A Comparative Study of Blockchain Protocols for Efficient and Scalable Data Storage and Access Verification

The growing demand for secure, efficient, and scalable data storage solutions has intensified interest in blockchain technology as a decentralized alternative to traditional systems. This study presents a comparative analysis of prominent blockchain protocols—namely Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric, IPFS integrated with Filecoin, and Polkadot—with a focus on their capabilities in data storage and access verification. Each protocol is evaluated based on performance metrics such as transaction throughput, latency, scalability, security, interoperability, and storage cost. The research employs both experimental simulation and literature review to highlight protocol-specific strengths and trade-offs, especially in handling large-scale and high-frequency data access scenarios. Findings indicate that while Ethereum offers robust decentralization and smart contract support, it suffers from limited scalability and high gas costs. Hyperledger Fabric excels in permissioned enterprise applications but lacks native support for decentralized storage. IPFS/Filecoin demonstrates high efficiency in distributed data storage but requires complementary mechanisms for access verification. Polkadot offers promising cross-chain communication and scalability features, though its ecosystem is still evolving. This comparative study provides valuable insights for developers, researchers, and organizations in selecting suitable blockchain frameworks for building scalable and secure data storage and verification systems in various application domains, including healthcare, finance, and supply chain management.