CHOOSING THE BEST CHAIN FOR WEB3 PROJECT

The blockchain industry is blowing up and is set to hit a whopping $67.4 billion by 2026. It's moving at lightning speed, with new innovative approaches popping up left and right. With so many platforms out there, choosing the best one for your business is crucial.

But let's be real - it's not an easy task. Yet, the question of how to choose a proper blockchain for your next product is painfully relevant for business owners and reasonably complex. Different blockchain architectures can make products better or worse.

Mind that, it's also important to choose blockchain in terms of an ecosystem that will push and support you along the way. Every major blockchain already has an established audience whose attention and liquidity will make life much easier for you in the early stages of development.

Let’s deconstruct the matter of choosing a blockchain for your project. In this article, Cryptorsy team shares its insights based on experience in crypto marketing, fundraising and consulting for our clients. We will help you go through the necessary factors to choose a blockchain and eventually decide which ecosystem to use. LFG!

Alright, let's spice things up a bit and talk about key factors you should keep in mind before making your choice:

PUBLIC OR PRIVATE?

Public blockchains are open to anyone and are great for DEXes and projects that don't require heavy data control. On the other hand, private blockchains have permissioned entry and are more secure, making them perfect for SaaS applications and niche NFT marketplaces.

COMMUNITY

Traditionally, certain segments of the crypto audience concentrate on certain blockchains. For example, Arbitrum (L2 solution for Ethereum) has a lot of DeFi projects, and Solana & Avalanche has a lot of NFT related projects. Before choosing, you should analyze in detail who mainly uses this chain, and choose the most suitable one.

Not to be verbose, Cryptorsy recommendation is to favor the ecosystem that has more users and online activity. In the initial stages of development, you will have a very hard time gathering the first users around the project and helping to build an initial audience, something that differentiates great ecosystems from just good ones.

GRANTS & ACCELERATORS

The blockchain and cryptocurrency industry has seen significant growth in recent years, leading to startups exploring new applications and use cases for these emerging technologies. To support this growth, grants, and accelerators have been created around the world to give early-stage blockchain startups access to funding, mentoring, and specialized resources to turn their ideas into successful web3 businesses.

When choosing blockchain, pay particular attention to such game-changers, which help make a quantum leap at the very beginning of the path and gain a huge amount of native chain audience.

PRIVACY & SECURITY

When it comes to blockchain, security should always be top of mind. Take a deep dive into the hacking history of any blockchain you're considering, and pay close attention to the damage that's been done and why it was possible. By the way, Solana was repeatedly subjected to technical problems over the past 2 years. This does not mean that it is a bad blockchain, but you should consider that if you choose it, you run the risk that one day no one will be able to use your product because of a technical failure.

SCALABILITY

This crucial factor in blockchain networks refers to a network’s ability to support higher transaction throughput. Among other things, choosing which blockchain to use also depends on how extensively the ecosystem will grow in the future.

TRANSACTION COST

Finally, don't let transaction costs be the deciding factor. Sure, everyone wants lower commissions, but it's more important to base your decision on the factors we've already discussed. After all, if you don't have any users, you won't have anyone to pay commissions to, no matter how low they are!

Choosing the right blockchain for your project is a daunting task that requires a great deal of responsibility and effort. To help you make an informed decision, we've compiled a list of top blockchain platforms to guide you through the selection process.

ETHEREUM NETWORK

This platform is one of the pioneers on the market and a popular choice while selecting a blockchain platform for project development. Additionally, Ethereum network has already become a home for a long list of dApps, including OpenSea, Uniswap, MetaMask Swap, 1inch Network, and so on. The unique input of Ethereum was the contribution to an EVM invention and, therefore, a wide application of smart contracts.

PROS OF ETHEREUM

• The most actively used and commonly known blockchain framework;
• Provision of a large kit of developer tools, ready-made models, and functions;
• A large community that maintain the network (the number of active nodes has beaten the ones of Bitcoin network);
• Accumulated reliability (the more blockchain exists, the more trust it gains).

CONS OF ETHEREUM

• Quite a low transaction speed;
• High transaction and deployment costs;
• Not scalable on its own, only through additional 2nd-layer solutions.

Ethereum is the go-to choice for any DeFi project, providing a solid ecosystem with a vast array of tools, ample liquidity, and plenty of plug-and-play solutions to help you get your product up and running quickly. Plus, it's a well-known and reliable blockchain, giving your new venture the credibility it needs to attract users.

But let's keep it real here: maintaining and updating Ethereum's complex toolset can be a major headache. And don't even get us started on the wildly fluctuating gas prices that can make active use a total pain in the neck.

Still, as things stand, Ethereum is hands down the best option for dApps. The network already hosts the likes of Uniswap, Compound, Synthetix, Maker, Curve, AAVE, and more. So if you're looking to create the next DeFi powerhouse, we highly recommend giving Ethereum serious consideration. It's the key to unlocking a smooth integration with other DeFi solutions down the line.

BINANCE SMART CHAIN

This blockchain is a top-notch option for those who want to get their DApps up and running with lightning-fast transaction speeds and low fees. Developed by the crypto-exchange giant Binance, BSC uses the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm, which means you'll be saving money and time without compromising on security.

PROS OF BSC

• Smart Contracts: Binance Smart Chain is a fork of Ethereum with some changes. Hence it has smart contract functionality and compatibility with Ethereum Virtual Machine. It's perfect to host DeFi & NFT applications;
• Interoperability: BSC and Binance chain are running parallelly and they are interconnected. It means that users can easily transfer their tokens from BSC to Binance chain and vice versa. Also, BSC is an independent chain that will run even if Binance Chain stops;
• User Experience: BSC has better speed and low gas fees as compared to Ethereum. While Ethereum kills the user experience with high congestion and gas fees, Binance is able to squeeze in more transactions in one block;
• Adoption: Since it is an exact copy of Ethereum and compatible with EVM, Ethereum based DApps can easily switch to BSC. There are multiple cross-chain bridges available by Binance and other third parties which makes the transition quite easy;
• Community: Apart from high performance and better User Experience, Binance has a huge user base that provides enough support to their new projects. Binance's community is one of the biggest reasons for BSC's success. BSC has already flipped Ethereum in a number of transactions.

CONS OF BSC

• Dependence On Ethereum's Dev Community: Binance Smart chain is heavily dependent on ethereum's dev community which means not much innovation is happening on BSC but it is carry forwarded from Ethereum;
• Centralization: Just like Binance chain, BSC is also centralized. It used PoSA (Proof of Staked Authrority) mining in which 21 validators are required to keep the chain online. Most of the Binance Chain top validators are directly or indirectly owned by Binance;
• Security: Since BSC is centralized, it is prone to hacks and 51% of attacks and also system failures since network validators are required to be approved by Binance's internal team.

But hey, if you're one of those hardcore crypto anarchists who refuse to bow down to any central authority, then maybe BSC isn't for you. After all, Binance is a centralized exchange that isn't afraid to stand up to regulators.

But let's be real here, BSC has a lot going for it. The ability to create robust and secure smart contracts coupled with its high transaction speeds makes it a tantalizing choice for developers. And let's not forget about Binance's massive user and investor base, which could give your project a serious boost in popularity.

POLYGON NETWORK

Polygon was created as a stack of protocols designed to fix Ethereum’s scalability issues. This network addresses challenges by handling transactions on a separate Ethereum-compatible blockchain. In other words, Polygon provides an easy framework for new and existing blockchain projects to build on Ethereum without scalability issues.

PROS OF POLYGON

• The network provides a framework for developers to create their own scaling solutions;
• Ethereum’s large community is loyal to Polygon, too;
• Rather low gas fees;
• High transaction speed;
• The chain is extremely developer-friendly;
• Since Polygon is quick and cheap, it fits NFT projects and Play2Earn games well;
• A lot of media storage providers are focused on this chain.

CONS OF POLYGON

• Polygon is dependant on Ethereum;
• High competition among other scaling solutions;
• Gas wars – pretty irregular gas price fluctuations, especially during the NFT mint.

The platform is capable of processing 65,000 transactions per second, making it the first choice for many blockchain app developers and their clients. With the hosting of more than 19K dApps, it has already been widely adopted by businesses for infrastructure development.Polygon might be the easiest blockchain platform for Play2Earn games development, so you should definitely take it into consideration when working on your project.

Discover the ups and downs of 9 other leading blockchains in our full article:

https://cryptorsy.io/blog/bestblockchain