Blockchain Eyes the Trust Gaps of the Chiplet Era

As chiplet supply chains splinter, researchers explore blockchain for provenance, while industry and regulators push broader traceability goals

4 Feb 2026

The rise of chiplet-based design is forcing the semiconductor industry to confront a basic problem: how to know where every part of a processor comes from and who is responsible for it.

Advanced packaging and modular architectures are changing how chips are built. Instead of a single, vertically integrated process, modern processors are assembled from multiple chiplets that may be designed, manufactured, tested and packaged by different companies, often in different countries. The approach has helped improve performance and speed innovation. It has also reduced visibility across the supply chain.

That loss of transparency has practical implications. Manufacturers worry about hidden defects or deliberate tampering. Customers want confidence in quality and security. Regulators are pressing for clearer records of origin and handling, particularly as semiconductors become more important to national security and industrial policy. Tracing responsibility becomes more complex when no single firm controls the full process.

Against that backdrop, blockchain has emerged as a theoretical solution. Academic researchers have outlined systems in which key events in a chiplet’s life, such as fabrication steps, testing or transfers of custody, are recorded on distributed ledgers designed to be difficult to alter and easy to audit. Most of this work remains conceptual, focused on system design, trust models and governance rather than large-scale industrial use.

Industry and policymakers, however, appear more focused on the broader issue of traceability than on any specific technology. Standards bodies and government agencies are holding discussions on supply chain transparency and resilience. Recent workshops organised by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology have highlighted shared concerns about how information is recorded, exchanged and verified across the semiconductor ecosystem, without endorsing blockchain as a preferred approach.

Analysts are cautious. While blockchain promises a shared record among competing firms, questions remain over cost, interoperability, data accuracy and alignment with existing standards. There is also little public evidence that major chipmakers are using blockchain today to track chiplets in high-volume manufacturing.

For now, blockchain remains more an idea than an operating system for the chiplet economy. As modular designs become more widespread, research, standards-setting and policy debates will determine whether it evolves into a practical tool or remains part of a broader search for trustworthy semiconductor supply chains.