The usefulness of blockchain technology comes from its security, immutability, and transparency. All the nodes have access to the updated and verified information stored in the database simultaneously, and at all times. These features enable huge potential financial and industrial applications. Both the private and public sectors can benefit from blockchain technology. The following sections focus extensively on such applications and on the way blockchain can transform industries and businesses around the world.
Before we move on, we should mention that blockchain can be classified broadly into two main categories:
- Public or permission-less blockchains
- Private or permissioned blockchains
This can be seen in the following diagram:
This distinction comes down to who owns the network infrastructure. It is similar to the distinction between the internet and corporate intranets.