Blockchain in supply chain finance: a systematic review and research agenda

PurposeThe paper aims to critically review the literature on applied blockchain, particularly in supply chain finance (SCF). It uses systematic literature review (SLR) to find, assess and synthesize peer-reviewed papers. The goal is to identify relevant areas of research and knowledge in existing literature, to highlight future research gaps and guide future studies.Design/methodology/approachIt employs the PRISMA framework for systematic literature review to select papers for evaluation and synthesis. After applying the initial screening criteria, 583 records were identified. This was followed by qualitative filtering in which articles without citations and those from sources with a cite score less than one were excluded, resulting in 378 articles. After excluding the existing review studies, Title and abstract screening of remaining 351 articles was conducted to assess the amount of existing work on blockchain applications across various financial sectors, such as banking, insurance, SCF, entrepreneurial finance, cryptocurrency and more. It was found that there has been increasing research interest in the application of blockchain technology (BT) in SCF with 42 articles. In the next phase, structured narrative synthesis of these studies was conducted to examine use cases, research focus, methodologies and benefits. An analytical framework was developed and in the final phase, thematic foci and potential research questions were identified for future studies. The study also conducted methodological classification and comparative analysis to identify key findings and limitations.FindingsThe SLR findings identify the benefits, use cases and success factors for implementing BT and an analytical framework is developed to synthesis the existing literature covering application scenario-technological mechanism- implementation conditions-performance outcomes-research gaps. The main application scenario in SCF includes receivables financing, inventory and purchase order financing, and multi-tier credit facilitation, which are especially helpful for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), along with automation of back-end processes like KYC. Technological mechanisms through which the benefits are derived include distributed ledger, immutability, decentralised records, smart contracts, etc. The study emphasises that the factors influencing the implementation of technology in SCF include information transparency, management commitment, regulatory support, financial readiness, technological strength, etc. Performance outcomes of using blockchain in SCF include transparency, effectiveness, efficiency, credibility, trust, reliability and resilience.Originality/valueBlockchain technology has been widely adopted across various industries. Despite a recent rise, scholarly interest in this field remains limited, as the technology landscape is dynamic and developments happen rapidly. This study critically reviews the literature on applied blockchain, specifically in SCF, contributing a novel perspective to existing research.