Appchain
A dApp (decentralized Application) is a web app with at least a portion of its backend residing on a blockchain. Its backend could either be smart contracts hosted on blockchain app, or a dApp could live on its own dedicated blockchain.
A dApp that has its own blockchain is called an appchain (application-specific blockchain). Unlike dApps, appchains allow developers to customize their application in terms of governance structure, economic design, and even its underlying consensus algorithm.
Appchain also gives developers dedicated transaction processing capacity, meaning an app on an appchain doesn't have to compete with other apps for transaction processing acpacity on a network.
While thousands of different apps might share a standard set of configurations on a generic smart contract platform, each appchain in PoS setting could easily achieve 1K+ tps throughput and fast finality -- all dedicated to just one app.
Unlike smart contracts, appchains can evolve quickly with legitimacy. Each appchain is a self-governed economy with code-defined explicit processes to reach agreements on protocol upgrades. Using Substrate (the library to program Polkadot), the primary function of on-chain governance is ready to use. Any cryptonetwork can mirror the governance process of another by copy-pasted code. Blockchain governance itself could evolve like open-source software.
Extra Note
This article is originally taken from one discussing the Octopus Network, a DeFi that operates on NEAR Protocol. Have a look at the original article (link in references).
References
- https://learnnear.club/what-is-octopus-network/