What is the Difference Between Blockchain and Hashgraph

The key difference between Blockchain and Hashgraph is that Hashgraph uses a consensus protocol called ‘gossip about gossip’ while Blockchain predominantly uses either Proof-of-Stake or Proof-of-Work. As a result of the ‘gossip about gossip,’ protocol Hashgraph is faster and more efficient than Blockchain.

Blockchain and Hashgraph are both distributed ledger technologies used to store transactional data. Although Hashgraph and Blockchain have several differences, they both have the same intended use, as they are both distributed ledger systems used to record and store data from transactions.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Blockchain  
3. What is Hashgraph
4. Similarities Between Blockchain and Hashgraph
5. Blockchain vs Hashgraph in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Blockchain vs Hashgraph

What is Blockchain?

Blockchain is a decentralised ledger that may store any type of data. What distinguishes Blockchain from a simple excel sheet is that it is entirely decentralised, meaning that copies of the Blockchain exist on numerous computers throughout the world rather than at a single central location. A node is a collection of many computers that are scattered across a global network.

Figure 01: Blockchain Network Diagram

The name blockchain comes from the conjoining of blocks containing various types of data to form a chain of blocks. When a new block of data is introduced to the chain, all nodes on the network are updated with the latest version of the Blockchain. A majority of the nodes must verify and confirm new transactions for them to be added to the Blockchain. This is what makes a Blockhain highly secure.

What is Hashgraph?

Just like Blockchain, Hashgraph is also a distributed ledger technology used to store data. Hashgraph uses a special type of consensus protocol called ‘gossip about gossip’ in which all the nodes on the Hashgraph network ‘gossip’ about transactions to form directed acyclic graphs that time sequence transactions. This varies from Blockchain’s method of using miners for validating transactions on the network. Each ‘gossip’ contains information and data on several transactions in addition to a digital signature, a timestamp, and cryptographic hashes of two earlier events.

Figure 02: Hashgraph Technology

Hashgraph was created by Leemon Baird, an American computer scientist, with the goal of overcoming some of Blockchain’s issues and producing a better system overall. At the moment, Hashgraph technology is only used by Hedera Hashgraph, which is also co-founded by Leemon Bird. Through the use of a ‘gossip about gossip’ protocol, Hashgraph is able to provide low-cost and high-performance transactions without failure. It is also faster, more energy-efficient, and requires less computing power when compared to Blockchain.

Similarities Between Blockchain and Hashgraph

•  Although Hashgraph and Blockchain have several differences, they both have the same intended use, as they are both distributed ledger systems used to record and store data from transactions.

Difference Between Blockchain and Hashgraph

Although Hashgraph and Blockchain have the same intended use, both their approaches are vastly different. Blockchain usually uses Proof-of-Stake or Proof-of-Work to validate and authenticate transactions through processes called Staking or Mining. On the other hand, Hashgraph uses a ‘gossip about gossip’ protocol to validate transactions. Thus, this is the key difference between Blockchain and Hashgraph.

Additionally, Hashgraph’s transaction processing performance is significantly faster. With the use of Hashgraph’s ‘gossip about gossip’ method, it is able to reach transaction speeds of up to 500,000 transactions per second, considerably faster than most blockchains’ 10-10000 transactions per second. Finally, Hashgraph is also more efficient when compared to Blockchain.

Below is a summary of the difference between Blockchain and Hashgraph in tabular form for side by side comparison.

Summary – Blockchain vs Hashgraph

In conclusion, Hashgraph and Blockchain are both distributed ledger technologies used to record transactions. Hashgraph uses a ‘gossip about gossip’, making it faster, cheaper, and more efficient when compared to Blockchain, which predominantly uses Proof-of-Stake and Proof-of-Work. So, this is the key difference between Blockchain and Hashgraph.

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