Blockchain has gained much popularity over the past few years. Today, organizations such as banks, accounting firms, and other institutions are increasingly implementing blockchain development solutions for various use cases. If you want to Develop Blockchain Application for your business but have no idea where to start, this guide is for you.
What is Blockchain Development?
Blockchain development refers to the process of building blockchain applications, otherwise known as decentralized apps (dapps). But blockchain development is not only about coding a dapp or crypto wallet on a blockchain architecture or protocol. It is about the strategic process of defining, designing, building, and launching a successful blockchain solution.
Blockchain developers handle the entire life cycle of a blockchain application. In order to develop blockchain applications, they create the architecture of the system, make smart contracts, and optimize the protocols. Blockchain developers are also responsible for the research as well as the execution of the application.
How to Develop Blockchain Application
Here’s a step by step guide on how to develop blockchain applications. From ideation to market validation, proof of concept to deployment, and creating a robust blockchain development.
1. Identify suitable use case
Before commencing the blockchain development process, firstly it is essential to identify a suitable use case for the application. Make sure investing time and effort in the blockchain would benefit your business capabilities. Alternatively, you can also migrate your current application to the blockchain network without building it from scratch.
2. Identify a suitable blockchain platform
A blockchain platform allows you to develop blockchain applications without having to create a blockchain from scratch. However, the blockchain platform you need depends on the consensus mechanism and the problems you want to solve. For example, Ethereum is an open-source and public blockchain-based distributed computing platform, featuring the functionality of smart contracts. Hyperledger Fabric is also open-source but it is suitable for enterprise blockchain development.
Other popular blockchain platforms that you can use to develop blockchain applications include:
Hyperledger Sawtooth (also suitable for building enterprise-grade and scalable dapps)
Stellar – An open platform for building financial products that connect people everywhere.
Corda – An open-source blockchain platform for businesses
EOS – A decentralized blockchain, which can process fast and free transactions.
Tron – A decentralized platform to develop high-performance blockchain apps.
Hashgraph – Fair, fast and most secured acrylic graph DLT.
Tezos – An open-source platform for decentralized assets and applications
Polygon – A protocol and a framework for building and connecting Ethereum-compatible blockchain networks.
Solana – A high-performance blockchain for developing scalable blockchain applications.
3. Blockchain ideation
In this step of the blockchain development process, you need to evaluate, formulate, and prioritize use cases for blockchain experimentation.
Decide what components should be added as on-chain and off-chain business entities. Prepare a roadmap of the product, i.e., when are you going to release alpha, beta, and ready-to-launch versions of the application. Also important at this stage is designing the conceptual workflow and blockchain model of the application.
4. Proof of concept development
A proof-of-concept (PoC) is a way to demonstrate the practical potential of a blockchain project and it can either be a theoretical build-up or a prototype. A theoretical build-up gives end-users an understanding of the viability and the functionality of the product. Any feedback received from the theoretical build-up should be incorporated in the proof-of-concept development.
Get your PoC approved so you can start building the visual and technical designs for the application. In addition, GDPR has become a crucial part of the blockchain development process. So it is essential to document the technical GDPR compliance when designing the technical components of the app. Next, design APIs you need to integrate with user interfaces to run the application at the back-end.
5. Blockchain app development
This is a critical stage of the application development process. After designing the user interfaces and admin console for the application, you are ready for the development process. In particular, you should build APIs for distinct use cases of the application. For instance, you’ll need APIs for:
Storing and retrieval of data
Performing data authentication with the help of hashes and digital signatures.
Performing auditing functions.
Managing and triggering of smart contracts to run the business capabilities of an application.
Pre-alpha phase: This is when a blockchain application has been developed but hasn’t gone through a formal testing process
Alpha phase: An application has undergone a testing process ng white-box techniques. The solution might not contain all the features at this stage.
Beta release: The blockchain solution contains the complete feature set, but it might have unknown bugs. Oftentimes, your blockchain developer will provide the beta version to a group of users to test the application’s functionality.
Candidate version: A release candidate is an advanced beta version that is now ready to be a final product. When the application is tested thoroughly, it is moved to the production phase to get ready to be delivered.
Deployment: Deployment is the process of putting an application onto a prepared application server. Before an app goes live, it should be deployed on the test network to test its functionalities. However, if you have built an application on the public blockchain, it should be released on the main network.
Blockchain Application Development Outsourcing
If you decide to outsource your blockchain development you have at least three options to choose from:
Hire freelance developers
Go with an off-the-shelf software solution
Your choice will depend on the scope of work you need, the type of dapp you’re developing, and your budget. If you’re developing a blockchain application for an existing business and you don’t need anything too extravagant or totally unique, an off-the-shelf solution might be the one for you. Similarly, outsourcing blockchain development to a freelancer might be worthwhile for a simple app.
But when your app is more complex, the advantages of outsourcing blockchain development with an established company become glaring. With a dedicated blockchain development company, you get all the specialists you may need: blockchain developers, UI/UX designers, testers, including project managers and business analysts. A full team is more beneficial when you need to develop a blockchain application from scratch.
Blockchain Application Development Services
At TokenMinds, our blockchain development services are end-to-end. From building a PoC to setting up a decentralized application, deploying it on the cloud or on-premise, and maintaining it after the development stage, we handle your develop blockchain solutions from start to finish.
Blockchain Wallet App Development
A cryptocurrency wallet is a blockchain application that lets users store cryptocurrency or digital assets like NFTs. Say people bought a certain amount of your tokens or coins. Since it has no physical form, how do they safely keep it? This is where you provide an online storage facility. A crypto wallet helps you will do that for your investors.
A crypto wallet has private keys that allow people to sign transactions on the blockchain. These private keys are important since they help secure users’ crypto coins safely against hacking or theft. They also enable users to check their balance, execute transactions and other services in addition to the extra layer of security they add to crypto wallets
Blockchain Application Development Cost
Blockchain app development isn’t cheap. We’ve seen companies waste millions, literally, on building bad products or launching poorly coded smart contracts. Don’t be that person.
On average, the cost of developing a fully functional blockchain application varies from $15K to $60K depending on customization, project complexity, time, and the number of developers required to complete the project.
At TokenMinds, we develop and deploy enterprise-ready blockchain solutions, allowing you to take advantage of the numerous opportunities that blockchain technology has to offer. Contact our blockchain developers if you plan to develop blockchain applications for your company.
