Table 1.

Characteristics of the three blockchain types.

Characteristics	Public blockchain	Consortium blockchain	Private blockchain
Openness	Fully public	Partly public, partly encrypted	Fully encrypted
Degree of centralization	Fully decentralized	Retains some centralized functions	Fully centralized
Scope of application	Widest	Wider	Narrowest
Participants	Anyone	Pre-designated personnel only	Managers only
Data read and write	All participants	Persons with special permissions only	Managers only
Confidentiality	Weakest	Strong	Strongest
Features	Completely decentralized, reliable, and data are open, transparent, and unforgeable	Partially decentralized, ability to set up special management authority, strong scalability, high information processing speed, and low transaction costs	Easy to control, convenient rule modification, and offers efficient management
Application scenarios	Virtual currency transactions	Digital transformation of enterprises, and information transmission, storage, and management	Accounting audit