REA, Triple-Entry accounting and Blockchain_ Converging Paths to Shared Ledger Systems

Overview: In this paper, we attempt to trace three intersecting development pathways that represent incarnations of shared ledger systems. In particular, we explore possible connections among the long-established REA and TEA frameworks, and the nascent blockchain technology. By filling in the gaps in the genealogy of shared ledger systems, we correct historical misconceptions, and give due credit to related prior works that have been insufficiently recognised. A clearer understanding of the historical evolution of shared ledger systems potentiates further cross-pollination in academic and practitioner circles, in particular between proponents of Resource-Event-Agents, triple-entry accounting and blockchain.