The blockchain technology is all the rage right now. It takes everyone sometime to fully grasp the concept of this new groundbreaking technology.
Guess what? There are actually multiple types of blockchain now! Huh? Are you as confused as we are?? No need to sweat it! We are here to put all your confusions at bay. Currently there are 3 types of Blockchain.
But, we can’t promise you there won’t be more because its an emerging technology and it’s constantly evolving. It’s kind of tiring isn’t it?
The 3 powerful blockchain types are like human personalities. Well sort of. Let’s just get into it shall we?
Type 1: Easy-Going
This type has a very laid back attitude when it comes to life. It’s easy-going, a little to easy-going actually which can have both negative and positive effects. It’s called the permissionless blockchain.
Bitcoin and Ethereum are examples of this kind. You already knew these, didn’t ya? The thing is, this type doesn’t have an authority approving any transactions at all. You can come and go, this blockchain type doesn’t give a f*ck. Let’s take Bitcoin, it’s basically a shared ledger. If we decide to send my best friend 7 Bitcoins, I would be shouting that to the people in the network like a crazy person!
“Hey, guys! Look I am giving away 7 Bitcoins to my best friend in the whole-wide world.”
Seems like a show off doesn’t it? The Bitcoin network will hear the message loud and clear and immediately start the process of validating the transaction. The twist? There is no chosen one to validate the task, we can’t really predict who gets a say and who doesn’t.
The power is not in the hands of one person. That’s why permissionless blockchain are democratic to its core. Literally anyone can transfer money, contribute data and create smart contracts. It’s a free network. However, you can still protect confidential information on this blockchain type. The data is pretty much permanently recorded though.
Type 2: Up-Tight
This type has a rather traditional approach to life and strongly believes authority is necessary for discipline in life, which is why it sometimes feel like a bit up-tight. It’s the public permission blockchain.
It’s probably because this blockchain type have some chosen people who are responsible for authorizing a transaction. It could either be a senior employee, authority, institution, government or anyone who’s assigned.
Let’s look at it a bit closely. For instance, John is someone who want to bring more transparency to his fish supply chain. He wants that the people know where all the fish are caught, even processed and package. When someone buys from him. The consumer will be able to scan the code and from the point where it was actually caught. But, the consumer can only view the data and doesn’t have any permission to write anything.
Only the fisherman’s IOT device and the food processor who is responsible for processing the fish can write data. It clearly doesn’t make any sense for the public to write data into it right? Just like any blockchain the data is permanently there.
Type 3: The Private Type
This type is a bit of an introvert and like to keep things private from everyone. More into living in it’s own bubble and only shares their “personal stuff” with some people. It’s called the private permissioned blockchain.
It has some similarities with the public permissioned blockchain, except the data is not available for the public. Let’s look at a hypothetical situation. Samantha has a business. Her business is also involved with three other businesses and an accounting firm. They all are involved in transactions on a regular basis with each other.
So, how does it all functions? Hmm. Well, Samantha’s transactions with other businesses will be private information. It won’t be available for the public eye and it shouldn’t be. The data is being permanently recorded though. However, when they all transact with each other they won’t have to maintain a separate ledger. All transactions will be tallied instantaneously.
So, which blockchain type are you? Let us know in the comments below!
