TY - JOUR
T1 - Blockchains - A Systematic Multivocal Literature Review
AU - Butijn, Bert-Jan
AU - Tamburri, Damian A.
AU - Heuvel, Willem-Jan van den
PY - 2020/6
Y1 - 2020/6
N2 - 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) tradeoffs, as well as to understand (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, we flesh out an overview of blockchain technology elaborated by means of Grounded-Theory.
AB - 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) tradeoffs, as well as to understand (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, we flesh out an overview of blockchain technology elaborated by means of Grounded-Theory.
KW - Blockchain technology
KW - distributed ledger technology
KW - literature review
KW - multi vocal literature review
KW - smart contracts
KW - software architecture
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85089421053&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1145/3369052
DO - 10.1145/3369052
M3 - Article
SN - 0360-0300
VL - 53
JO - ACM Computing Surveys
JF - ACM Computing Surveys
IS - 3
M1 - 61
ER -