Blockchain Technology: A dive into the 3 main types.

Blockchain technology as we know it is fast growing.

Every day, several technologists come up with different ideas to make it more efficient and carry out its design’s sole purpose.

Over the years, Blockchain has shown strength, speed, transparency, security, immutability, and decentralization.

Although the performance or output of blockchain technology may differ based on these three types:

✓ Public

✓ Private and

✓ Hybrid Blockchains

Based on the three types, we will look at three things, i.e. the Blockchain Trilemma:

✓ Security

✓ Scalability and

✓ Decentralization

and how they affect the performance of this great technology.

We will be looking at private, public, and Hybrid Blockchains.

When integrating a Blockchain to fulfill the supply chain needs, decisions on what type of blockchain technology is best suited for the project are necessary.

Thus, You have to understand the categories available for blockchain structures.

Let’s dive in.

Public or Permissionless Blockchains

These Blockchains are Permissionless by design.

They don’t need the permission of a central authority or anyone to take part in the network.

These decentralized blockchains have no restrictions for participation. This makes sure that all the participants have equal rights and can join in and take part in consensus.

More so, public blockchains were the first-ever blockchains to grow with Bitcoin, laying the foundation of this technology.

Being the first-ever Blockchain used over the years, other blockchains emerged after studying the network.

With the benefits attached, these blockchains now deal with Bitcoin issues like scalability and decentralization.

Other examples of public blockchains include Ethereum, BSC, Ripple, Solana, and several others.

Public Blockchains and The Blockchain Technology Trilemma

✓ Security

Public blockchains make sure that this technology offers the highest level of security.

Bitcoin uses the proof of work consensus algorithm. This algorithm uses high computational power to solve mathematical problems.

Before a hacker penetrates the network, he’ll have to take control of about 51% of the nodes.

This is almost impossible as large mining farms are created all over the globe.

It allows miners to take part in consensus and earn rewards.

Also, the security protocol may vary based on the platform

✓ Scalability

An important factor in this growing technology is Scalability.

But, public blockchain technology does come with its fair share of flaws in scalability.

Because they are decentralized, in reality, these platforms are slower than usual.

Bitcoin can only handle a few transactions, (about 5TPS).

Hereby causes low speed, processing times, and throughput.

✓ Decentralization

Public Blockchains are highly decentralized blockchains.

Everyone can take part in the network and see the ledger as well.

Hence, maintaining transparency at all times.

Private or permissioned Blockchain

Private blockchains are also referred to as permissioned blockchains. These blockchains are controlled by a single organization.

They determine who can take part in the network.

The single organization also does not grant each participant on the network equal rights to perform functions/activities.

Hence, there is a hierarchy of authority.

Private blockchain solutions will have an authorization and identification scheme, i.e. KYC (know your customer).

This is to identify which participant is entering the platform.

Private blockchains are decentralized but only to a fixed/certain number of nodes on the Blockchain.

Here, networks that use the private blockchain create/set a “Fixed Decentralization” to enable the network’s scale.

Examples of private blockchains include Ripple, Hyperledger, and some others.

Private Blockchains and The Blockchain Technology Trilemma

✓  Security

Because of the transparent nature of blockchain technology and the benefits attached to carrying out a successful attack, they have become a prime target for hackers.

Here, private blockchains seem to eliminate the idea of making the ledger public, as organizations need privacy so as not to attract hackers. Without proper privacy, their competition can gain access to the network and leak highly classified information to the public.

So, in some instances, organizations need great privacy.

✓ Scalability

Well, the whole idea of integrating a private blockchain is to handle scalability limitations, i.e. to limit the number of nodes that can join the network.

Here, the organization can only allow a fixed level of decentralization so the network doesn’t get crowded and causes low processing time and throughput.

Ripple and its native token XRP handle about 1500 TPS. To do this, private blockchains use eco-friendly consensus algorithms to agree.

✓ Decentralization

Private Blockchains are not decentralized.

Networks that integrate a private blockchain trades decentralization for scalability.

So, the network is only decentralized to a handful of nodes.

Hybrid Blockchains

Hybrid Blockchains are in-between the private and public blockchains.

They try to make good/effective use of the ideal part of both public and private blockchain technology solutions.

What makes it ideal is the fact that a single organization grants controlled access and freedom, making the Blockchain flexible.

Examples of hybrid blockchains include XDC i.e. XinFin Enterprise-Ready Hybrid Blockchain.

 XDC combines the power of Public and Private blockchains with Interoperable Smart Contracts.

Hybrid Blockchains and The Blockchain Technology Trilemma

✓ Security

Since it is both in public and private state, the XDC Blockchain network has a public state that is shared by all members, which allows sharing of non-crucial data publicly.

Also, organizations can host private sub-networks to protect sensitive and financial data from the public, and have their unique public and private state, which makes them highly secured.

✓ Scalability

Hybrid Blockchains are flexible.

They stay liquid to give the best performance of both private and public blockchains put together.

 XDC uses the DPOS consensus algorithm, which is designed for highly scalable blockchains.

The Blockchain has records of about 2000 plus (TPS) in transactions.

✓ Decentralization

The DPOS is centralized in the selection of delegates which are selected because of the number of tokens they possess and their participation in the network.

This gives them voting power and is decentralized so that anybody can purchase the network native token and stake under the network’s selected delegates.

Making the hybrid blockchain more secure, scalable, and decentralized.