The blockchain: State-of-the-art and research challenges

Abstract The blockchain revolutionizes the creation of both scalable information technology systems and diversified applications by integrating the increasingly popular artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and big data. Various industries have recently begun to implement the exploration of blockchain. It will not take long for the blockchain to spread all over the world. In order to identify and further the development of the blockchain technology, this paper reviews the extant studies on the blockchain and its key components, blockchain-based IoT, blockchain-based security, blockchain-based data management, and the main applications based on the blockchain, and it delineates potential trends and challenges. This study provides a comprehensive overview of state-of-the-art blockchain and describes a forward-looking direction.