What types of blockchain currently exist?

Over the years, many blockchains have evolved, and the terminology used to describe them is often misinterpreted. In general, there are three types of blockchain: a public blockchain, a consortium, and a private blockchain. It is easy to confuse them due to the many similarities between the blockchain types. As explained in the previous chapter, all blockchain types follow the same data flow, use the same layered architecture, and follow similar rules when executing and validating transactions. All blockchains are decentralized peer-to-peer networks, which distribute submitted transactions to each participant. Each participant has a replica of the shared ledger, in which digitally-signed transactions are appended. Blockchains keep replicas in sync through the network's consensus protocol, which provides certain guarantees of the immutability of the ledger, even when some of the participants are offline or are behaving in a malicious manner.

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