Public Blockchain
a.k.a. Permissionless blockchain
A blockchain anyone can read, use and help run, with no gatekeeper deciding who gets in.
In plain English
A blockchain anyone can read, use and help run, with no gatekeeper deciding who gets in.
A public blockchain is open to everyone. Anyone can send transactions, run a node, read the full history, and, on many chains, help secure it as a miner or validator. Bitcoin and Ethereum are public, or permissionless, chains.
That openness is what makes them hard to censor or shut down. It also means everything is visible, and that the network is slower and pricier than a private blockchain, because thousands of strangers have to agree.
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