The Most Relevant Platforms Overview for Blockchain Developers in 2020

• Anastasia Stefanuk
• September 27, 2019

Blockchain is amongst the cutting edge technology that has the potential to revolutionize aspects of our daily lives. Blockchain has had a great impact on the financial industry and is now moving towards impacting other industries as well. Blockchain technology, or simply Blockchain,  is the documentation system that supports cryptocurrency technology. It is essentially a decentralized and distributed record-keeping system that keeps track of all electronic bitcoin transactions.

 

Satoshi Nakamoto, who developed the Blockchain technology aimed to empower individuals financially. He aimed to achieve this by creating a safe and secure global platform where users themselves are the financial overseers of their financial future. To ensure its quality and security, over 250,000  blockchain developers worldwide are striving to improve and enhance this technology. This expansion towards other industries has pushed numerous institutions and companies to a demand for blockchain developers and developing their blockchain platforms and tools.

Why Blockchain Technology?

Its use is so widespread that, as of September 2018, there have been over 28 million blockchain wallet users worldwide. Since its conception, around 41 million people are using Blockchain wallets and have tracked over 200 billion USD worth in financial transactions. There is also an increasing number of countries exploring the possibility of adopting cryptocurrency, with over 140 countries reached by blockchain technology.

Wide-range of Application

Due to its capacity to store transactional data, blockchain technology has been applied to various other industries and applications.

• The financial industry, banks, and cryptocurrency have benefitted the most with the use of blockchains.

 

• Blockchains has now expanded towards storing and keeping track of medical records for healthcare providers.

 

• Property record management has also used blockchain to improve its monitoring and documentation of property record usage.

 

• Contractual transactions and agreements can also be verified negotiated using Smart Contract, which is a code that can be incorporated into blockchains.

 

• Supply chain use and management have also incorporated blockchains to improve tracking of food and material movement.  >

 

• In 2018, blockchain was used during the midterm elections West Virginia to store votes and increase voter turnout. If adopted in a larger setting, it has the potential to eliminate election fraud and tampering, as well as boost efficiency and transparency.

 

Top Blockchain Platforms for Developers

In addition to its versatile capabilities, blockchain technology still has the potential for growth. Blockchain platforms enable blockchain developers to develop apps to enhance and expand the uses and tools of the technology. Despite their cutting edge technology, blockchain platforms’ pros and cons still need to be considered when you intend to be involved in the blockchain industry.

Developed in 2013, Ethereum provides developers with an open platform to build and execute a decentralized application on blockchain technology. Each node on the Ethereum runs its virtual machine environment for a smart contract.

Ethereum

Ethereum utilizes its cryptocurrency, Ether, and a Proof-of-Work based consensus system. The platform is open-source and has large support and following on Github. Ethereum provides a platform to build applications that are open for public use and applicable to multiple industries.

Hyperledger

Hyperledger is an open-source blockchain platform where blockchain developers and institutions collaborate. This platform is focused on the development and enhancement of a wide-array of cross-industry blockchain technology. The platform aims to develop enterprise-level distributed ledger frameworks for more secure and enhanced business transactions.

 

Two of its most popular blockchain platforms projects are Hyperledger Fabric and Hyperledger Iroha. Hyperledger Fabric is focused on developing an application with pluggable frameworks using a modular architecture approach While Hyperledger Iroha is geared towards fast and secure supply chain and IoT blockchain solutions.

Ripple

Across blockchain platforms, Ripple performs and is as popular as Ethereum or Bitcoin. Developed in 2012, Ripple is a blockchain platform focused on developing and enhancing financial tools and technology. RippleNet, a blockchain network developed to link together corporates and banks with service providers globally.

 

This network helps manage and enhance the various digital financial transaction like digital asset exchanges and payment transactions. The network is scalable and secure, as well as interoperable with various other networks. RippleNet utilizes a digital asset named Ripple or XRP for its transactions.

 

R3 Corda

R3 Corda blockchain platform technology improves the efficiency of financial transaction by allowing direct transactions between smart contracts and users. With this approach, business processes and transactions are streamlined and operational costs are lessened.

 

The R3 consortium is the result of the collaborative work between various prominent financial institutions. They aim to improve and enhance blockchain technology for the financial sector. The consortium provides 2 major blockchain platform projects. First is Corda, which is an open-source cross-industry platform available through Github and Corda Enterprise. The second project is a commercial and enterprise version of Corda.

Multichain

Geared towards the development of private blockchains, Multichain provides the environment to build secure and permissioned networks. Multichain can be used to build cross-industry applications with a distributed consensus algorithm. It has a strong Github community and is free and open-source. The blockchain platform supports C, C++, Python, and Javascript programming languages.

Wrap-up Thoughts

Blockchain has grown over the years and is presumed to expand over the following years. Such technology has the potential to change how we work, transact, and accomplish processes and tasks every day. Such growth can be attributed to the quality of developers that continuously push the limits of technology.

 

There are several benefits from hiring a blockchain developer to build your blockchain tools and technology. What blockchain developers do and envision impacts how blockchain technology can be molded and improved. Collaborating and strategizing with these developers can lead to enhanced business processes and reduced operational costs. Understanding what you need from a blockchain developer and choosing among the blockchain platforms for developers best fits your needs are essential steps that you need to take. Just understand that no matter the popularity of the cutting edge technology, you need to carefully assess each blockchain platforms’ pros and cons to see which best work for you and your team of blockchain developers.