RETHINKING BLOCKCHAIN AND ITS MECHANISM

FROM CRYPTOCURRENCIES TO SMART CONTRACT APPLICATIONS

Abstract

In the field of industrial and supply chain management, blockchain symbolizes a paradigm of autonomous decentralized system. In spite of increasing interests in it, there are few literatures which concretely explain how the blockchain works and how it brings about the change in business process and daily management of the enterprise as a new management system architecture. In about 10 years after the birth of blockchain, this paper highlights and explains representative examples in each of three development stages of blockchain. Through the review of literatures in various fields, the operating principle of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric are analyzed. From the viewpoint of operations management, their features and effects on the current system are explained in detail and schematically. Moreover, on the consensus algorithms which are called the essence of blockchain, this paper introduces the one which is respectively suitable for public chain, private chain and consortium chain, which are the main frameworks of blockchain. It also explains application scenarios and examples in the context of business process and supply chain.