Ethereum Vs. Hyperledger: A Comprehensive Guide

• Nitish Srivastava
• February 20, 2021

This article talks about the major differences between two of the most popular blockchain platforms, Ethereum and Hyperledger, explaining how they differ in terms of use-cases, operation, consensus, and so on. 

Table of Contents 

• What is Ethereum?
• What is Hyperledger?
• Ethereum Vs. Hyperledger
• Concluding Lines: Which Is The Best Among The Two?

What is Ethereum?

Ethereum can be defined as an open-source platform for decentralized applications. Based on Blockchain technology, this platform aims to empower users to come up with secure digital agreements and have full control of their money. 

Apart from this, Ethereum claims to have the second-largest market cap in the cryptocurrency world, Bitcoin being the first. 

What is Hyperledger?

Hyperledger is an open-source global collaboration that helps in creating and developing enterprise-grade and distributed ledger frameworks to accelerate the development of cross-industry blockchain technologies. 

Ethereum Vs. Hyperledger

Both Ethereum and Hyperledger can be distinguished based on the following parameters:

• Purpose of the Platforms
• Operation Mode 
• Peer Role
• Confidentiality Level In Each
• Consensus Mechanism 
• Programming Languages

Purpose of the Platforms

Ethereum: Ethereum was introduced with the sole purpose of running smart contracts on EVM. It also enables the deployment of decentralized applications, also known as dApps. 

Hyperledger: This platform was introduced to accelerate industry-wide collaboration for developing high-performance and reliable blockchain. This platform also enables people to develop personalized blockchains for their various needs.

Please note that Hyperledger is for a B2B business, whereas Ethereum is a B2C business.

Operation Mode 

Ethereum: The operation mode in Ethereum is public, which means anyone can access the Blockchain network, and no permission is needed to access the network. 

Hyperledger: Hyperledger, on the other hand, is a private Blockchain, meaning only the authorized participants can access the network. In other words, we can say that the network is limited to a predefined community of participants with permission.

Peer Role

In Ethereum, each peer has a role, meaning that if a transaction takes place, several nodes have to participate in it for its completion, which leads to several issues such as scalability, privacy, and efficiency.
On the other hand, Hyperledger offers a distributed ledger technology(DLT) that doesn’t rely on informing each peer in the network to perform a transaction.

Confidentiality Level In Each

If we talk about Ethereum, it is a public network, which means all the transactions recorded on the Blockchain network are visible and accessible by every peer. Whereas Hyperledger is private and permissioned, meaning transactions taking place on the network are only visible to the authorized members. 

Consensus Mechanism 

Ethereum leverages Proof-of-Stake(PoS) consensus in which all the nodes have to reach a consensus. Hyperledger, on the other hand, uses a different type of consensus. In this, nodes are allowed to choose between no consensus needed and an agreement protocol. For instance, the Robust Byzantine Fault Tolerance (RBFT) consensus mechanism is used in Hyperledger Indy.

Programming Languages

Smart contracts in Ethereum are written in Solidity programming language, and it is considered to be the native language of Ethereum. Hyperledger uses Golang for writing smart contracts.

Concluding Lines: Which Is The Best Among The Two?

As we have discussed all the major points of differences between the two, here comes the question: Out of these, which is the better one? 

Here it is important to note that there is no straightforward or right answer to this question, and each of these platforms has its own significance. One can use Ethereum when one wishes to come up with dApps and smart contracts for performing multiple tasks.  On the contrary, if one wishes to develop B2B applications, choose Hyperledger.

The demand for Ethereum Experts and Hyperledger Professionals is soaring. If you are planning to learn and upskill, this is the right time to invest your time and go for Blockchain Certifications.  If you want to start or revamp your career in the Blockchain space, getting enrolled in Blockchain Council can help you in doing so. 

To get instant updates about Blockchain Technology and to learn more about online Blockchain Certifications, check out Blockchain Council.