Current blockchain research and analytics tend to prioritize observable on-chain transactions, obscuring the processes through which cryptocurrencies are created, publicised, retained, and disposed of. In response, this paper considers distributed ledger technologies from records management principles in ISO 15489-1:2016. Setting off by specifying the parallels -- that is transactions as "records", crypto-asset units as "information assets", and blockchains as "aggregations" -- we introduce a seven-stage lifecycle for blockchain data. We apply the framework to Bitcoin, a fungible token, and a non-fungible token. On this basis, we argue that blockchain systems are not merely transactional infrastructures but record management systems with distinctive characteristics. We discuss how the on-chain/off-chain boundary and privacy-enhancing technologies can complicate lifecycle visibility, with particular relevance for crypto-crime research and investigation. As a meta-level framework, the lifecycle perspective enables positioning existing research, decomposing legal, regulatory, technological, and operational challenges by stage, and informing lifecycle-aware approaches to blockchain governance, analytics, and regulation.

翻译：当前区块链研究与分析往往优先关注可观察的链上交易，却掩盖了加密货币的创建、发布、留存和处置过程。为此，本文依据ISO 15489-1:2016中的记录管理原则，从记录管理视角审视分布式账本技术。通过明确对应关系——将交易视为"记录"、加密资产单元视为"信息资产"、区块链视为"聚合体"——我们提出区块链数据的七阶段生命周期。我们将该框架应用于比特币、可替代代币与非同质化代币。基于此，我们论证区块链系统不仅是交易基础设施，更是具有独特特征的记录管理系统。我们探讨了链上/链下边界及隐私增强技术如何使生命周期可见性复杂化，这对加密犯罪研究与调查具有特殊意义。作为元级框架，生命周期视角能够定位现有研究，按阶段分解法律、监管、技术和运营挑战，并为区块链治理、分析与监管提供生命周期感知方法。