The field of blockchain research is moving towards a deeper understanding of the security and efficiency of various consensus mechanisms and mining strategies. Recent studies have investigated the vulnerabilities of the Bitcoin Difficulty Adjustment Algorithm and the potential benefits and drawbacks of different mining strategies, such as selfish mining and coin hopping. Additionally, researchers have explored new frameworks for crypto portfolio allocation and risk management, which have shown promising results in terms of scalability and profitability. The development of new metrics and models for evaluating blockchain security and efficiency is also a key area of focus. Notably, some papers have introduced innovative approaches to optimizing hashpower allocation and determining transaction finality, while others have provided comprehensive comparative analyses of dominant blockchain consensus mechanisms. Noteworthy papers include: Incentive Attacks in BTC, which provides new insights into the efficiency of selfish mining and coin hopping strategies. Tfin Crypto, which introduces a novel framework for crypto portfolio allocation that has achieved strong results in live trading. A Detailed Comparative Analysis of Blockchain Consensus Mechanisms, which offers a thorough evaluation of the trade-offs between Proof of Work and Proof of Stake mechanisms.