Preface – This post is part of the Blockchain Basics series.

Introduction

A Blockchain was solely created for public in form of public network but an organization data cannot be exposed to public. Thus, with evolution of blockchain, more Types of Blockchains were introduced. In this article we will explore all the types of Blockchains in detail.

Types of Blockchains

Blockchains classifications are primarily based upon restrictions on block (or simply data) accessibility. Following are the three types of Blockchain networks:

Public Blockchains

A public blockchain is the one which has absolutely no access restrictions and anyone on internet can become a user or validator. These blockchains are mainly used by crypto currencies. These blockchains use a consensus mechanism to keep their transactions valid. Most famous examples include Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Private Blockchains

A Private Blockchain is just like a relational database i.e. fully centralized and owned by a single organization. All the participants are vetted before entering into this blockchain network. These types of blockchains are mainly used by banking organization, where data cannot be shared with and validated by anyone. Multichain is a tool to create private blockchains.

Consortium Blockchains

The literal meaning of consortium is “an association of several companies”. As the name suggests, it is a blockchain that is jointly controlled by a group of organizations. It is best suited for business and ERP solutions. Hyperledger and R3Cev are leading blockchain networks in this area.