Background: Health-oriented datasets could be regarded as intangible assets: distinct assets with future economic benefits but without physical properties. While health-oriented datasets -particularly health records, are ascribed
monetary value on the black market, there are few established methods for assessing value for legitimate research and business purposes.
The emergence of blockchain has created new commerce opportunities for transferring assets without intermediaries. The authors propose blockchain is used as a medium by which research datasets could be transacted to provide future value.
In this article, the authors share data valuation methodologies consistent with accounting principles and include discussions of black market valuation of health data, and describe blockchain-based methods of managing real-time payment/micropayment strategies.