Private Blockchain — How, What & Why?

Josip Vlah
3 min readMar 7, 2023

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Let’s talk about the Private Blockchains and the benefits of them.

What are private blockchains? Essentially private blockchain enables the end customer all the benefits of traditional blockchain models such as security, privacy, control with the main difference being the governance of a single organisation where different members of the organisation can receive a variety of different access points towards the private blockchain.

When looking at some of the benefits of private blockchain we are talking about:

  1. Enhanced Privacy: With private blockchains, access to data is limited to authorized users only. This means that sensitive data is not accessible to the public, which enhances privacy. (This point directly correspond with the ability of utilizing private blockchain within government and institutional organizations)
  2. Increased Security: Private blockchains use advanced security measures to protect against unauthorized access. (Essentially you have the security of traditional blockchain + privacy aspect mentioned above)
  3. Greater Control: Private blockchains allow organizations to have greater control over their data and how it is used. This can be particularly useful in industries such as healthcare and finance, where sensitive data needs to be closely managed.
  4. Increased Efficiency: Private blockchains can streamline business processes by automating tasks and reducing the need for intermediaries.

Now let’s get into some of the Real-Life Use-Cases of Private Blockchains:

  1. Supply Chain Management: Private blockchains can be used to store data related to supply chain management, such as product tracking and inventory management. This can enhance the transparency and security of the supply chain. As an example, Walmart has implemented a private blockchain to track food supply chains, which has improved food safety and reduced the time it takes to trace the source of a product.
  2. Healthcare: Private blockchains can be used to store sensitive medical data, such as patient records and drug trials. This can enhance the privacy and security of medical data and improve patient outcomes. As an example, MedRec is a private blockchain that stores medical records, providing patients with greater control over their data and improving the efficiency of healthcare providers.
  3. Finance: Private blockchains can be used to store financial data, such as customer transactions and account information. This can enhance the security of banking data and reduce the risk of fraud. As an example, JPMorgan Chase has implemented a private blockchain for interbank transactions, which has reduced settlement times and improved efficiency.
  4. Real Estate: Private blockchains can be used to store property ownership and transaction information, which can enhance the security and transparency of real estate transactions. As an example is a private blockchain platform that facilitates cross-border real estate transactions, reducing the need for intermediaries and providing greater transparency to buyers and sellers.

Who are some of the key players we are seeing in the market when it comes to the private blockchain ecosystem?

Calimero Network
https://www.calimero.network/

Calimero Network is a private shard on NEAR Blockchain enabling institutions / governments to deploy their private blockchain within their networks.

Trapesys
https://trapesys.io/

Trapesys is the company behind the PolyGon Edge developing private or public ETH compatible blockchain networks.

Conclusion:

I personally think that the security, scalability and efficiency of blockchain based systems are gonna become more and more viable in the years to come. On the other hand transparency that the blockchain provides is not suited for all the real-life use cases (as we can see from above), hence private blockchains can bridge that gap between the institutions, conglomerates and governments and provide them a solution which will reduce their cost, upscale their efficiency and streamline their processes.

If you want to learn more about Private blockchains and the use-cases behind them, feel free to drop me a message.

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