It all started with one cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, but the level of development blockchain technology has reached today is hard to describe in words. The interest in blockchain platforms is no longer bound only to digital currencies but to a series of use cases, including supply chain, logistics, healthcare, and software development.
Blockchain has undoubtedly revolutionized industries, becoming one of today’s most mainstream and prominent technologies. Its applications vary from field to field, but eventually, it all comes down to the same goal: making online security a priority. Numerous businesses around the globe have started to embrace blockchain’s capability, introducing platforms that help them make their operations safer, more rapid, and more transparent. Big-name websites also leverage this technology to enhance their efficiency, including Binance. The platform provides users with high-level security, decentralization, and immutability so they can easily access it and check on the Ethereum price in no time.
The catch is that so many blockchain platforms have emerged that it’s hard to decide on something that will suit your specific business needs. That’s why we’ll discuss some of the top ones to adopt and develop a blockchain-embedded ecosystem.
Ethereum
Launched in 2013, Ethereum celebrates a decade of existence this year. It’s one of the oldest and, at the same time, most established blockchain-based computing platforms, famous for running the so-called smart contracts, which ensures maximum safety and efficiency. Ethereum’s key strength is given by its true decentralization, which has benefited thousands of users throughout time. Developers can create decentralized applications dubbed “dApps” and hence provide tailored and practical solutions to a variety of issues and needs. Among its many features, we also count its rapid deployment, tokenization, PoS consensus mechanism, and C++ and Python programming languages. The thousands of dApps (related to cryptocurrency, games, finance, etc.) available on Ethereum are indeed an obvious attraction, but there’s also another meaningful characteristic Ethereum displays – a promising cryptocurrency called ether.
Many technologists have taken the route of Ethereum, using the network to create dApps. Exchanges and platforms for NFTs, in particular, leverage Ethereum. With this in mind, it’s not surprising that the blockchain platform led to the formation of an impressive community run by the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) and comprising approximately 250 members, including Intel, Microsoft, and JP Morgan Chase.
Stellar
Stellar is devised for a range of banking tools, mobile wallets, and smart devices, being thus employed in various DeFi applications. It relies on the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP), which allows recording financial transactions without the help of a closed system. SCP is also equipped with a series of incontestable properties that enhance the platform’s overall security and minimize the probability of misbehaving partitions or nodes. It’s important to understand that SCP isn’t the same as Proof-of-Work (PoW) or Proof-of-Stake (PoS) algorithms. Instead, this protocol features modest computing and financial requirements, opening the financial system to new members and reducing the barrier to entry. Numerous enterprises have embraced Stellar, including SureRemit, ICICI Bank, RippleFox, NaoBTC, and Transfer To. The first, for example, is integrating the Stellar platform to facilitate merchandise abroad. Therefore, if you’re looking for a platform to develop modern, seamless finance apps, Stellar might be your thing.
Tezos
Created by Arthur and Kathleen Breitman, Tezos aims to provide correctness and safety to the existing code of digital assets. It has rapidly emerged as one of the most used blockchains across the globe, and for a good reason. Among Tezos’s main strengths, we count the platform’s PoS algorithm, self-amendment, on-chain governance, non-interference of a third party in creating smart contracts and dApps, and formal verification. In other words, Tezos promises a genuinely digital experience based on security and trust. Its co-founders and the team behind the project have been upgrading it, constantly focusing on optimized performance and amplified size limits on smart contracts.
IBM Blockchain
IBM is among the first ever companies to incorporate blockchain technology in its business operations. Since then, the company’s blockchain platform has become so vital that it’s now widely used by several other enterprises to enhance business operations and make them more transparent. It’s mainly used to link into legacy technologies and enterprise cloud, and it’s typically preferred by less risk-averse customers. The IBM Blockchain has been intended to be customizable, truly functional, and flexible. Given its current adoption and global success, we could presume it has reached its objective. Many companies choose it due to its user-friendly interface that makes it possible for critical tasks to be completed quickly and for smart contracts to be deployed rapidly.
Some of the most successful projects based on this platform include Blockchain Community Initiative in Thailand and IBM Food Trust. The former is impressively supporting services like enterprise auctions for numerous Thai financial institutions and payment obligations. As for the latter, it boasts more than 18 million transactions at this very moment, so it goes without saying how fruitful it is.
Hyperledger Fabric
Hyperledger Fabric is based on a modular architecture that helps create applications and blockchain-based solutions. This feature lets platform designers connect their favorite components, such as consensus and membership services, and this is indeed a distinctive point. Since it displays a variety of versatile and modular designs, the Hyperledger Fabric platform can be used for numerous industrial purposes. For example, network members can work together on this platform. Hyperledger Fabric enables a network of networks, meaning that it’s much more viable for supporting private transactions and confidential contracts than many platforms out there.
Hyperledger Fabric is also designed to support an open smart contract standard, meaning that a range of data modes, including unspent transaction output (UTXO) versions, are likely to be supported by this platform.
Conclusion
As you can see, there’re many blockchain platforms to choose from, and the aforementioned are just some of the most prominent. But if you can’t connect your business to one of these, you might also consider the following:
- Ripple
- Corda
- Hyperledger Iroha
- Hyperledger Sawtooth
- Quorum
- EOS
- OpenChain
- Tron
If you spare some time researching the peculiarities of each, you’re likely to find what you’re looking for.
