Understanding the Blockchain Ecosystem with Analysis of Decentralized Applications: an Empirical Study

Abstract

Blockchain technology is characterized by decentralization, traceability and tamper resistance. A decentralized application (Dapp) refers to a blockchain-based application deployed on Ethereum platform, with the aim to facilitate decentralized smart contracts and to prosper the blockchain ecosystem. In this paper, an in-depth analysis for the current decentralized applications is performed to reveal the structure and development situation of blockchain ecosystem. With a better understanding of the blockchain ecosystem, insights can be obtained for the Dapp developers as well as for the potential blockchain adopters. Furthermore, guidelines and suggestions are provided to inspire the business applications based on blockchain.