A Framework for Blockchain-Based Applications
This provides a foundational tool for researchers and practitioners to evaluate blockchain applications, though it is incremental in clarifying existing concepts.
The paper tackles the problem of vague and undefined blockchain proposals by defining key terms and constructing a framework to articulate blockchain network characteristics, resulting in a set of questions to guide decisions on blockchain suitability and initial design.
Blockchains have recently generated explosive interest from both academia and industry, with many proposed applications. But descriptions of many these proposals are more visionary projections than realizable proposals, and even basic definitions are often missing. We define "blockchain" and "blockchain network", and then discuss two very different, well known classes of blockchain networks: cryptocurrencies and Git repositories. We identify common primitive elements of both and use them to construct a framework for explicitly articulating what characterizes blockchain networks. The framework consists of a set of questions that every blockchain initiative should address at the very outset. It is intended to help one decide whether or not blockchain is an appropriate approach to a particular application, and if it is, to assist in its initial design stage.