Literature review on fundamentals of Blockchain technology

RM I Suggested Deliverable for those Entering the Blockchain Group Project in RM II/III

MISSM/MISAM Students should spend their RM I time “consuming knowledge” related to

various cryptographical concepts, as well as gaining a solid understanding of the fundamentals of

Blockchain technology by writing a robust RM I literature review. This lit. review must be fairly

comprehensive in scope, logically organized, and thoroughly edited. Furthermore, please do not be

tempted to simply copy or cut & paste material into your RM I deliverable! If caught plagiarizing, the

consequences could be quite severe! All Blockchain deliverables should be submitted to turnitin.com by

the student and have a final similarity index not exceeding 10% before the deliverable’s final submission.

Your RM I blockchain literature review should cover all or most of the following Blockchain-

related concepts, tools, and techniques.

Symmetric and

Asymmetric

Cryptography

Fundamentals

Blockchain Essential Components

(blocks, chains, network, etc..) and

Characteristics

(immutability, decentralization,

etc…)

The Byzantine Generals Dilemma Concept

and how it related to the block creation

consensus process.

(Blockchain’s underlying concept)

Hash Functions (MD5,

SHA 256) Characteristics

Public versus Private Blockchain

Features and

Advantages/Disadvantages

Differences, Advantages/ Disadvantages

between the Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric,

and Corda blockchain platforms

Digital Signatures and

Multi-Signatures

Common Blockchain Governance

Models

Smart Contracts

Elliptic Curve

Cryptography

A Study of at least one Blockchain

Business Use Case

Proof of Work ( PoW) and Proof of Stake

(PoS) Consensus

An acceptable RM I Blockchain Lit. review must be at least 4,000-5,000 words (do not exceed 6,000

words, please!) and must be based on at least 6-8 credible (and preferably peer-reviewed) reference

sources. Please note that the mandated word count does NOT include the reference or the title page of

the deliverable. Last but not least, Blockchain project RM I deliverables must follow either APA or IEEE

formatting.

Where to start? Consider the following two readings as outlined in the sequence below as a starting

point. There is a very large inventory of blockchain-related material on the Internet.

1. Rashkovich, B (2020), Blockchain Explained: A simple explanation of how it works, https://www.fundera.com/blog/blockchain-explained

2. Dylan, Y. et al (2018), NISTR 8202: Blockchain Technology Overview, https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/ir/2018/NIST.IR.8202.pdf

Youtube also has many great blockchain-related video that can help you better understand various

blockchain-related components and concepts.