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Blockchain Technology: An Overview

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 Blockchain Technology: An Overview

Shamima Nasrin Mukta

Assistant Professor

Department of Humanities

Chittagong University of Engineering & Technology (CUET)

Chottogram, Bangladesh.

Email: s.mukta91@cuet.ac.bd

1
 Blockchain Technology: An Overview

Abstract: Blockchain technology is relatively a new area of research. This technology

has created high expectations as all transactions are performed in a decentralized
mode without the help of any third party. There is a scarcity of knowledge and
understanding of blockchain technology that hinders its academic research and
practical application. It is expected that this paper will be an addition to the existing
stock of knowledge regarding blockchain technology. The objectives of this paper
are to provide an overview of blockchain technology, to identify the current standing
of blockchain technology and to identify major areas of application for which
blockchain offers a valuable solution. It also attempts to identify major challenges
associated with its application. Literature review approach was adopted in this paper
in order to attain the objectives. This research finds that special features of
blockchain technology such as privacy, security, anonymity, decentralization and
transparency, make it unique to users in different areas. The paper also observes
that blockchain technology is being used in very limited areas. It is expected to
evolve in functionality and bring revolution in many industries in terms of time,
efficiency and accuracy.
Keywords: Blockchain Technology, P2P network, Transparency.

Introduction:

The development of new technologies always brings radical transformations in the

ways of doing work and disruptive change in the society. Steam, for example,

powered the industrialization of economies and fostered the displacement of large

segments of the working populace as well as laying the foundations for seemingly

unstoppable environmental decline, (Lewandowsky, 2016; Kittel, 1967). Blockchain

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promises similarly startling disruption to business and society (Naughton, 2016).

Blockchain is a digital, decentralized public ledger that intends to keep a record of

each data transaction occurring in its network. Each transaction in the distributed

ledger is verified by consensus of a majority of the participants in the network. Once

entered, information can never be erased. The blockchain contains a certain and

verifiable re¬cord of every single transaction ever made. In other words, blockchain

provides an immutable, trusted and secure platform for multiple entities (both

individuals and organizations) to exchange data/assets, collaborate and perform

transactions (Allladi et al). This prevents fraud and ensures a digital form of

verification allowing for “tustless” peer to peer transactions. This technology has

been said to “change market paradigms” (Gumsheimer et al . 2016), to be able to

“reverse the fortunes of the post-crisis financial sector” (Grewe & Bosch, 2016), and

is predicted to be the technology “most likely to change the next decade of business”

across all industries (Tapscott & Tapscott, 2016a). Blockchains are associated with

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Ripple. However, it should

be emphasized that cryptocurrencies are a by-product of blockchains and

blockchains are able to exist independently of any cryptocurrencies (Greenspan,

2015). This disruptive technology will influence significantly national governance,

institutional functions, business operations, education, and our daily lives in the 21st

century. Swan (2015) indicated that the development of blockchain applications

could be divided into three stages; Blockchain 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0. Blockchain 1.0 is the

deployment of cryptocurrencies as a peer-to-peer cash payment system. Blockchain

2.0 is the extensive blockchain applications than simple cash transactions including

stocks, bonds, loans, smart property, and smart contacts. Blockchain 3.0 is

developing blockchain applications beyond currency, finance and markets such as in

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the areas of government, health, science, literacy, culture, and art. According to the

previously mentioned principle, the current application of blockchain is still in the 1.0

and 2.0 stages. Most people do not know about the term “blockchain,” not to

mention the potential applications of blockchain technology. Against this backdrop,

the study is conducted to achieve the following specific objectives.

Specific Objectives:

 To provide an outline of blockchain technology;

 To identify the current standing of blockchain technology;

 To identify major areas of application for which blockchain offers a valuable

solution;

 To identify major challenges associated with its application.

Methodology:

The paper is prepared on the basis of available literatures. In order to complete a

review of the current landscape of blockchain technology a systematic literature

review is conducted. The major aim of literature review is to assemble the basic

types and characteristics of blockchain technology as well as the types of benefits

and barriers that have been identified until now. A substantial body of literature

exists on blockchain have been collected from various sources, such as blogs, wikis,

forum posts, codes, conference proceedings and journal papers. For selecting the

articles, the major databases such as IEEE explorer, Springer link, ACM digital library

and Google scholar were searched for related articles. In particular, the research

began by searching for relevant publications using the following

keywords:“blockchain overview”, "blockchain government", "blockchain public sector",

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"blockchain benefits", "blockchain barriers", "blockchain challenges", "blockchain

public services", “blockchain energy”, “blockchain applications”, “blockchain

business”, “Blockchain supply chain”, “blockchain opportunities, “Blockchain e

voting”, “blockchain healthcare”, “blockchain education”, “blockchain banking” etc.

Finally the author conceptualizes the concept ‘blockchain technology’, contextualizes

its initial application and traces its subsequent evolution into other fields of studies

chronologically. The results of the study are then elaborated followed by a

discussion of the blockchain application research landscape and the various fields

covered as well as the respective blockchain contributions suggested by the

literature.

Organization of the paper:

The paper presents an outline of blockchain technology and its main features along

with types first. And then it discusses existing or future use cases found in the

literature and the impact that blockchain could have on multiple industries.

Moreover, possible concerns that may arise from the expansion of blockchain

applications to various sectors are taken into consideration in presentation.

An Outline of Blockchain Technology:

Blockchain has most often been associated with the cryptocurrency bitcoin, as its

underlying technology which was first introduced in 2008 in a white paper by Satoshi

Nakamoto (2008). Satoshi Nakamoto defined blockchain in the simplest form. He

stated blockchain as a chain that is constructed from many blocks that contain

information. Blockchain is a decentralized electronic database (decentralized ledger)

that is consists of an ever-increasing list of records made up of blocks. Each block

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typically contains transaction data, a timestamp, and a hash pointer to link to the

previous block. Thus a chain is formed by linking blocks with each block containing

the hash value of the previous block. Davidson et al. (2016) characterized blockchain

as a catallaxy for being a robust, protected and transparent ledger since it

implements secured mechanism using cryptography. According to Crosby et al.

(2016), blockchain is a distributed online database of all digital events occurred

among the participant nodes in a network. He provided an overview of blockchain

technology and described some challenges, which can be overcome by blockchain

and some limitations to be resolved in future work. Buterin (2015), referred

blockchain as a crypto economical secured magic computer that includes self

executable programs with records of all previous and current states. Carlozo (2017)

described blockchain technology as the backbone of each digital transaction. He

also asserted that blockchain would offer more dynamic approaches to business.

Blockchain operates via a generalized process. The process starts with a transaction

request from any user (node) in a peer to peer (P2P) network. Then the transaction is

broadcasted to all the users in the network. Following that, the verification process

takes place where all of the nodes in P2P network verify the transactions via the

hashes. Once the verification is completed, the transaction data are stored within a

new block. Finally, the new block is connected to blockchain using hashed value of

the information from the previous block, which makes it permanent and

unchangeable. In every blockchain, the first block is known as the Genesis block

which works as foundation of the chain. Every newly created block is then connected

with the preceding blocks in the chain; thus, every block is connected eventually to

the genesis block. In addition to the information contained in each block, a

cryptographic hash is also present. Every block of the chain includes its own hash

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and the previous's one. The hash is as like as fingerprint that uniquely identifies each

block and its contents. Thus, any change in the block's content will result in a change

in the associated hash (Beck, 2018). Hashes play a vital role in the blockchain

operation since it works as a main guarantee for blockchain security. This technique

makes the blockchain technology one of the most secure options in the industry

nowadays (Karame & Capkun, 2018). In the case when information in a block is

changed, the hash of the block itself will change; however, the hash in the next block

will not. This results in indicating all the following blocks as an invalid block.

Therefore, a change in the single block in the blockchain results in invalidating all the

following blocks in the chain (Karame and Capkun 2018).

The use of hashes provides security in the blockchain. However, with the help of the

super-fast computers, hackers could change the information in a single block and

then all the hashes of the following blocks can be recalculated in the chain in a few

minutes. To overcome this issue, several algorithms have been created, what is

known as the consensus (Moubarak et al., 2018). The process of the consensus

includes the verification of the transactions before that are added to the blockchain.

This allows the blockchain to grow without the fear of the manipulating of the blocks

or the information within them. The consensus process takes place in predefined

discrete time intervals. These intervals represent the times from the initiation of the

transactions to the time of its addition to the blockchain. The confirmation time

depends on the block size, transaction volumes, and the consensus algorithms

utilized. Consensus algorithms with variable properties have been developed and

utilized in the industry nowadays. According to Luke et al., (2018), the four well-

known consensus algorithms are:

 Proof of Work (PoW);

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  Proof of Stake (PoS);

 Proof of Authority (PoA);

 Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT).

Blockchains are associated with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies such as Litecoin

and Ripple. However, it should be emphasized that cryptocurrencies are a by-product

of blockchains and blockchains are able to exist independently of any

cryptocurrencies (Greenspan 2015). Gupta (2017) identified five core elements that

constitute the major elements of blockchain technology:

a. Distributed database -The data is not controlled by any single party.

The complete database, including its history is available to each

participant of a blockchain. Participants can by themselves validate the

records of their transaction partners.

b. Peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions - Peers communicate directly with

each other rather than through a central node and each node keeps and

forwards data to all other nodes.

c. Transparency with pseudonymity -Transactions are observable by any

allowed node. Each node can keep its identity anonymous or

alternatively provide evidence of its identity.

d. Immutability of records - When a transaction has occurred, its record is

immutable since it is “chained” to all prior transactions.

e. Computational logic - Algorithms and rules can be created to trigger

transactions automatically (e.g. smart contracts).

Some special features make blockchain different from other similar technologies

which could be summarized in the following points:

 Decentralized: There is no need for central authority to handle the

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 transactions of the blockchain.

 Resilience: Blockchain is resilient to any possible attacks due to its

decentralization nature.

 Time reduction: Transactions are handled quickly in the blockchain without

the need for an intermediary.

 Reliability: This is more reliable due to the detailed and unchangeable history

recoded in the blockchain.

 Fraud prevention: Information sharing and consensus process prevent fraud.

 Security: It is more secured due to use of unique hash in each block.

 Transparency: All the changes and the transactions are shared with all the

blockchain users.

Initially blockchain technology was introduced with the use of cryptocurrency, Bitcoin.

The ways people use blockchain technology vary from case to case. Buterin (2015)

roughly categorised blockchain systems into three types: public blockchain, private

blockchain and consortium blockchain. Besides this, there is another type of

blockchain, known as hybrid blockchain. A brief description of all these types is given

below:

a. Public blockchain: The public blockchain is non restrictive, permission less

and open to all of the users. Anybody who has access to internet can join in a

blockchain platform, become an authorised node, access all records and

verify transactions. Basically public blockchain is used for mining and

exchanging cryptocurrencies. Example: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin.

b. Private blockchain: A private blockchain can be defined as a permission

blockchain that works in a restrictive environment, i.e., a closed network.

Private blockchains are usually used within an organization where only

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 selected members have access to a blockchain network. The level of security,

authorizations, permissions, accessibility is in the hands of the controlling

organization. Private blockchain networks are used for voting, supply chain

management, digital identity, asset ownership, etc. Examples: Multichain and

Hyperledger projects (Fabric, Sawtooth), Corda, etc.

c. Consortium blockchain: Here, a single group of the users can be allowed to

view, verify or add to the blockchain. Thus, it is controlled by authorized nodes

only. The main difference between private blockchain and consortium is that

consortium blockchains are governed by a group rather than a single

entity. More than one organization can act as a node in this type of blockchain

and exchange information or do mining. Consortium blockchains are typically

used by banks, government organizations, etc. Examples: Marco Polo, Energy

Web Foundation, IBM Food Trust.

d. Hybrid blockchain: A hybrid blockchain is a mixture of the private and public

blockchain. This means that it combines the privacy benefits of a private

blockchain with the security and transparency benefits of a public blockchain.

With such a hybrid network, users can control who gets access to which data

stored in the blockchain. A transaction in a private network of a hybrid

blockchain is usually verified within that network. But users can also release it

in the public blockchain to get verified. Only a selected section of data or

records from the blockchain can be allowed to go public keeping the rest as

confidential in the private network. Example of a hybrid blockchain is

Dragonchain.

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Applications of Blockchain:

Cryptocurrencies: Cryptocurrencies are first application of blockchain technology

and constitute a major application area for the blockchain technology. A

cryptocurrency is a medium of exchange like Taka but is digitally created and stored

using encryption techniques to control the creation of monetary units and to verify

transactions. Cryptocurrency is unique because it has no intrinsic value, no physical

form and its supply is not determined by central bank. With the innovation of Bitcoin

in January 2009 blockchain had its first real-world application. Other

cryptocurrencies have been developed, after the release of bitcoin. For example,

Namecoin was released in In April 2011, Litecoin in October 2011. Here, main focus

is on the use of cryptocurrencies as a payment solution. Suppose that user X wants

to transfer money to user Y. When this transaction happens, it is represented as a

block which is transmitted to every node/user of the P2P network. Then, the users

have to verify validity of the transaction. The users have to solve a puzzle in order to

be the first to validate the transaction. This puzzle requires the use of certain

computational power. The puzzle solving procedure is called “mining” and the first

miner who will find the solution gets a bitcoin reward, so miners are competing to be

the fastest to solve the puzzle. The miner needs to ensure two things before

recording any transaction:

i. Ownership of the cryptocur¬rency by sender, through the

digital signa¬ture verification on the transaction.

ii. Sufficiency of crypto¬currency in sender’s account

(wallet), through checking every transaction against the

sender’s account, through checking every transaction

against the sender’s account, or “pub¬lic key”, that is

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 registered in the ledger.

The transaction is completed when 51% of the users approve the provided solution.

Then, the block of the transaction is added to the blockchain. With the addition of

new block, the transaction is finished. The blockchain is a list of blocks that includes

every single transaction that has ever been made. The blocks are visible to all users,

but they cannot be edited.

Following figure shows how cryptocurrencies use blockchain platform:

X wants to The transaction is Nodes in the

send some broadcasted in network verify
money to Y the P2P network validity of
transaction

The money moves The new block is After verification, a new

from X to Y added to existing block is created
blockchain containing the
transaction data

E-government: E-government services to citizens, businesses and public bodies are

expanding rapidly in recent years. The integration of blockchain into government

would allow governments to simultaneously increase the number of services offered

while improving the overall quality and processing times of existing services.

Blockchain also helps to handle transactions involving digitization of assets (e.g.

money, stocks and properties rights) and decentralized exchange (peer to peer

exchange). Introducing blockchain based electronic voting systems can establish

transparent voting system and secure that nobody can manipulate an election

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because everyone is capable to read and verify the votes. Hou (2017) analyzes a

blockchain system that verifies the origin and genuineness of data during

transmission in the e-government and public services, implemented in China.

Using blockchain technology in public sector provides the following advantages:

 Digital ID management

 Secured document handling

 Transparent tax system

 Access to updated public information

 Greater amount of transparency and accessibility between the government

and citizens

Land registration: Existing land registry system involves a lot of intermediaries which

increases risk of fraud, time delay, and excessive human intervention. Blockchain

technology can be applied in land registration to overcome these problems. The land

information such as the physical status and related rights can be registered and

publicised on blockchain where signers can sign the document and other users can

verify it when needed. Any changes made on the land, such as the transfer of land or

the establishment of a mortgage can be recorded and managed on blockchain.

Besides, in the blockchain land registry platform, a digital, decentralized ID as a seller

and buyer can be created which makes ownership transfer simple and quicker than

the traditional method. Though blockchain ensures authenticity of transactions in

land registration system, great care must be taken to ensure that the information

being inputted on the blockchain is in fact true and accurate. Considering its benefits,

some developed countries e.g. United States, Netherlands, UK, Sweden have taken

steps to integrate blockchain technology into countries existing land registration

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system.

Power industry: The power industry is facing major transformations over the past

several years because of utilities embracing newer technologies and newer sources

of power generation. The power grids are becoming very complex to handle due to

variability in demand & supply of power and different types of power grid. Blockchain

as a tool can accelerate this global energy transformation by lowering the

transaction costs and in operating the grid in a more efficient manner (Mengelkamp

et al. 2017). Utilization of blockchain technology in energy trading process can be

summarised as follows:

(i)Power generation: Blockchain technology provides full knowledge about the overall

operation status of a power grid in a real-time perspective which helps to develop

dispatching plans that would maximize profits.

(ii)Power Transmission and Distribution: Blockchain system overcomes the main

challenges faced in the traditional centralized systems through decentralization of

the automation and control centers.

(iii)Power Consumptions: Blockchain could be beneficial in this side by managing the

energy trading between the prosumers and the different energy storage systems as

well as the electric vehicles. According to Munsing et al . (2017) blockchain

technology helps to conduct transparent transactions in the energy market between

consumers and prosumers (active consumers that both produce and consume

electricity) at local energy grids consisting of renewable energy resources. This also

helps to reduce the time and effort required by removing the intermediaries from the

market.

Thus, in blockchain based Peer to Peer (P2P) trading systems, the blocks inside the

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chain record the units of the generated electrical energy which allows the owners

and buyers to have the deals instantly and independently. This gives the users

(owners and buyer) the freedom of preferences, choices, and prices instead of

relying on an intermediate agent (Otjacques et al. 2018). In particular, Aitzhan &

Svetinovic (2018) proposed a token-based decentralized energy trading system

where peers anonymously negotiate energy prices and are able to securely perform

transactions. Examples of active commercial projects of blockchain implementation

in the power sector are: Power Ledger in Australia, Greeneum in Israel, Grid+ in USA,

Greed Singularity in Germany.

Education: Information about grade point, research experience, skills, online learning

experience as well as individual interests, learning behaviour in class, micro

academic project experience, and macro educational background, etc. are stored in a

block . The blockchain ledger can match all kinds of educational information with the

user’s unique ID. The data matched with users’ ID and stored in blockchain are

checked, validated, and maintained by the miners from all over the world. Blockchain

distributed ledger is immutable and trustworthy. Since information stored in the

blocks cannot be changed, the reliability and authority both are ensured, which will

minimise degree fraud. Besides degree management, Blockchain technology has

great potentiality for application in formative evaluation, learning activities design

and implementation and keeps tracking of the whole learning processes. The

University of Nicosia is the first school which uses blockchain technology to manage

students’ certificates received from MOOC platforms (Sharples and Domingue 2016).

Sony Global Education, Holberton School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

(MIT), University of Melbourne also use Blockchain technology for degree

15
management.

Healthcare: Blockchain as a decentralized and distributed technology has enormous

applications in healthcare domain. Blockchain technology helps to enhance the

quality of healthcare services by storing and sharing medical information frequently

among various relevant participants such as patients, doctors, healthcare service

providers, pharmacies, insurance companies and researchers among others.

Medical chain (2019) is a blockchain architecture which is being used in the UK to

maintain the patient data. Clinical trials and the management of trial subject consent

are an area where blockchain has the potential to increase transparency, auditability

and accountability of medical practitioners and researchers. Within the

pharmaceutical industry, blockchain can help to overcome the increasing risks

around counterfeit and unapproved drugs. In addition to these, in healthcare

blockchain technology can be used for global sharing patient data globally in case of

international medical service, maintaining medical history, healthcare data access

control, drug supply chain management (Romaet al. 2016).

Supply chain: Blockchain helps to reduce cost and risk across the supply chain.

Blockchain increases transparency of supply chain by giving access to all parties in

the supply chain to same information. In supply chain, blockchain technology ensures

identification of product provenance and facilitates tracking of processes (Zhaoet al.,

2016). Aspects of blockchain such as data accessibility and immutability greatly

increase the transparency, reliability, and effciency of the entire supply chain industry

(Perboli et al. 2018). Blockchain is helpful to ensure food traceability, solve logistics

inefficiencies and product management. It can identify the source of problematic

16
parts and ensure trustworthiness in whole supply chain. Everledger, an application of

blockchain in supply chain, constitutes a worldwide ledger of diamonds in the luxury

goods market and ensures their ownership (Ølnes, 2016)). Walmart, Ford Motor

Company, De Beers, United Parcel Service, FedEx are successfully using blockchain

technology in supply chain. Some commercial projects of blockchain application in

supply chain domain:

i. IBM Blockchain - TradeLens: IBM Blockchain provides solutions

that cover all aspects of supply chain management, with a

specific focus on logistics. Transparency and traceability are the

most critical aspects of logistics, and IBM Blockchain can

streamline business exchanges, Scott (2018) transactions and

trading associations with secure, worldwide business systems

and networks.

ii. OriginTrail: OriginTrail (2019) has been on a mission to bring

transparency to complex international supply chains since 2013.

iii. Blockverify: It is a blockchain-based anti-counterfeit solution

presenting transparency in the supply chains. It is effectively

being utilized in diamonds, pharmaceuticals and a couple of

electronic industries (Hulseapple, 2015).

Banking: Financial institutions are now testing transactions on blockchain platform.

Implementation of blockchain technology in banking provides some comparative

advantages such as decentralised trust, enhanced security, decreased costs, and

increased efficiency. Goldman Sachs, J.P Morgan, Citi bank, Wells Fargo and other

banking giants, have all established their own blockchain laboratories collaborating

17
with blockchain platforms. Standard Chartered bank uses “Ripple”, an enterprise

level blockchain platform to operate its first cross-border transactions (Guo & Liang,

2016)). Blockchain enables banks to process transactions in 10 seconds which

would take 2 days previously and thus increases the efficiency of clearing and

settlement of financial assets after transactions. In addition to that, blockchain

application could help banks facilitate foreign exchanges and real-time payments by

gathering nodes in a blockchain, rather than having a central bank to deal with

payments (Tsai et al. 2016). It also enable transactions to be processed 24/7. As

information is stored in blocks using a temper –proof format, it lets them improve

the mobility of data and decrease the time taken for KYC efforts. It also allows fully

automated transactional processes—from payment to settlement and removes any

delays in documentation caused by duplication. Blockchain data is secured,

complete, accurate, and reliable. Moreover, making all transactions available to a

single, publicly available ledger eliminates the disorder and complexity associated

with multiple ledgers. In 2016, hackers stole 100 million dollars from Bangladesh

Bank via its accounts with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Such occurrence

can be prevented through implementation of blockchain. Prime bank Ltd. is the first

Bangladeshi bank to execute interbank blockchain LC transaction partnering with

HSBC through Contour, the global trade finance blockchain network.

Challenges:

Blockchain technology can be termed as the most significant technological

innovation that already has attracted many industries. Growth in adopting blockchain

is growing exponentially in recent years. Now it is time to discuss about major

18
challenges of blockchain technology:

Scalability: With gradual increase in transactions, blockchain also becomes heavy

and all transactions need to be stored for validating the transaction. Blockchain also

has restriction on block size and time interval between creation of new block. So it

cannot fulfil the requirement of processing millions of transactions in a real-time

fashion. Small transactions might be delayed since miners prefer those transactions

with a high transaction fee. The ability to handle a large number of users at a single

time is still a challenge for the blockchain industry.

Hackers and shadow dealing: Lack of a set of regulatory oversight makes

blockchain volatile. There is always a risk of hacking and blocking by government

due to shadowy practices.

Complex to understand and adopt: The complexities in Blockchain technology

makes it difficult for a layperson to understand and realise its benefits. Before

adopting one need to study a lot and understand the principles of encryption and

distributed ledger. Moreover, financial institutions are adequate to provide secure

payment gateways and other services at affordable prices compared to the costs

incurred with blockchain.

Privacy: Even though blockchain technology can provide transparency in the clinical

trial and precision medicine, this could lead to privacy concerns (Shae & Tsai, 2017).

Financial systems, such as the banking systems, must provide high privacy in

contrast to the current blockchain technology, which has a low privacy level (Tsai et

al. 2016). The ledger needs to be remodelled in such a way that allows restricted

access if necessary and will be accessed by people who are authorized to view it.

Costs: Blockchain implementation helps to eliminate the expenses related to the

third parties and intermediaries involved in the process of transferring values.

19
Though blockchain technology can bring revolution in different industries it is still in

the early stages of innovation making it tough to integrate into the legacy systems.

Special hardware consuming higher energy is necessary for blockchain

implementation. It makes blockchain adoption by the government as well as private

firm an expensive affair.

Conclusion:

Initial focus of blockchain technology was on bitcoin, the first application of

blockhain. Its usage domain is increasing rapidly (Kittell, 1967). Though research on

blockchain technology is increasing, still it is in infant stage. In this study, the author

tried to provide an overview and substantiated analysis of future potential

applications of blockchain techniques. It makes a little contribution to the limited

literature that considers the application of blockchain in different domains. The

outcome of this research will provide future researchers fundamental knowledge to

integrate blockchain in their development of future technological solutions.

Considering the potential impact of blockchain technology and the scarcity of

knowledge about it, efforts should be made to improve the awareness of scholars

and business practitioners. With potential application ranging from wider banking

and business to voting and international trade, blockchain could redefine many

aspects of our life. Future research should examine the development and impact of

blockchain. The benefits and barriers to its adoption will require better

understanding. Some applications of blockchain have capacity to radically alter

aspects of society. The legal and ethical ramifications of such developments need

adequate research before and during their implementation. Therefore, further critical

research is needed to exploit its capabilities and overcome the limitations when

20
applied in a large scale.

21
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