Blockchain Technology: Opportunities & Challenges

As an emerging technology, Blockchain technology can efficiently be used for various tasks in various domains. It has become disruptive technology due to its secure, immutable, decentralized, persistent, anonymous, and auditable nature. Blockchain technology has a lot of opportunities to offer in various fields like cryptocurrency, risk management, supply-chain management, financial services, identity management, healthcare, cloud computing, and the Internet of things (IoT). Blockchain technology is relatively young and proliferating; thus, several challenges must be addressed to realize its full potential. These challenges are even more significant and require critical attention because of the financial aspect of blockchain-based solutions. This work attempts to present a holistic picture of Blockchain Technology by discussing an overview, style, reality, and actuality of Blockchain. It discusses various Blockchain components, including mining and consensus mechanisms. It also presents Blockchain layers, multiple applications, advantages, and disadvantages. This study also discusses various issues and challenges which are helpful for researchers to explore and advance multiple aspects of Blockchain Technology.