Private Chains

Private chains are isolated environments within Circular that allow institutions to operate with full data control, while preserving verifiability, auditability, and cross-chain compatibility.

What is a Private Chain?

A Private Chain in Circular is a dedicated, isolated blockchain environment deployed for a specific institution, application, or use case. It offers complete control over access, data visibility, and regulatory boundaries, while still leveraging the security and verifiability of Circular’s decentralized infrastructure.

Unlike traditional private decentralized networks that operate in isolation or resemble centralized databases, Circular’s private chains remain decentralized, powered by shared infrastructure and consensus, but are logically partitioned for confidentiality and governance.

Why Use a Private Chain?

Organizations in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and AI often need to keep certain data or operations restricted to a defined set of stakeholders. Private chains make this possible without sacrificing auditability or compliance.

They are ideal for situations that require:

Jurisdictional Data Boundaries:

Comply with regional data laws by limiting where and how data is stored or validated

Sensitive Workflow Isolation:

Keep early-stage research, proprietary methods, or confidential records separate from public access

Controlled Participation:

Only allow authorized accounts or institutions to issue, validate, and view specific data

Internal Governance:

Define who can approve changes, issue certificates, or access system logs within a contained environment

Key Features

Verifiable by Design

All private chains still benefit from Circular’s consensus, ensuring that every action and certificate remains cryptographically verifiable.

Customizable Rules and Permissions

Each private chain can operate with its own logic, access controls, and certificate formats, tailored to the specific needs of the organization or project.

Interoperability with Public Chains

While isolated by default, private chains can publish proofs or summaries to public-facing environments when needed, enabling transparency without exposure.

High Performance and Scalability

Private chains run in parallel with other chains, ensuring performance remains optimized even during heavy workloads.

Use Cases

Healthcare

• Maintain an internal patient record certification system for a hospital network

• Issue compliance and audit certificates for internal processes or referrals

Pharmaceuticals

• Manage the full lifecycle of a clinical trial across trial sites, sponsors, and CROs on a permissioned network

• Certify manufacturing steps, data logs, and regulatory submissions privately, with optional public attestations

AI and Scientific Research

• Train models using proprietary datasets within a closed chain, while still proving the training process and dataset origins

• Time-lock and certify research findings for peer review without exposing underlying data prematurely

Summary

Private chains offer the best of both worlds: the confidentiality and control enterprises need, combined with the verifiability and decentralization of Circular’s broader infrastructure. Whether used for compliance, data sovereignty, or operational security, private chains allow critical institutions to build with trust and without compromise.