Blockchain for digital preservation: saving humanity's ephemeral data

In an increasingly digital world, the vast and rapidly growing ocean of data we generate - from scientific breakthroughs and artistic creations to personal memories and historical records - is paradoxically fragile. Unlike the tangible artifacts of the past, digital information is susceptible to degradation, corruption, obsolescence and deliberate alteration. The loss of this “ephemeral data” poses a significant threat to our collective memory whereby hindering scientific progress, distorting historical narratives and, ultimately, eroding our understanding of ourselves and our journey. Hence, the challenge lies in creating robust and trustworthy systems for digital preservation - systems that can guarantee the long-term integrity, accessibility and authenticity of digital assets. Traditional approaches, often relying on centralised institutions and fallible technologies, face inherent limitations. Single points of failure, the costs of continuous maintenance and migration and the pote…