What is the difference between a public blockchain vs. a private blockchain? Does it matter? Which is better? FINTERRA believe that currently there are pros and cons between both Private and Public Blockchains, but time and “convergence”, a term that is gaining prominence in the Blockchain Industry, is clearly showing that the lines between these categories, once clear, are starting to fade.

Public Blockchains:

Public blockchains are just that, public. Anyone that wants to read, write, or join a public blockchain can do so. Public chains are decentralized meaning no one body has control over the network, ensuring the data can’t be changed once validated on the blockchain. Simply meaning, anyone, anywhere, can use a public blockchain to input transactions and data as long as they are connected to the network.

Some well know examples of Public Blockchains would be Bitcoin and Ethereum, with Bitcoin being among the first Blockchain application to prove that value could be moved across the globe without third-parties like banks or remittance companies.

Private Blockchains:

Blockchains that are private or permissioned work similarly to public blockchains but with access controls that restrict those that can join the network, meaning it operates like a centralised database system of today that limits access to certain users. Private Blockchains have one or multiple entities that control the network, leading to the reliance on third-parties to transact. A well-known example would be Hyperledger.

Why are different Blockchains required?

Necessity is the answer to that question, well for the short term anyway. Currently public & private blockchains still have a lot of challenging technological problems that need to be sorted out, with privacy and scalability being foremost. FINTERRA’s GALLACTIC blockchain can certainly help. With scalability due to its multi-chain architecture allowing transactions at 300 per second on mainchain with the ability to scale up to hundreds of thousands per second when the multi-chain model is configured for speed. This massive scaling rivals and in most cases surpass other blockchains in the market.

The concerns over privacy will continue to be an issue due to the transparent nature of blockchain but as public blockchains introduce privacy measures, the value proposition of public blockchains will become obvious and turn most to-day’s private chains obsolete.

Source: FINTERRA

Saying that, Interoperability has been the missing link in conquering the obstacles faced by both private and public blockchains by empowering them to interact and exchange values across platforms seamlessly. Developers use of the GALLACTIC blockchain technology, that allows for private and public blockchains within its eco-system, will drive the potential to combine both public and private blockchains with innovative new solutions, designed to accomplish cross-chain exchange and greater compatibility is the way forward for all parties and their concerns.