The notion of "Blockchain technology" itself is highly decentralized with a variety of interpretations, thus, leading to a plethora of protocols. This makes their analysis and/or comparison a mammoth task. This talk attempts to make the above problem more manageable by identifying the essential characteristics of Blockchain technology. The benefits of this approach are illustrated by describing some prominent protocols and comparing them using these characteristics. Further, challenges in building new Blockchain protocols are also highlighted. The talk ends with a discussion on various security requirements in the context of Blockchain technology.
