Blockchain Revolution from 1.0 to 5.0: Technological Perspective

Since the inception of bitcoin application in 2008, several trust-based global solutions have been developed to overcome the malicious intent that occurs in critical applications. Adopting blockchain technology resolves the issues related to frauds in various sectors like banks, finance, and government. It was a massive concern as fraudulent activities were carried out on a large scale to maneuver the business operation. A blockchain network's capabilities are sufficient to address these aforementioned issues. With blockchain, the third-party services were brought to a halt, and digital signature was associated with every task, thus, making blockchain a secure network. The chapter presents different forms of blockchain that evolved over the years and the methods it has adopted to transform into a system that conducts transactions in a trusted, safe, and secure environment. Further, this chapter first introduces the origin of blockchain. Then it discusses how blockchain generations varied with time as demands grew and technological innovations that keep evolving at a rapid pace. Finally, we discuss the elements of blockchain, its working, benefits, and limitations of blockchain.