— DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE BLOCKCHAINS —
Public BlockChain, which are known primarily for supporting Crypto-currencies, are open to access by the general public and are available to any node that wishes to download the Blockchain. Critics of Public BlockChain believe that there is a privacy risk because everyone can download a Public BlockChain and access the history of transactions.
Private BlockChain (or permissioned BlockChain) are different from Public BlockChain, in that only authorized end-users can access the Private Blockchain. In Private BlockChain, nodes must be granted access to participate, view transactions, and deploy consensus protocols
Because transactions listed on a Private BlockChain are private, they ensure an extra layer of confidentiality. Because Private BlockChain have restricted access, and nodes must be specifically selected to view and participate in a network, some argue that Private BlockChain grants more confidentiality to users. Private BlockChain are considered the most realistic way to adapt BlockChain technology into a business process in order to maintain a high level of confidentiality, however there are some disadvantages.
For example, Private BlockChain delegate specific factors to verify blocks and transactions. Although some argue that this provides efficiency and security, there are concerns that Private BlockChain are not truly decentralized because the verification of transactions and control are put back into the hands of a central entity.
