We enjoy in the crypto world many public blockchains, which means all transactions, as well as other type of operations are visible to anyone.
On Steem that means that anyone, with or without a Steem account, can view our wallet balances and transactions, but also our posts (and their successive edits, including deleted posts), our comments, votes and so on.
On bitcoin, while there is no need to associate a wallet with a real identity, at some point if you move those bitcoin and start spending them, you will leave a trace that will be linked to the real person. Once a wallet is linked with you, everybody can know your entire transaction history with bitcoin, involving that wallet.
This is one reason why private entities rather prefer their own blockchain, private and customized.
But the fact that these entities started to create their own private blockchains, is this in favor of the public blockchains or a disadvantage?
Well, I think this is a big YES to blockchains, in general. A validation, a recognition of the benefits of the new technology. Something much needed for mass adoption.
Privacy and customization is understandable for any big corporation.
Would you have expectations that Facebook create a token on Etherium when they have 2 billion users and possibly will see volumes in a day that won't be handled by Etherium blockchain in a month?
I believe Facebook having their own blockchain and token is justified at this point. We will see where this leads for them, but it will certainly improve the image of public blockchains and crypto as a whole.
The European Commission has a pilot project based on custom Steem code. Who would have thought? 
I've read today about the world's largest mutual funds provider, Vanguard, which has invested in creating their own private blockchain, which currently manages over 1 trillion US dollars in assets.
Vanguard joins JPM Chase and Fidelity, other financial giants that explore the blockchain technology. The latter is actually close to introducing its clients to crypto trading.
