Public blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to have an exaggerated influence on the overall perception of blockchain technology. As a consequence, trustlessness is often presented as the central characteristic of blockchain: It is claimed that blockchain designers must assume that users do not trust each other and that there is no trusted third party.

This paper presents a corresponding framework for analyzing and designing blockchain systems in the supply chain sector. It outlines the benefits of blockchain technology, provides guidance on deriving requirements from the use case, and distills critical implementation features.

The article provides information on non-technical characteristics of fifteen DLTs, including the activity of the developing community, the popularity of the DLTs, and available documentation.