Blockchain technology.

It is almost impossible not to have heard of this term if you have a presence on the internet. It was first created in 2008 by an entity under the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto to serve as a decentralized ledger for Bitcoin.

Basically, a blockchain is a ledger of decentralized and distributed data.

The data is stored in the records called blocks that are chained together to a single source of truth. It provides data integrity by eliminating any chance of data duplication and increases security. Because it is impossible to alter any data in one block without disrupting the data in other subsequent blocks within the chain.

All the participants who are part of this blockchain network act as nodes and can access the data

The data can only be shared and altered. If someone attempts to alter the data in one block all the participants will be alerted and will know who made the attempt.

Even though it was initially created for the sake of acting as a ledger for Bitcoin cryptocurrency, soon many applications of blockchain came into being.

And based on the type of applications and the accessibility that is needed for that application, blockchains can be divided into four categories.

Public Blockchain as the name implies is a network in which anyone can participate without any restrictions.

It is a permissionless distributed ledger system and the only requirement to join one is to have access to the internet. Anyone can join this type of blockchain platform and they act as a node or a user. As a node of that network, they can access current and past records, verify transactions, and can even do mining.

In fact, mining and exchange of cryptocurrencies are the most common use cases of the public blockchain.

The main advantages of a public blockchain are that it is transparent, secure, and trustworthy. But it comes with the disadvantages of high power consumption, low transaction speed, and scalability issues.

Some of the examples are Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, etc.

A Private Blockchain is completely the opposite of a public blockchain in terms of accessibility.

They operate only in a closed network and all the participants of that particular closed network can only access the data stored within. This is mostly used in organizations or enterprises where only selected members are participants of the network.

The accessibility and authority to grant permissions, authorizations and control of the security are all in the hands of the controlling organization.

The functions of a private blockchain are mostly similar to the public blockchain, except for the small and restrictive network. They are mostly used for voting, supply chain management, digital identity, etc in a closed organization.

Private blockchains have high transaction speed and are easily scalable compared to public blockchains, but it is not as secure and transparent as a public blockchain.

Some common examples include Ripple(XRP), Hyperledger, Corda, etc.

If a blockchain network is accessed by more than one organization in a closed network, then it is called a Consortium Blockchain.

It is similar to a private blockchain as the information cannot be accessed by anyone other than the participants of the network. But instead of users as nodes, here multiple organizations act as nodes of the network and exchange data and do mining.

In a way, consortium blockchains are semi-decentralized.

It is used by banks, government organizations, etc. Energy web foundation is a known example.

As the name implies, it is a combination of both public and private blockchain networks.

With a hybrid blockchain, one can have both a private-permission network and a public-permissionless network as well. Users can control the accessibility of the data and set limitations. They can decide what part of the data can go public and what should remain private.

The private transactions that happen on the private part of the network can be verified by the participants with access to that private network. But they can also be shown to public users to get verification.

It has advantages of both public and private blockchains

Dragonchain is one of the examples of a Hybrid Blockchain.

Of all these four, public and private blockchains can be considered the primary category as consortium and hybrid blockchains are derived from both of these blockchains. Each one of them has its own advantages and disadvantages and one must choose the most suitable method based on its purpose.

So, what do you guys think is the best blockchain network? Let us know.