Cryptopedia
Public Blockchain
Blockchain is a distributed ledger where each node is responsible for storing data. According to the difference of access control, the blockchain can be classified into a public chain, private chain and alliance chain.
Public Chain
Being totally open to the public, the public chain allows anyone, regardless of the time and location, to participate in the transactions and data-storing on the chain, which only requires an internet-linked device. For instance, the BTC blockchain and ETH blockchain are both public chains.
Since each node is independent on the blockchain, the privacy of users can be well protected. Besides, each node enjoying equal rights can strive for recording and updating data through the consensus mechanism. All data on the public chain is transparent so that anyone can check the history.
The public chain is highly decentralized as it runs in conformity with the set rules, not permitting the developers or other users to change the rules and data. However, the trading speed of it is rather slow seeing too many nodes need to verify the transactions.
Private Chain
Contrary to the pubic chain, a private chain is not open to the public, so only the authorized nodes can join in the chain. The information in the private chain is released, in accordance with various needs, to the corresponding nodes that have different rights. It is generally applied to the internal data management of the enterprises and institutes, such as Ant Financial Service Groups behind Alipay.
As the participation in the private chain requires verification, there is little possibility for the evil nodes to successfully attack the chain, which has great security. In addition, since there are fewer nodes to be verified, the trading speed is faster than that of the public chain.
However, the private chain is more centralized. It is completely controlled by the organization which can alter the rules, and the nodes having larger power can change data on the chain out of their profits.
Alliance Chain
Alliance chain admits several organizations to jointly participate in the management, the openness of which is between that of the private chain and the public chain. It is usually used in the finance industry in the convenience of the trading and settlements between the institutes such as WeBank, CBRA (China Blockchain Research Alliance), etc.
Like the private chain, an alliance chain allows the authorized institutes to join in the chain and manage one or a few nodes, during which data is only open to the members on the chain. After reaching a consensus, the institutes are permitted to alter the rules. But the limits of power are more complicated than that of the private chain, so it has a higher credit.
All these three kinds of blockchain have their own characteristics, so users can apply one of them according to their needs. If users don’t have a strict requirement for the security instead of the trading speed, the public chain is more suitable. Conversely, if a higher trading speed or internal data verification is needed, the private chain or the alliance chain would be a better choice.
Public Chain
Being totally open to the public, the public chain allows anyone, regardless of the time and location, to participate in the transactions and data-storing on the chain, which only requires an internet-linked device. For instance, the BTC blockchain and ETH blockchain are both public chains.
Since each node is independent on the blockchain, the privacy of users can be well protected. Besides, each node enjoying equal rights can strive for recording and updating data through the consensus mechanism. All data on the public chain is transparent so that anyone can check the history.
The public chain is highly decentralized as it runs in conformity with the set rules, not permitting the developers or other users to change the rules and data. However, the trading speed of it is rather slow seeing too many nodes need to verify the transactions.
Private Chain
Contrary to the pubic chain, a private chain is not open to the public, so only the authorized nodes can join in the chain. The information in the private chain is released, in accordance with various needs, to the corresponding nodes that have different rights. It is generally applied to the internal data management of the enterprises and institutes, such as Ant Financial Service Groups behind Alipay.
As the participation in the private chain requires verification, there is little possibility for the evil nodes to successfully attack the chain, which has great security. In addition, since there are fewer nodes to be verified, the trading speed is faster than that of the public chain.
However, the private chain is more centralized. It is completely controlled by the organization which can alter the rules, and the nodes having larger power can change data on the chain out of their profits.
Alliance Chain
Alliance chain admits several organizations to jointly participate in the management, the openness of which is between that of the private chain and the public chain. It is usually used in the finance industry in the convenience of the trading and settlements between the institutes such as WeBank, CBRA (China Blockchain Research Alliance), etc.
Like the private chain, an alliance chain allows the authorized institutes to join in the chain and manage one or a few nodes, during which data is only open to the members on the chain. After reaching a consensus, the institutes are permitted to alter the rules. But the limits of power are more complicated than that of the private chain, so it has a higher credit.
All these three kinds of blockchain have their own characteristics, so users can apply one of them according to their needs. If users don’t have a strict requirement for the security instead of the trading speed, the public chain is more suitable. Conversely, if a higher trading speed or internal data verification is needed, the private chain or the alliance chain would be a better choice.
