  The Blockchain technology is reshaping finance, economy, money to the extent
that its disruptive power is compared to that of the Internet and the Web in
their early days. As a result, all the software development revolving around
the Blockchain technology is growing at a staggering rate. In this paper, we
acknowledge the need for software engineers to devise specialized tools and
techniques for blockchain-oriented software development. From current
challenges concerning the definition of new professional roles, demanding
testing activities and novel tools for software architecture, we take a step
forward by proposing new directions on the basis of a curate corpus of
blockchain-oriented software repositories, detected by exploiting the
information enclosed in the 2016 Moody's Blockchain Report and teh market
capitalization of cryptocurrencies. Ensuring effective testing activities,
enhancing collaboration in large teams, and facilitating the development of
smart contracts all appear as key factors in the future of blockchain-oriented
software development.
