Initially, the options of blockchain frameworks that enterprises and developers could use were limited to only Ethereum. Over time, however, the list has grown long. While this is a desirable outcome, picking the one to use is a little more challenging.
That is especially the case, given that the various blockchain frameworks differ in many critical aspects.
The following are the top three most used blockchain frameworks for smart contract applications:
This was the first blockchain framework with a robust smart contract capability to be released. Indeed, it is Ethereum that introduced the concept of smart contracts to the consciousness of developers. So far, the most successful applications of smart contracts are found on the Ethereum blockchain.
The Ethereum framework is permissionless, with its core network and protocols managed as community projects. This fact has many enterprises, especially large ones, hesitant to embrace the framework. However, through the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA), a member-led industry organization launched in 2017, it has attained some acceptance from the mainstream corporate world.
The Ethereum blockchain framework uses Solidity, a programming language invented specifically for it.
Some of the strengths of the Ethereum network include having the largest distributed network, which enhances its security significantly. It also has established widely accepted standards such as the ERC-20 standards and the ERC-721 standards, which make designing, building, and integrating systems on it relatively easier.
While Ethereum was initially designed to use the Proof of Work (PoW) consensus protocol, it managed to transition to the less energy-intensive Proof of Stake (PoS) in September 2022 as part of the process dubbed Ethereum Merge.
The Ethereum community has implemented impactful scaling solutions, especially after the Ethereum Merge. Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, explained in one of his tweets that the network is expected to have the capacity to process up to 100000 transactions per second once all the scaling solutions are fully activated.
Even with that, Ethereum still has a few demonstrable weaknesses. One of these is the relatively high gas fees developers and enterprises must pay for their Ethereum smart contract transactions to be executed.
Casper Network is a scalable permissionless layer one blockchain to build highly secure systems using upgradable smart contracts. While the core protocol is a public framework, it allows users to choose between public, private, and hybrid setups.
Indeed, Casper is the first blockchain protocol to establish a convenient balance between the security and upgradability of smart contracts. The co-founder of Casper and CTO of Casper Labs, Medha Parlikar, has described this technology as enabling “the future to remain unwritten, while the past is immutable.” With that capacity, smart contracts can be designed for current needs but with the potential to evolve smoothly to meet future needs.
Tim Draper, Founder of Draper Venture Network & Draper Associates, has stated, "The team at Casper Labs has built an essential blockchain platform for real-world applications without sacrificing the essential components of usability, cost, decentralization, or security."
Most of the other smart contract-supporting blockchain applications in the market force a developer to limit the potential of a smart contract once it starts executing.
Casper is a fully decentralized and transparent peer-to-peer network that uses a highly secure, low-energy, and environmentally friendly Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. It also executes transactions with predictable gas fees. In addition, the core protocol of Casper was designed with scalability in mind. It is designed for real-world speed, the volume demands notwithstanding.
Meanwhile, the smart contracts on this framework can be written in the most popular mainstream programming languages and familiar tools through WebAssembly. Therefore developers do not need to learn new languages before they can start building. CasperLab has also made available other resources, such as knowledgebase and detailed documentation, readily available to developers and enterprises.
The governance of Casper Network consists of two primary components.
The Casper Association, headquartered in Switzerland, is a not-for-profit organization with a membership comprising independent validators with nodes on the Casper Network. The organization oversees the network's decentralized applications and supports the community's growth.
Meanwhile, Casper Labs is the technology company that built the initial Casper blockchain codebase and provides enterprise consultancy and support services to enterprise clients building on the Casper Network.
Hyperledger is a consortium founded in 2015 under the leadership of the Linux Foundation. It offers several Hyperledger frameworks, the most known of which is Hyperledger Fabric, released in 2017. Other frameworks under the Hyperledger label include Hyperledger Besu, Hyperledger Sawtooth, Hyperledger Indy, and Hyperledger Iroha.
Hyperledger Fabric is an open source permissioned blockchain framework. Only pre-qualified and approved entities are given access both as maintainers of the network and enterprise users.
Smart contracts on the Hyperledger Fabric are known as chaincode and are written using the Golang and JavaScript programming languages.
Generally, Hyperledger Fabric is highly scalable, and in particular, updating the core protocol to meet emerging needs is smooth as it is process control from a central point. The network can process up to 20000 transactions per second.
Hyperledger Fabric uses a consensus mechanism that does not require extreme amounts of energy. That makes it environmentally friendly. In addition to the entire network being closed off to those not approved, each enterprise user can use its data in partitioned environments.
The framework also benefits from a vast combined technical talent from major tech companies that form the consortium, including Linux Foundation, IBM, and Accenture.
The major weakness of Hyperledger Fabric is that it is based on a private network that can be controlled from a central point. The consensus algorithm is not as secure as on a public blockchain, given that changes can be effected from a single point. That also opens up the possibility of censorship and lack of true immutability and non-fungibility of digital assets created on it.
As a developer or business enterprise seeking to benefit from the advantages of blockchain technology, you need to know the specific factors to consider when shopping for the ideal framework. The following four factors should be at the top of your list:
Privacy and transparency might seem contradictory concepts, but that is not the case regarding blockchain technology. The best blockchain frameworks are those that offer high levels of privacy while at the same time anchoring transparency as a key pillar. The frameworks can achieve this by using such technologies as public-private key cryptography and blind digital signatures.
On the blockchain, data can become unreadable to everyone except the person it is meant for, who can use a digital signature known only to them to make sense of the data. Meanwhile, the rest of the network can ascertain the credibility of data without reading it.
Permissionless blockchain frameworks rely heavily on cryptography to provide privacy. Meanwhile, permissioned blockchain frameworks do this in part by limiting access.
When shopping for a blockchain framework, a developer or an enterprise has to choose between cryptography-secured privacy, for example, in Ethereum, and the physical access limitation option in Hyperledger and R3 Corda.
There are two critical levels of security to consider when considering using a blockchain framework. The first is the network's security, which depends on how its core protocol is designed, particularly how the shared ledger of transactions is updated.
The question to ask yourself here is what is the cost in terms of energy or stake a bad actor on the network has to incur to override the collective actions of the good actors. If the cost is achievable by a single entity, then the network is not secure.
The second level of security has to do with the user interfaces, in particular, the wallets necessary to transact. Are they designed with robust security features such as two-level authentication?
Consider the volume of transactions that a network on which you build can process. Some frameworks are designed with limited bandwidth for various reasons, including the block size and amount of data generated per transaction. But it is important to bear in mind that in some frameworks, low scalability is the price paid for high security and stability.
You need to also consider the performance of the blockchain, in particular, the consensus protocol and, in particular, the energy consumption level. This has become critical, especially as businesses strive to accumulate the least carbon print possible.
It is also important to consider who else uses the framework you want to use. The larger the community, the easier it might be to integrate with other enterprises, especially those that are part of your supply chain.
Of course, support is critical for any information technology solution that an enterprise adopts. As most blockchains are open-source, public projects, this can be a little bit complicated.
The permissioned networks often have dedicated support for any technical issues that may arise during development. For permissionless frameworks, the technical support might come from developers incentivized through grants and other forms of reward. A few permissionless frameworks, for example, the Casper Network, have dedicated support within their architecture.
To determine this factor, you need to ask whether they have resources and developer tools to help you build blockchain-based applications.
Over time blockchain technology has evolved to do a lot more for many industries. Nevertheless, the use cases can ultimately be grouped into the following:
This is the capability to automate processes and systems on a distributed network. Thanks to the smart contract capacity, blockchain networks become robust backends for different types of applications, platforms, and systems.
Indeed, most of the systems achieved through servers can, at least to some extent, be implemented on the blockchain using smart contracts. Some of the systems that are now possible on the blockchain thanks to smart contracts include supply chains, land registries, real estate management platforms, and many others.
Blockchain and smart contracts have made it possible for many stakeholders to have a common source of truth that can be relied upon and trusted so that counterparties or strangers cannot compromise it.
This common truth is updated through a robust consensus mechanism. The transactions recorded on these distributed ledgers can be payments, smart contract execution, and even accounting entries.
Blockchain frameworks have significantly changed the concept of money, financial transactions, and payment systems. Indeed the first ever blockchain application was a payment system (Bitcoin). Over time more payment systems have been built on the blockchain with differing properties and capabilities.
According to data from the Atlantic Council, an American think tank, over 100 central banks around the world are working on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Most of these will be built on permissioned blockchain frameworks.
Casper Network is a popular blockchain framework designed to meet the unique needs of enterprise users. It supports a robust smart contract environment with the unique feature of upgradability.
You can reach out to learn more about the possibilities made possible for your enterprise by the network.
