Abstract

The paper reviews and assesses the state of blockchain research and conceptualises blockchain uses as socio-technical phenomena. The first blockchain use case emerged with the release of Bitcoin in 2008. Since then, blockchain use has proliferated in various other areas and encompassed an array of applications, such as tokens (cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens), decentralised autonomous organisations and smart contracts. The paper presents a structured literature review of 113 research papers in information systems and related fields (e.g., organization studies, management and human- computer interaction) that commonly study socio-technical phenomena and organisational uses of technology. Conceptualising blockchain uses as socio-technical phenomena highlights the necessity to account for business models, social implications and stakeholders’ values regarding blockchains beyond the blockchain technology ‘as such’. The review reveals that the existing literature has articulated substantial knowledge of some aspects of blockchain uses but lacks knowledge in other aspects. Therefore, we propose a research agenda.

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Paper Number 1108; Track Blockchain; Complete Paper

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