It is one of the fastest growing technologies around, but the majority of blockchain projects are abandoned within months, according to researchers.

More than 26,000 open-source blockchain projects were created on the software collaboration platform GitHub in 2016, research by auditing giant Deloitte has revealed.

But despite the overwhelming amount of interest in the technology, just 8 percent of these projects remain actively maintained.

"The stark reality of open-source projects is that most are abandoned or do not achieve meaningful scale," Deloitte researchers said. "Unfortunately, blockchain is not immune to this reality."

They added: "Note that about 90 percent of projects developed on GitHub become idle, and the average life span of a project is about one year, with the highest mortality rate occurring within the first six months."

Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology that allows vast amounts of data to be stored across a network of computers rather than in one localized server.

A number of large firms have expressed increasing interest in the technology as of late, particularly among those in the financial services.

In October, IBM developed a new blockchain-based payment platform to speed up cross-border payments. A number of international banks collaborated on the project, including BBVA, Bank Danamon and National Australia Bank.

Later that month, Hong Kong and Singapore's central banks agreed to work together on a cross-border trade finance network based on blockchain technology.