Experts strongly opine that the global blockchain industry will exceed $1 trillion in valuations within a few years. The underlying marvel behind cryptocurrencies has been integral in transforming operations across multiple industrial sectors including asset tokenization, financial services, energy, healthcare, supply chain management, and more. Governments around the world are also recognizing the technology’s immense potential, and iterating it to improve the delivery of their existing services to citizens. Blockchain platforms are instrumental in developing viable solutions using blockchain, and hence play a vital role in spreading blockchain integration worldwide. This article will focus on the top 10 blockchain platforms to look out for in the upcoming year.
Also Read: Blockchain in COP27: Championing Green Solutions with Smart Contract Bonds
What Is A Blockchain Platform?
There are several blockchain platforms in the market with varying features. The platform’s agility and features are essential for a stable blockchain applicational.A blockchain platform helps to create blockchain applications. To start an NFT marketplace, you need to design the UX, back-end process, and other areas. You can either develop these from scratch or choose blockchain platforms to create the infrastructure efficiently.
The main advantages of using blockchain platforms are ease of creation, secured development, reduced resource requirement, high productivity, decreased need for intermediaries, and more. It also helps to have established frameworks for scalable solutions that meet client requirements. Without further ado, let us look forward to the 10 widely-used blockchain platforms of 2022.
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Top Blockchain Platforms In 2022
#01: Ethereum
Vitalik Buterin built Ethereum in 2013, making it one of the oldest blockchain platforms still riding on the top list. Today, more than 2970 projects are built on this platform, and 1.088 million transactions happen daily via Ethereum. Ethereum is a programmable platform that helps you to create and deploy a decentralized application. You can build apps that utilize blockchain for storing or controlling data. Recently, Ethereum has shifted to the Proof of Stakes algorithm. It is built on the Solidity language, which is also suitable for smart contract development.
Features
- Ether, the native token, is the second largest cryptocurrency by market share.
- Smart contract development
- Decentralized platform with zero government control
- Composable products due to shared global state blockchain
#02: Hyperledger Fabric
Hyperledger Fabric is an enterprise-grade blockchain platform with modular architecture and high scalability features. The network-within-network allows better collaborations while maintaining separate relationships inside the networks. Clients can utilize the Hyperledger Fabric SDK/ Rest Web Service to interact with the Fabric Network.
Features
- Smart contract blockchain with multilingual features
- Plug-and-play consensus
- Low latency
- Solidity and EVM support
- Data isolation via channels
- Flexible endorsement model
- Query-able data
- Designed and developed by the Linux Foundation
#03: Polkadot
Polkadot is usually seen as an enhanced version of Ethereum. Polkadot was started in 2020 by the co-founder of Ethereum. The platform runs on Web3 Foundation. Polkadot is a foundation on which one can build several crypto projects. It is also called the Layer 0 blockchain, whereas the Cardano, Ethereum, Solana, and similar ones are all Layer 1 blockchains. The validators use staked DOT to approve the next block. Each blockchain is called the para chain, and moving data between them needs high security. Polkadot uses a relay chain to achieve this security, and thus relying on the chain is what makes it a distinguished blockchain platform.
Features
- High-end heterogeneity and interoperability
- Easy to scale and upgrade
- On-chain governance
- High-security with multi-signature accounts
- Substrate framework to create purpose-built blockchain easily
- NPOS algorithm maximizes security
#04: Solana
Solana is a Layer-1 blockchain that focuses on high scalability and low cost. It uses the consensus mechanism that helps to allow high-speed transactions. Theoretically, Solana has a speed that is impossible with most blockchain platforms. It can process 50,000+ transactions in a second without the need for scalability. It is an NFT ecosystem and is the best choice for DApps. Solana uses one node as its leader for sequencing messages. Thus, even in a decentralized ecosystem, the nodes have reduced load. The proof-of-history mechanism allows high-volume transactions with ease.
Features
- It divides nodes into packets. It uses turbine protocol to divide the data making it easier to transfer.
- Running multiple smart contracts simultaneously using Sea Level technology.
- Pipeline technology helps to improve transaction speed.
- The horizontal scaling method, Cloudbreak, helps to read and scribe efficiently.
- Tower Byzantine fault tolerance to support any failing nodes
- Fragmented and erasure-coded state history
#05: Cardano
Cardano is explicitly designed for ADA transactions. However, even in places where ADA is not directly used, we can still utilize the Cardano project. The best example of this is the Atala Prims Project. The platform can handle all transaction types, and the ultimate aim is to become the internet of blockchains with seamless interchangeability. Cardano aims at one-upping Ethereum by working on functionality. Cardano uses staking for participation in blockchain operations. This protocol also keeps the block production’s energy expenditure to a minimum.
Features
- 1.6 M times more energy efficient than bitcoin
- Processes 250+ transactions in a second, higher than Ethereum 1.0 and Bitcoin.
- Quite scalable and easier to upgrade.
- It is a peer-reviewed and open-source blockchain platform.
- It has only 45 million ADA, and already 32 million are in circulation. Thus, it has a stable price. However, when the demand increases, the supply can also increase.
- Sharding architecture with Ouroboros Hydra
- Smoother transactions with Hard Fort Combinator
#06: Algorand
Alagorand is the only platform to gain decentralization, security, and scalability while being environmentally sustainable. Experts call Algorand the green blockchain because it is more energy efficient and has a small carbon footprint than other blockchain platforms. The Algorand virtual machine runs on every node to execute smart contracts and signatures. Thus, writing smart contracts using javascript-like languages like Reach or Python is very easy. This blockchain platform also alleviates the problems in mainstream adoption by creating a scalable and sustainable platform, which is cost-efficient too. The blockchain platform has recently been in the news for its association with the ongoing FIFA World Cup.
Features
- Rekeying reduces operational inefficiency and improves flexibility, continuity, and reduced operational hurdles.
- Customizable Algorand wallet, which is compatible with several devices and offers automated rewards.
- Reduced fee cost with zero downtime
- PoS centralized consensus is perfect for DeFi protocols
#07: Tezos
Kathleen and Arthur Breitman started Tezos. The platform promises to create a highly secure base and code correctness for high-value cases. It is one of the open-source blockchain platforms that allow a decentralized network. It relies on a peer-peer transaction and is compatible with smart contracts. It is a self-governing platform with a self-amending mechanism. These features make it a unique option among the other players in the field.
Features
- High institutional-grade security
- People governance
- Energy-efficient platform
- Easy to upgrade endlessly
#08: EOS
If you are choosing a blockchain platform for a secure and scalable application, EOS is a better option. Those looking for a platform for executing, hosting, or developing a commercial-scale app should look no further than EOS. It helps provide dApp hosting and smart contracts. EOS is a solution to the scalability problem that is common in Ethereum. The platform runs on EPoS, which enables low latency, faster confirmation, and high-speed transactions.
Features
- Easy high-level customizability
- High-degree interoperability
- Multiprocessing power
- Upgradable EOSIO makes it easier to add features, fix codes, and change the logic
- Works on WebAssembly C++ language
#09: Hyperledger Sawtooth
Hyperledger Sawtooth is an enterprise-level platform for decentralized networks and applications. It is one of the open-source blockchain platforms which stands as a one-stop solution for multiple industries. It supports both permissionless and permission networks. The core architecture of this platform is separate from its application domain. Thus, the developer can use their preferred language without the need to understand the system’s internal structure. The modular design helps to create smart contracts, native logic, and more on the same blockchain. In addition, several transactions of different types can exist simultaneously on a network.
Features
- It has a pluggable framework with a Linux foundation
- It is compatible between Seth and Ethereum
- It allows parallel execution of transactions, which allows autonomous transactions while maintaining the contextual changes.
- It has Proof of Elapsed Time, under which the one who finishes first can be the next block’s producer.
- There is a distinction between the core systems and applications
#10: Quorum
Among all the blockchain platforms, Quorum is one of the multifaceted and universal platforms. It is similar to Ethereum but has network & peer permission management, contract privacy, a voting-based consensus mechanism, enhanced transaction, and better performance. It can process more than a hundred transactions in a second. Quorum uses a smart contract, which helps to delegate voting rights. Quorum has a wide field of applications. However, financial institutes are getting more attracted to this platform because of its privacy and speed.
Features
- High-end privacy as the private transactions are not open to the public. However, the open transactions are quite similar to Ethereum.
- Works on the voting-based absolute consensus
- Transaction speed is higher than Ethereum and several other blockchain platforms.
- Creates a more robust and dependable financial ecosystem
- Efficient management of various nodes
- Limited availability as the permission chain is run by several parties.
Wrapping Up
Searching for the trending blockchain platforms of 2022 is a great way to gain valuable insight into the network that offers your preferred programming language compatibility and the one with features that fit your niche product or service. Security, simplicity to learn, scalability, community support, and high compatibility are some add-on features that will help you in the long run. It is wise to choose a private blockchain platform to deal with sensitive data. In cases where you focus on transparency, prefer the public blockchain platforms.
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