Blockchain, as the basis for cryptocurrencies, has received extensive attentions recently. Blockchain serves as an immutable distributed ledger technology which allows transactions to be carried out credibly in a decentralized environment. Blockchain-based applications are springing up, covering numerous fields including financial services, reputation system and Internet of Things (IoT), and so on. However, there are still many challenges of blockchain technology such as scalability, security and other issues waiting to be overcome. This article provides a comprehensive overview of blockchain technology and its applications. We begin with a summary of the development of blockchain, and then give an overview of the blockchain architecture and a systematic review of the research and application of blockchain technology in different fields from the perspective of academic research and industry technology. Furthermore, technical challenges and recent developments are also briefly listed. We also looked at the possible future trends of blockchain.

翻译：区块链作为加密货币的基础技术，近年来受到了广泛关注。区块链作为一种不可篡改的分布式账本技术，能够在去中心化环境中实现可信交易。基于区块链的应用正在蓬勃发展，涵盖金融服务、信誉系统和物联网等众多领域。然而，区块链技术仍面临诸多挑战，如可扩展性、安全性等问题有待解决。本文对区块链技术及其应用进行了全面综述。我们首先总结了区块链的发展历程，随后概述了区块链架构，并从学术研究与产业技术两个视角系统梳理了区块链技术在不同领域的研究与应用现状。此外，本文简要列举了技术挑战与最新进展，并对区块链的未来发展趋势进行了展望。