English

Blockchains: a Systematic Multivocal Literature Review

Cryptography and Security 2019-11-28 v1

Abstract

Blockchain technology has gained tremendous popularity both in practice and academia. The goal of this article is to develop a coherent overview of the state of the art in blockchain technology, using a systematic(i.e.,protocol-based, replicable), multivocal (i.e., featuring both white and grey literature alike) literature review, to (1) define blockchain technology (2) elaborate on its architecture options and (3) trade-offs, as well as understanding (4) the current applications and challenges, as evident from the state of the art. We derive a systematic definition of blockchain technology, based on a formal concept analysis. Further on, we flesh out an overview of blockchain technology elaborated by means of Grounded-Theory.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1911.11770,
  title  = {Blockchains: a Systematic Multivocal Literature Review},
  author = {Bert-Jan Butijn and Damian A. Tamburri and Willem-Jan Van Den Heuvel},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1911.11770},
  year   = {2019}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-23T12:28:09.120Z