A Systematic Literature Review of Blockchain Consensus Protocols

Blockchain is the underlying technology behind Bitcoin, the first digital currency, and due to the rapid growth of Bitcoin, there is significant interest in blockchain as the enabler of digital currencies due to the consensus distributed ledger model. The rise and the success of alternative cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Ripple has supported the development of blockchain technology, but the performance of blockchain applications has been documented as a significant obstacle for adoption. At the core of blockchain is a consensus protocol, which plays a key role in maintaining the safety, performance and efficiency of the blockchain network. Several consensus protocols exist, and the use of the right consensus protocol is crucial to ensure adequate performance of any blockchain application. However, there is a lack of documented overview studies even though there is agreement in the literature about the importance and understanding of blockchain consensus protocols. In this study, we adopt a systematic literature review (SLR) to investigate the current status of consensus protocols used for blockchain together with the identified limitations of these protocols. The results of this study include an overview of different consensus protocols as well as consensus protocol limitations and will be of value for any practitioner or scholar that is interested in blockchain applications.