A Survey on Blockchain Technology: Evolution, Architecture and Security

• Published in: IEEE access Vol. 9; pp. 61048 - 61073
• Main Authors: Bhutta, Muhammad Nasir Mumtaz, Khwaja, Amir A., Nadeem, Adnan, Ahmad, Hafiz Farooq, Khan, Muhammad Khurram, Hanif, Moataz A., Song, Houbing, Alshamari, Majed, Cao, Yue
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway IEEE 2021; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Algorithms; Blockchain; blockchain applications; blockchain architecture; blockchain security; Computer architecture; Consensus algorithm; Cryptography; development frameworks; Digital currencies; Evolution; Evolution of blockchain; New technology; Peer-to-peer computing; Security; Smart contracts
• ISSN: 2169-3536; 2169-3536
• DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3072849

Blockchain is a revolutionary technology that is making a great impact on modern society due to its transparency, decentralization, and security properties. Blockchain gained considerable attention due to its very first application of Cryptocurrencies e.g., Bitcoin. In the near future, Blockchain technology is determined to transform the way we live, interact, and perform businesses. Recently, academics, industrialists, and researchers are aggressively investigating different aspects of Blockchain as an emerging technology. Unlike other Blockchain surveys focusing on either its applications, challenges, characteristics, or security, we present a comprehensive survey of Blockchain technology's evolution, architecture, development frameworks, and security issues. We also present a comparative analysis of frameworks, classification of consensus algorithms, and analysis of security risks & cryptographic primitives that have been used in the Blockchain so far. Finally, this paper elaborates on key future directions, novel use cases and open research challenges, which could be explored by researchers to make further advances in this field.