Blockchain being used in various industries requires features that are customizable, so that it can prove to be good fit for a particular use case.
Blockchain can be divided into categories based on control over data access. Ideally, it has to be purely decentralized so that anyone can access the data but when put to business use, it has to undergo some customization.
Therefore, before going into working of the Blockchain, let's discover different types of Blockchain.
Public Blockchain:
Public Blockchains are the most general and popular form of Blockchain. These are truly decentralization without any restrictions to public access. Anyone can easily join the network and have full control and access of their assets. The node does not need anyone's permission to gain authorization over the system, and can freely access current as well as the past records of the blockchain ledger. These types of Blockchains are mainly used in transferring the assets or exchanging cryptocurrencies. These are also referred to as permission-less Blockchains.
For example, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, etc.
Private Blockchain:
As inferred by the name itself, these are restrictive blockchains that are governed by some specific organization. The participants of these Blockchains are members of this organization. The Blockchain grows on the set of protocols defined by the organization that has full control of authorization, access, permissions and security of the network. These types of Blockchains are mainly adopted by Businesses or startups that require their own network under their control. The use cases of such permissioned Blockchains include supply chain management, voting, asset ownership, etc.
For example, Multichain, Hyperledger Projects, Corda, etc.
Consortium Blockchain:
Unlike private blockchains, these type of Blockchain are owned or governed by multiple organizations rather by a single organization. Here a node may belong any one of the organizations and follows the set of protocols defined the governing organizations. These are mainly used by government organizations, banks, etc. Consortium Blockchain are basically semi-decentralized.
For example, Energy Web Foundation, R3, etc.
Hybrid Blockchains:
Hybrid Blockchains are a hybrid of both private and public blockchains. Technically, they use concept of data encapsulation which means hiding critical information from public and exposing other data publicly. A peer can join the private blockchain with access authorization while participation in the public blockchains. This type of network uses both permissioned and permission-less approach as needed. The node participating in the private network can choose the records that have to be kept private or, that have to be broadcasted over the public network.
This hybrid feature enables properties of both public and private blockchains. Public network enhances the security, speed and trustlessness of the system while private network allows a set of peers to govern that private section of the system.
For example, DragonChain.
I am hoping this article gave you a pretty good idea how Blockchain extends its use cases along various industries.
Next we will look at functioning of the Blockchain system with the help of example labs.
TILL THEN KEEP LEARNING.
STAY TUNED!!
Comments