When we talk about trending technologies of the decade, no doubt, Blockchain technology is one of them. Initially focused on transaction-related activities in the financial place, Blockchain platforms are more in demand for developing decentralized applications or dApp development. Through the applications of decentralized apps, businesses have explored Blockchain technology’s capability, and maybe this is the prime reason that Blockchain platforms are increasing day by day.
These Blockchain platforms are development platforms of blockchain-based applications. It can be permissioned or permissionless. In this blog, we will discuss some of the most popular Blockchain platforms in the market.
Related post – What you need to know about Blockchain data storage
Best Blockchain Platforms
1. Ethereum
Ethereum came into the market as a Blockchain platform in 2015. This open-source distributed platform is popular for running smart contracts on custom-built Blockchain. Ethereum Virtual machine or EVM works as a run time environment for smart contracts. In this case, in the Blockchain network, every node has to run the EVM implementation.
Ethereum is a permissionless public Blockchain platform that is built for mass consumption versus restricted access. Furthermore, this Blockchain platform is based on the Proof of Work (PoW) consensus algorithm. The proof of work blockchains is energy-intensive for security reasons, which is why this platform obtains less speed. It can handle only 15 transactions per second. However, in the upcoming version of Ethereum, that is, Ethereum 2.0 or Eth2, planning is going on to scale it up with Proof of Stake.
The native cryptocurrency for Ethereum is Ether. As a developer, if you build applications using Ethereum, you need to pay charges in Ethers for executing transactions and running your applications on the Ethereum network.
Ethereum provides many tools to the developers for development, build, testing, and deployment.
Ethereum at a glance
Industry Focus: Cross-Industry
Governance: Ethereum Developers
Consensus Algorithm: Proof of Work
Smart Contract Functionality: Yes
Ledger Type: Permissionless
Website: https://ethereum.org/
2. Hyperledger Fabric
Hyperledger Fabric is a distributed ledger software that came into the market in the year 2016. It is an initiative of the Linux Foundation. This Blockchain platform intends to leverage a platform for developing modular architecture. Its plug and play feature supports a wide range of industry use cases. This is an open-source community that aims to create stable frameworks, libraries, and Blockchain deployment tools.
Hyperledger Fabric promotes many technical features in Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) like graphical interfaces, smart contract engines, distributed ledger frameworks, libraries, and applications. The framework supports permissioned networks.
Hyperledger Fabric features:
• Permissioned architecture
• Highly modular
• Pluggable consensus
• Open smart contract model — flexibility to implement any desired solution model (account model, UTXO model, structured data, unstructured data, etc.)
• Low latency of finality/confirmation
• Flexible approach to data privacy: data isolation using ‘channels,’ or share private data on a need-to-know basis using private data ‘collections’
• Multi-language smart contract support: Go, Java, Javascript
• Support for EVM and Solidity
• Designed for continuous operations, including rolling upgrades and asymmetric version support
• Governance and versioning of smart contracts
• Flexible endorsement model for achieving consensus across required organizations
• Queryable data (key-based queries and JSON queries)
[Ref: https://www.hyperledger.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/hyperledger_fabric_whitepaper.pdf]
Hyperledger Fabric at a glance
Industry Focus: Cross-Industry
Consensus Algorithm: Pluggable Framework
Governance: Linux Foundation
Smart Contract Functionality: Yes
Ledger Type: Permissioned
Website: https://www.hyperledger.org/use/fabric
3. Corda
Corda is an open-source Blockchain platform built-in 2015 by R3, a consortium of the world’s leading financial institutions. It is a permissioned and private Blockchain platform that enables direct transactions of smart contracts while removes the costly frictions of business transactions. Corda streamlines business operations by keeping costs in check while reducing the transactions.
Corda only allows authorized participants to access the data, which is ‘need’ and not the entire network. This way, it delivers privacy, interoperability, security, and scalability. Interestingly Corda does not have any cryptocurrency or built-in token.
Corda is an enterprise Blockchain platform that supports the financial industry and supplies chain, healthcare, trade finance, and many government authorities.
Corda at a glance
Industry Focus: Cross-Industry
Consensus Algorithm: Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance
Governance: Hedera Hashgraph Council
Smart Contract Functionality: Yes
Ledger Type: Permissioned
Website: https://www.r3.com/corda-enterprise/
4. EOS
EOS is a Blockchain platform founded by Block. It has been launched as an open-source Blockchain platform in 2018. This platform is for developing decentralized applications or dApps similar to Ethereum, as mentioned in the beginning. EOS provides a complete operating system for dApps through server hosting, authentications, and cloud storage. It comes as both a public and private Blockchain network based on business needs. It maximizes the performance by structuring each block into sequential cycles while reducing the latency.
EOS addresses the scalability issue of Ethereum through decentralized application hosting, storing enterprise solutions, and smart contracts in a decentralized way. EOS delegated a proof-of-stake algorithm while it also supports multi-threading.
Here are some of the reasons why EOS should be considered as a Blockchain platform for development:
– It is free to use
It has a governance feature to validate transactions and check whether the application performs as expected.
– It is a fully-featured authentication platform.
– You can keep your developed applications in the cloud through its default feature
– You can easily scale it up as EOS implements consensus over events.
– It has a vibrant and global community
EOS at a glance
Industry Focus: Cross-Industry
Consensus Algorithm: Delegated Proof of Stake
Governance: EOSIO Core Arbitration Forum (ECAF)
Smart Contract Functionality: Yes
Ledger Type: Permissioned
Website: https://block.one/
5. Quorum
Quorum enables enterprises to leverage the power of Ethereum. Its mission is to seamless adoption of Blockchain technology. It modifies the core of Ethereum in a way so that it can incorporate the Ethereum updates quickly and seamlessly. This Blockchain platform is open-source and free and supports different algorithms to process hundreds of transactions per second. Since it is permissioned, the Blockchain networks that use Quorum is not open to everyone.
The specialty of Quorum is the high throughput and speed of transactions. Simultaneously, it is unique in maintaining the confidentiality of the records, which most Blockchains, even Ethereum, failed to handle as it uses public and private on-chain transactions.
Quorum at a glance:
Industry Focus: Cross-Industry
Consensus Algorithm: Majority Voting
Governance: Ethereum Developers and JP Morgan Chase
Smart Contract Functionality: No
Ledger Type: Permissioned
Website: https://consensys.net/quorum/
6. OpenChain
OpenChain is an open-source Blockchain platform that implements distributed ledger technology and is highly suitable for managing digital assets in a scalable and secure way. Like Bitcoin, every transaction in OpenChain is digitally signed. Furthermore, it uses a client-server architecture, which is more efficient than peer-to-peer architecture. It follows a modular design.
OpenChain uses Partitioned Consensus, where a single authority will validate the transactions, for instance. It is free of cost since there is no miner in the OpenChain, and the asset administrator only validates the transactions. So, this Blockchain platform is more efficient compare to other platforms.
OpenChain at a glance:
Industry Focus: Digital Asset Management
Consensus Algorithm: Partitioned Consensus
Governance: Linux Foundation
Smart Contract Functionality: Yes
Ledger Type: Permissioned
Website: https://www.openchain.org/
7. Ripple
Ripple is a global payment network discovered in 2012 to connect payment providers, banks, digital asset exchanges, and corporate via a blockchain network called RippleNet. It does not claim any chargebacks. The Ripple blockchain platform is ideal for cross-border payment solutions. It permits banks for direct transactions across national borders.
“XRP or Ripple,” which is a digital asset of Ripple, allows global payments. It is now one of the popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ether. XRP is built on advanced Blockchain technology, and it is faster and scalable than other Blockchains.
Ripple at a glance:
Industry Focus: Financial Services
Consensus Algorithm: Probabilistic Voting
Governance: Ripple Labs
Smart Contract Functionality: No
Ledger Type: Permissioned
Website: https://ripple.com/
8. Stellar
Stellar is a distributed blockchain-based ledger that facilitates cross-asset transfers of value. Steller makes it possible to work all world’s financial systems to work together on a single network. Using the Stellar network, you can build banking tools, mobile wallets, and smart devices. It uses Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP) that enables the network to reach consensus without depending on a closed system for recording financial transactions.
Stellar is designed for developers, and it provides the documentation, tools, and support to expedite project development. Opening up the financial system as a new participant is easier in SCP than proof-of-stake and proof- of- work as it has modest computing and financial requirements.
Stellar at a glance:
Industry Focus: Financial Services
Consensus Algorithm: Stellar Consensus Protocol
Governance: Stellar Development Foundation
Smart Contract Functionality: Yes
Ledger Type: Both public and private
Website: https://www.stellar.org/
9. NEO
The Neo Blockchain platform is ideal for developing scalable and decentralized applications. It is a developer-friendly platform with its own comprehensive suite of resources and tools to support a global dApp ecosystem. Neo’s mission is to set up an open network for the smart economy. It is an open-source and community-driven Blockchain platform and uses many advanced Blockchain technologies. Neo’s working principle is based on dBFT2.0, which is the Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance consensus algorithm.
Neo uses Blockchain smart contracts for managing digital assets. This also facilitates the P2P exchange of currencies and digital assets without the need for third-party exchanges. Neo’s own native currency is the “Neo” token. It has rock-solid support for Blockchain development. For example, Neo supports multiple programming languages such as C#, Go, Java, Python, etc. Additionally, it provides a complete infrastructure for development like protocols, development tools, and documents. Also, it has a strong community.
Neo at a glance:
Industry Focus: Smart Economy
Consensus Algorithm: Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance
Governance: On-chain governance through votes of NEO holders and Off-chain governance through NEO Foundation support.
Smart Contract Functionality: Yes
Ledger Type: Permissioned
Website: https://neo.org/
10. Hedera Hashgraph
The Hedera is a proof-of-stake public network that uses hashgraph consensus, a faster, more secure alternative to blockchain consensus mechanisms. Hashgraph provides high throughput with 10,000+ transactions support per second. With this consensus, Hedera achieves the highest-grade of security possible (ABFT), along with blazing-fast transaction speeds with shallow bandwidth consumption.
With a combination of high-throughput, finality, and low fees, Hedera leads the way for the future of public ledgers. Hedera enables developers to build a new class of decentralized applications with scalability.
Hedera Hashgraph at a glance:
Industry Focus: Cross-Industry
Consensus Algorithm: Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance
Governance: Hedera Hashgraph Council
Smart Contract Functionality: Yes
Ledger Type: Permissioned
Website: https://www.hedera.com/
Final verdict
Blockchain today is not limited to Fintech; instead, its applications have been stretched into other domains like healthcare, the Internet of Things, AI, Insurance, and many more. As Blockchain is moving at a frenetic pace, at the same time, Blockchain platforms are emerging at a rapid pace. However, few things enterprises must consider before choosing a Blockchain platform are its scalability, functionality, adoption rate, security, and network type to build highly scalable applications.