What are the different types of blockchains?

Hey everyone! Did you know there were four types of Blockchains? When I started learning about web3, I only knew about one Blockchain, the public Blockchain.

But in this article, I have explained the four types of blockchains. Everyone, directly or indirectly, has studied Bitcoin, and Bitcoin is a public blockchain.

I have written a little synopsis of Blockchain and why there are different types of Blockchains available.

Blockchain

The term blockchain combines the words “Block” and “Chain.” 

Blockchain is like an open book, and each block stores the information on block height, transaction details, timestamps, etc. 

The blocks are connected in a series to form a chain, which is why it is known as Blockchain.

Blockchains types are defined based on Permissionless and Permissioned principles.

Permissionless Blockchains

A blockchain that is open-source and transparent to the public is called a public blockchain. 

Anyone with a computer and internet can join and contribute to the network.

Permissioned Blockchains

Only authorized users can access and contribute to the network in a closed ecosystem. 

Types of Blockchain:

Based on those two principles, blockchains categorized into four types

1. Public Blockchain
2. Private/Secure Blockchain
3. Hybrid Blockchain
4. Consortium blockchain

Public Blockchain

As in the name, it is open to the public, it is entirely decentralized and transparent of transactions, and it’s tough for anyone to manipulate the data.

This type of Blockchain doesn’t have any central authority, and no single person or organization maintains the network. So this follows the idea of decentralization.

All the computers on the network hold the information of other nodes and transactions of different blocks, making it very tough for anyone to manipulate the data.

Public blockchains are easily trustable because of their fraud detection algorithm.

You can participate in the network without revealing your name and identity as it follows anonymous nature.

Private Blockchain

Centralized and only selected nodes can participate in the network.

Only authorized users can access the network making it secure.

The transaction rate of private Blockchains is very high compared to public Blockchains.

Because the length of the whole network is minimal, we can quickly verify each node which saves a lot of time.

In a private blockchain, we can manually decide the network’s size.

But the drawback is that it does not follow the idea of decentralization.

Since it is centralized, there is a chance of corruption and malpractice.

Another drawback of private Blockchain is as few nodes are participating in the network, if one node goes offline, the entire Blockchain will not work as expected.

Hybrid Blockchain

You know the meaning of Hybrid. The combination of two other products or mixing of two different products, precisely in the same way Hybrid blockchains are combinations of public and private blockchains. 

A central authority or organization operates some parts of the Blockchain, and some are open to the public.

Smart contracts allow users to access information like block height and transaction details.

Hybrid blockchains are immune from 51% hacks as the users don’t have access to the network.

Only a few nodes verify the transaction, so computational and transaction cost is very cheap.

Participants won’t receive network incentives because of its closed ecosystem.

Consortium Blockchain

Consortium blockchain was developed to solve the organization’s needs. 

More than one organization manages the consortium blockchain.

It is similar to a hybrid Blockchain. Some part of the Blockchain is public, and some are private.

The transaction rate is very high as only a few users verify the transactions.

The block information is not available to the public. Still, the person who belongs to the organization can access the block information.

As you know, it inherits some features of private Blockchain, meaning one or more organizations control it, so there is a chance of corruption.

Summary

That’s it, and I hope you now have a clear idea of the types of Blockchains. If you found this article, please share it with your friends. 

Thanks for reading 😁