Blockchain has emerged as one of the most disruptive forces behind the digital transformation. Our mission is to bring blockchain to every developer and every organization on the planet. Developers are at the heart of this innovation and we are committed to providing the best tools to make them successful.

Today, Dragonchain is releasing Version 1.0 of the commercial platform. With this release, Dragonchain moves out of the alpha phase and into a production-ready service.

Blockchain as a Service

Dragonchain offers Blockchain as a Service (BaaS); the fastest path for developers to build, test, and deploy blockchain applications and smart contracts. This is compelling to organizations looking to lower operational costs, reduce time to market, and focus on core business solutions.

BaaS is a set of cloud-based services that enable developers to build applications at a speed that private blockchain solutions, like Hyperledger, cannot match. As a cloud-based service, there is no need to worry about the set-up and maintenance of servers, patching, upgrades, and so on; developers can simply focus on creating applications and smart contracts. The commercial platform also delivers a set of additional services, such as a library of smart contracts and rich APIs to power blockchain applications.

New User Interface

The Dragonchain console now features a new, web-based user interface that you can use to swiftly and easily create chains and smart contracts. The following screenshot shows an example of a chain being created.

Figure 1 — Creating a new chain

Community Provisioned L2 Nodes

Data exposure and security are known issues to businesses wanting to leverage blockchain technology, as they typically have very sensitive customer data that may have regulatory or legal risks associated (e.g. banking, health, identity, etc.).

Generally speaking, here are three blockchain implementation models:

Public Blockchains: A public blockchain, like Bitcoin or Ethereum, is a permission-less blockchain that allows anyone to access and read data; open access that exposes sensitive data which raises security concerns for most businesses. Private Blockchains: A private blockchain, like Hyperledger, makes permission restricted, which makes sharing data across networks difficult. Hybrid Blockchains: Dragonchain deploys a hybrid public-private blockchain, which seamlessly connects these blockchains with ease. This allows for verification of transactions to be based on a spectrum of trust.

The Dragonchain architecture uses a hybrid blockchain model to provide five standardized Levels of Consensus that provide a spectrum of trust to consumers of data.

Business (Approval) Verification Enterprise Governance (Validation) Verification Network Diversity Verification External Partner (Notary) Verification Public Checkpoint Verification

Community Provisioned Level 2 Nodes are new with this release. Level 2 Nodes are hosted by the Dragonchain user community and provide a compute service to validate Level 1 transactions without provisioning or managing servers. Level 2 Nodes check for block and individual transaction validity in form, signature, and required data elements. Level 2 Nodes only execute when needed and scale automatically. You only pay for the transactions that Level 2 nodes validate.

The digital signing performed by Level 2 Nodes can demonstrate enterprise verification to prove a Level 1 transaction occurred, without sharing the data of the payload.

Dragonchain Deploys a Hybrid Public-Private Blockchain

Centralized blockchains use permissions to participate and have full control over data in a network makes sharing data across networks difficult. Decentralized systems are controlled by no single authority and all network transactions are publically accessible, raising security concerns. Dragonchain deploys a hybrid public-private blockchain which seamlessly connects these two systems. This allows users to selectively share parts of their data with a public blockchain, without risking the security of their private business data.

Dragonchain is an event-driven system that can be triggered by publisher and watcher services. This can be applied in order to selectively share data, publish business logic, or respond to events to automate workflows based on events on your blockchain or another public blockchain.

A smart contract is code running on a node with a blockchain based provenance. Dragonchain smart contracts are only executed on Level 1 (Basic Business Nodes) and are directly controlled by the smart contract owner. A smart contract may well be distributed and executed on a pay-per-request basis.

Dragonchain smart contracts can be triggered by events, such as a transaction. The triggering event can then use an interchain smart contract to publish data such as the payload, or the transparent processing on the public blockchain. When data that is published to one or more public blockchains, that data becomes decentralized.

Dragonchain Academy

Apply to get started with a simple tutorial on the new Dragonchain Academy. Sign up for the pilot training program to learn how to develop on Dragonchain.

This article appeared first on Dragonchain’s blog: https://dragonchain.com/blog/launching-hybrid-blockchain-as-a-service