What is Hyperledger? What Makes it Different From Ethereum?

Hyperledger and Ethereum are the two most prominent and widely-used open-source blockchain platforms today. They each have their unique real-world applications and help solve a wide range of complex industry-level problems.

This article intends to shed some light on the differences between Ethereum and Hyperledger in terms of operations, consensus, use cases, and more.

What is Ethereum?

Ethereum is basically an open-sourced platform. This platform is mainly used for decentralized applications. enabled by blockchain, Ethereum has wide applications in securing digital agreements and ownership transactions.

Ethereum also stands as the second largest stake in the cryptocurrency world, just behind Bitcoin.

The Ethereum blockchain has an Ethereum Virtual machine which can be categorized as a canonical state of the computer. Every node on the network agrees with this single machine, maintaining a copy of its state as this is a public and decentralized platform. This means that, in every Ethereum transaction, if a new block is added, it immediately is also added to the global copy of the network as well.

What is Hyperledger?

Hyperledger, on the other hand, is a collaborative technology that is open-sourced and can be used to create, develop and distribute ledger frameworks that will aid in the acceleration of cross-industry blockchain technology development for enterprises.

Ethereum vs Hyperledger: Top 8 Differences

Now that we have a basic idea of what Ethereum and Hyperledger are, let us dive into what the major differences between these two are.

1. Purpose

Ethereum and Hyperledger vary in their basic purpose itself.

Ethereum is an open-source decentralized platform made for direct use by the consumer by running smart contracts on the Ethereum Virtual Machine.

On the other hand, Hyperledger focuses on Business to Business and cross-industry applications. They work on Distributed Ledger Technology and allow various industries to collaborate with developers and create customized blockchain apps.

2. Security

Since Ethereum is an open-sourced network open to the public, they are transparent and can be easily accessed by anyone.

But unlike Ethereum, the hyper ledger is highly secure, confidential, and can only be accessed by organizations or individuals with authorized permission.

3. Governance

Ethereum is an in-house development and was founded by its main developer Vitalik Buterin. Rather than by collaboration, Ethereum is governed solely by its developers.

While Hyperledger is governed by the Linux Foundation, it is also a collaborative effort by IBM who is also a major contributor to the framework.

4. Participation

Since Ethereum is a public network anyone in the general public, with access to an internet connection, can download and mine Ethereum.

Only authorized members with permission can use the technology and tools. This protection is due to the confidential information the technology holds and to prevent third-party manipulation.

5. Programing Language

Ethereum strictly uses solidity to write smart contracts. But Javascript, python, and such are used to develop applications.

Along with Java and Javascript, the language Go is used widely in Hyperledger.

6. Consensus Mechanism

A proof of work consensus mechanism is employed in Ethereum transactions. This is to make sure there are no fraudulent practices like fake transactions or double-spending.

But there are no consensus mechanisms in Hyperledger transactions owing to the fact that it is a private permissioned network.

7. Transaction Speed

Ethereum sports a lower transaction speed owing to the Proof of Work mechanism, which will come up to around 20 transactions per second.

But relatively, Hyperledger has a faster transaction speed as there is no consensus mechanism involved.

8. Currency

Ethereum is involved in mining and has its own native cryptocurrency called ETHEREUM (ETH).

On the other hand, there is no mining or cryptocurrency involved in Ethereum.

Hyperledger and Ethereum: When to use what?

The above section might have cleared up the major differences between Hyperledger and Ethereum. Now we can move on to the major applications and uses of these two.

Ethereum

If one is planning on creating an app with the intention of public use, Ethereum is to be your first choice as it allows anyone to join the network.

Ethereum is also a great option if you are planning for an open source application with short or no demand for confidentiality.

Hyperledger

Private data of an institution shouldn't be available in the public domain. Keeping this in mind, for the development of private applications requiring blockchain technology, hyperledger is your best bet.

If a business is looking to define its blockchain algorithms, Hyperledger is the way to go. This is owing to the modifiable nature of the underlying blockchain infrastructure. This flexibility also allows for more scalability for your business.