Internet of Things and Blockchain: Integration, Need, Challenges, Applications, and Future Scope

Abstract With the increase in technological advancements in this era, smart devices and intelligent systems that are smart enough to efficiently link, communicate, and complete the required task are needed. Recent technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, and machine learning have led to far more development. IoT has emerged notably in recent times as it upholds endless numbers of applications from smart devices to smart buildings and smart cities covering it all and not only this but also in a variety of domains, helping in communication among the electronic devices that will use sensors for interacting with the environment. The pattern of IoT is flooring the way for the world where maximum number of devices that are interconnected and they collect information from the environment and then automate certain tasks. While dealing with smart devices, some factors such as data privacy, data security, authentication, strength against attacks, valid authorization, self-maintenance, and easy operation are needed to be considered. Features like these can be easily brought into the picture using blockchain technology which was born with the crypto currency called Bitcoin, created by an anonymous group named Satoshi Nakamoto. This chapter will cover the basics of IoT and blockchain and how to adopt blockchain specifically for IoT so that one can have a well-developed blockchain-based IoT (BIoT) system that can be effectively and efficiently be used, such devices are named as BIoT devices and they come under BIoT applications. One of the continuous encounters faced by us in IoT’s triumph is about how to protect and privatize the transactions on the devices each time. It will be rigid to refer a technology that will benefit and will have impactful effect on human life than the IoT and also there is no better technology than blockchain for authenticated and authorized transactions that forms a distributed ledger. This chapter will evaluate how blockchain helps in strengthening the security in the IoT. After unfolding the basics of blockchain, it explains the most pertinent BIoT applications focuses on the influence of customary cloud centering IoT uses.