Research Area:  Blockchain Technology

Abstract:

Blockchain is the underlying technology of a number of digital cryptocurrencies. Blockchain is a chain of blocks that store information with digital signatures in a decentralized and distributed network. The features of blockchain, including decentralization, immutability, transparency and auditability, make transactions more secure and tamper proof. Apart from cryptocurrency, blockchain technology can be used in financial and social services, risk management, healthcare facilities, and so on. A number of research studies focus on the opportunity that blockchain provides in various application domains. This paper presents a comparative study of the tradeoffs of blockchain and also explains the taxonomy and architecture of blockchain, provides a comparison among different consensus mechanisms and discusses challenges, including scalability, privacy, interoperability, energy consumption and regulatory issues. In addition, this paper also notes the future scope of blockchain technology.

Keywords:  
Blockchain
distributed ledger
consensus procedures
cryptocurrency
smart contract
selfish mining
energy consumption

Author(s) Name:   Ahmed Afif Monrat; Olov Schelén; Karl Andersson

Publisher name:  IEEE

DOI:  10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2936094

Volume Information:  ( Volume: 7) Page(s): 117134 - 117151

Paper Link:   https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8805074