A system and method is presented for storing a location on a blockchain of a hash, such as a cryptographic hash, digital fingerprint, or digest, of a digital item, such as a document, file, sound clip, or computer code, within the digital item itself. The blockchain may be used for providing a provenance of the digital item by generating the hash of the digital item and submitting it within a transaction to the blockchain. The system and method presented allow the location of the hash within the blockchain to be embedded within the digital item before said hash is generated and submitted, providing a clear link between a record of the hash and the digital item in question, and reducing the computational and network resources required to verify the provenance of the digital item.