one should have to understand blockchain technology. We use R to introduce some of these building blocks (e.g., hash, proof-of-work, validation) and demonstrate how a blockchain works