Comparison of XinFin Network with Second Largest Public Blockchain Ethereum

What started with one public blockchain named Bitcoin snowballed into a multi-billion dollar industry with thousands of blockchain network. In this article, we juxtapose an enterprise-ready hybrid blockchain XinFin Network with the second-largest blockchain network Ethereum.

Comparison chart of ETH vs XDC Network

The basic definition

XinFin is an enterprise-ready hybrid blockchain specifically designed keeping in mind the pain points in the trade and finance industry. It aims to digitize global trade and finance through its interoperable blockchain, XinFin. While most blockchains struggle with low scalability and high network congestion, XinFin Network supports the almost instantaneous settlement of trade transactions. It aligns itself to replace or work alongside various traditional — and complex — financial infrastructure so that it increases the efficiency of the industry and reduce organizations’ reliance on outdated infrastructure.

The XinFin Network’s first block was formed on 31st May 2019.

Ethereum is a public blockchain network and a distributed computing platform that aims to bring control over data and finance into the hands of the people. The Ethereum network aims to create what is referred to as a decentralized internet by removing internet third parties that control how we store, manage, and transfer our data and money.

The first block on the Ethereum network was mined on 30th July 2015.

Block Size

More than ten years into blockchain innovation but the blockchain and crypto community still remains divided over the topic of the perfect block size. But the fact of the matter is, there is no perfect block size one could define that may align with the purpose of every blockchain.

Speaking of Ethereum and XinFin, their block size is not defined by the maximum amount of data they can record but by the total amount of gas each block can store.

Ethereum blocks have a gas limit of 6.7 million gas, where an average transaction on its blockchain takes around 21,000 gas units. Hence, miners can only add as many transactions to a particular block as may provide gas units equal to or less than 6.7 million.

On the contrary, the XinFin network caps the gas limit to 420 million gas units. This means that more transactions can be stored per block on the XinFin network.

Consensus Protocol

Ethereum relies on the Proof of Work (PoW) consensus protocol. It requires miners or nodes from around the world to solve a mathematical puzzle and find a solution — the hash — which should be less than or equal to the hash of the transaction in consideration. It is a trial and error method that blockchain proponents still debate about due to its unprecedented electricity consumption.

PoW also has a scalability issue. Ethereum can thus only process around 14 transactions each second and a has a block time 13.3 seconds.

The XinFin network deploys its version of the Delegated Proof of Stake mechanism known as XinFin DPos or xDPoS. Their protocol allows a selected group of nodes to represent all nodes on the network and approve the transactions. By doing so, they reduce the number of nodes that must individually approve a transaction, which results in a shorter time for transaction settlement. xDPoS also enforces KYC requirements on nodes to fit with the needs of all enterprises using the XinFin blockchain.

At present, the XinFin network creates one new block every 2 seconds and is capable of processing approximately 2,000 transactions every second.

General comparison

The Ethereum network has a total supply of 110,551,891 ETH with the present market capitalization of $18,847,031,284 while XinFin has 37,573,834,991 XDC total supply and a market value of $27,804,638.

So far, the Ethereum block count stands at 9.88 million with almost 6,459 blocks being created in the past 24 hours. On the other hand, XinFin has 1.3 million blocks where 43,200 blocks were added in the past 24 hours.