Blockchain and the related issues: a review of current research topics

Abstract

The blockchain represents emerging technologies and future trends. For the traditional social organization and mode of operation, the development of the blockchain is a revolution. As a decentralized infrastructure and distributed general ledger agreement, the blockchain presents us with a great opportunity to establish data security and trust for automation and intelligence development in the Internet of Things (IoT) and it creates a new un-centralized programmable smart ecosystem. Our research synthesizes and analyses extant articles that focus on blockchain-related perspectives which will potentially play an important role in sustainable development in the world. Blockchain applications and future directions always attract more attention. Blockchain technology provides strong scalability and interoperability between the intelligent and the physical worlds.

Keywords:

• blockchain
• blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS)
• smart contract
• Internet of Things (IoT)
• cryptocurrency
• Bitcoin
• Ethereum
• Hyperledger

Notes

1 https://www.ethereum.org/.

2 https://www.hyperledger.org/projects.

3 Walmart. “Food Security Supply Chain Tracking”. Website access: http://fortune.com/2017/08/22/walmart-blockchain-ibm-food-nestle-unilever-tyson-dole/.

4 https://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/50613.wss.