A Systematic Literature Review on Blockchain Storage Scalability

The scalability of blockchain storage presents a critical bottleneck that hinders the widespread adoption of this transformative technology. Addressing this challenge is paramount to realizing the full potential of blockchains. This paper presents a systematic literature review (SLR) that focuses on storage scalability challenges and solutions in the context of blockchain technology. The SLR meticulously extracted 131 primary articles from prominent scientific databases, including Scopus, IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and Web of Science. The synthesis of these papers enables an in-depth analysis of storage scalability issues in blockchain networks. It highlights the key factors contributing to these issues, identifying eight major factors: distributed storage, immutability, decentralization, programmability, block size, transaction volume, node capacity, and replication strategy. The review then examines the latest state-of-the-art solutions proposed to address these challenges. These solutions are broadly categorized into 1) on-chain solutions and 2) off-chain solutions. Furthermore, the paper evaluates storage optimization strategies in light of the blockchain trilemma, which underscores the inherent balance between scalability, security, and decentralization. By providing a comprehensive overview of existing research, this study aims to offer valuable insights and pathways for future research and the development of scalable blockchain storage solutions while preserving the technology’s core principles.