Blockchain Technology is an efficient data management technology that provides for data security, integrity, and anonymity in the transactions. The integrity is sustained without having to bring in the influence of a third party central authority.

The future directions for the application of the blockchain technology are derived from the current research for its application in the different market segments.  The importance of dealing with the technical limitations in a way to overcome them to ensure improved applications is becoming increasingly relevant.

There are several limitations from the point of security and privacy perspective, and most of such issues need to have concrete research to bring in practical solutions. The transactions in the blockchain network can get disturbed due to lack of privacy of the nodes.  And confirming the transactions does not take place automatically,  it consumes a lot of electricity and computational power.

The systematic mapping study process is being used to identify the scientific databases that will eventually help identify the possible research areas and the relevant questions that will be required for future research.

Several challenges are already identified.  In the financial applicationof the blockchain technology for cryptocurrency transactions, the numbers ofusers are already increasing, and there is a constant requirement for theexchange of the fiat currencies with cryptocurrencies in the variouscryptocurrency exchanges.

There is a need to increase the through put of the Bitcoin Network by increasing the transactions per second, to facilitate the increase in numbers of operations that will take place when the frequency of crypto-payment will increase when the currency goes mainstream.

In the current scenario, in atypical Bitcoin transaction, it takes 10 minutes to complete onetransaction.  To ensure the security of the transaction a lot of time has to be spent to avoid the cost of the double spending problem.  This should be made possible in just a few seconds facilitating for block formation more quickly than the current speed. It should be made at par with a Visa Transaction.

With one block being created every 10 minutes, there is a limitation as to the numbers of transactions that can take place each minute.  The size andthe bandwidth issue should be sorted by facilitating improved research in thisarea. Mining of the Bitcoin leads to wasting a lot of energy.  Proof of Work and Proof of Stake systems should be efficiently integrated to arrive at a sustainable mining solution.

When the block chains are split for administration, a new set of issues arise. This is because smaller nodes are easy to attack. It is essential to evaluate the challenges and questions that should be tackled and answered eventually prioritizing the most problematic issue first.