 Beyond Bitcoin: What blockchain and distributed ledger technologies mean for firmsAlex Hughes, Andrew Park, Jan Kietzmann and Chris Archer-Brown Business Horizons, 2019, vol. 62, issue 3, 273-281 Abstract: Blockchain technologies are benefiting from significant interest in both societal and business contexts. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have grown rapidly in user adoption over the past 8 years. However, blockchain technologies, which fuel cryptocurrencies, have the potential to extend to other business applications even more profoundly. Blockchain can be leveraged to drive innovation and increase efficiencies in new domains—including digital arts management, supply chains, and healthcare—but there remain technical, organizational, and regulatory headwinds that must be overcome before mass adoption can occur. In this article, we provide a brief history of blockchain and identify some of the key features that have enabled its popular uptake in the world of cryptocurrencies. We discuss how blockchain technologies have evolved from traditional software and web technologies and then examine their underlying strengths and evaluate new, noncryptocurrency use cases. We conclude with a look at the limitations of blockchain and present several important factors for managers considering blockchain implementation within their organizations. Keywords: Blockchain; Smart contracts; Distributed ledger; Bitcoin; Cryptocurrency (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:bushor:v:62:y:2019:i:3:p:273-281 DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2019.01.002 Access Statistics for this article Business Horizons is currently edited by C. M. Dalton More articles in Business Horizons from Elsevier |
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