Journal of Operations Management, 2025; 0:1–7 https://doi.org/10.1002/joom.70014 1 Journal of Operations Management EDITORIAL Charting the Future of Blockchain in Operations and Supply Chain Management: Opportunities and Challenges Fabrice Lumineau 1 | Guangzhi Shang 2 | Jayashankar M. Swaminathan 3 | Gerry Tsoukalas 4 | Stephan M. Wagner 5 | J. Leon Zhao 6 1 Management and Strategy Area, HKU Business School, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong | 2 Department of Supply Chain Management, W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA | 3 Operations Management Area, Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA | 4 Department of Information Systems, Questrom School of Business, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA | 5 Supply Chain Management Group, Department of Management, Technology, and Economics, ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland | 6 Shenzhen Finance Institute, School of Management and Economics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China Correspondence: Guangzhi Shang (guangzhi.shang@asu.edu) Received: 23 July 2025 | Accepted: 23 July 2025 Handling Editors: Elliot Bendoly, Rogelio Oliva Keywords: blockchain | cryptocurrency | operations Blockchain technology, underpinned by distributed ledger sys- tems, has evolved from a novel innovation into a transforma- tive and integral component of enterprise digitization across industries. Since its inception with Bitcoin in 2008, blockchain has expanded beyond cryptocurrencies, with applications in op- erations management (OM) growing rapidly across industries. Despite its promise, however, the integration of blockchain into OM is not without challenges. Scholars have identified signifi- cant barriers to successful implementation, ranging from tech- nological and organizational hurdles to regulatory complexities (Chod et al. 2020; Hanisch et al. 2025; Lin et al. 2022; Lumineau et al. 2021; Sodhi et al. 2022; Zhan et al. 2025). This Special Issue on Operational Perspectives on Blockchain Applications presents cutting-edge research that explores block- chain's opportunities, challenges, and implications for OM. The articles in this issue provide a diverse and empirically grounded examination of blockchain applications across industries and operational contexts. We will discuss each contribution in turn. However, prior to that, it is useful to dig into the operational nuances, opportunities, and challenges presented by the focal context. Our editorial discussion opens accordingly, outlining the technological, organizational, and regulatory challenges while identifying the conditions under which blockchain can de- liver value. We also touch on the broader societal implications of blockchain, addressing its political, economic, social, environ- mental, and legal dimensions before describing how each of the papers in the special issue contributes to understanding, criti- cal to operations management. Finally, our editorial discussion concludes by charting a research agenda, highlighting key ques- tions and interdisciplinary approaches needed to advance both theoretical and practical understanding of blockchain in OM. 1 | Value and Challenges in Blockchain To understand how permissionless blockchains work from an OM perspective, one needs to take a process-centric view (Bendoly and Oliva 2024). This is especially important for an emerging technology that is technically complex and whose © 2025 Association for Supply Chain Management, Inc.