Many authors have explored the potential impact of blockchain on supply chain management, and indeed, many articles in the popular press extol the potential of blockchain to impact the supply chain. In this white paper, we argue that while blockchain does have some potential to impact supply chains in the short term, many of the potential blockchain-enabled supply chain impacts will require significant research advances. We identify four categories of issues that researchers must address for many of the interesting proposed blockchain-enabled supply chain use cases to be feasible. If these issues are addressed, we have little doubt that the potential of blockchain-enabled supply chains is enormous.
