Kelly Robertson
Lisk (LSK) is one of the newer cryptocurrencies that has been gaining traction ever since it was introduced in May 2016. The ICO (Initial Coin Offering) raised $5.8 million and, at the time, was the second most successful cryptocurrency crowdfund.
On May 24, 2016, the mainnet for Lisk went live and it became available for trading on major exchanges; for a brief period of time Lisk became the second most popular cryptocurrency traded against Bitcoin.
Lisk has some unique characteristics that could make it an important player in the cryptocurrency market. And we think you should know more about it… So we’ve prepared the list of essential things everyone should know about Lisk. Here they are…
1. Lisk supports apps
Like Ethereum, Lisk also supports apps that run on top of a blockchain. What’s more, the platform is designed to let every app has its own sidechain, separate from the main blockchain. Even better, these blockchain apps are written using NodeJS/JavaScript on the backend and CSS3/HTML5/JavaScript for the frontend. Meaning, there are already hundreds of thousands of developer who practically know how to write apps for Lisk. This feat alone could make it one of most widely used blockchain platforms out there.
2. Lisk is a modular platform
Related to the previous point, Lisk is the world’s first modular blockchain-based platform, which involves “modules” that serve as the basis of its design and construction. The system allows anyone to construct their own decentralized apps that (as noted) run on their own sidechains. Which leads us to…
3. Lisk uses sidechains
Blockchain is one big public ledger that stores all transactions and even apps in the case of Ethereum. This leads to the network becoming slower — or requiring more computing power than it would rationally be needed — with many test or fake transactions occupying space in the blockchain. In other words, with test and fake transactions, the blocks get full faster.
As a newcomer, Lisk recognized this problem and decided to use sidechains that appear as additions to the main blockchain. This way, sidechains serve as a place to put all the apps and high-volume transactions without interfering with the main blockchain. As a result, the performance goes up ensuring a faster network for all users.
4. Ethereum people are on board
On June 8th 2016, Lisk CEO Max Kordek announced the addition of Charles Hoskinson (ex-CEO of Ethereum) and Steven Nerayoff (ex-advisor for Ethereum) as Senior Advisors of Lisk, to facilitate Product Development.
“There is no one else in the world like Charles who has the vision to build a successful cryptography project and Steven, who has an invaluable entrepreneur insight after founding six companies and being a venture capitalist,” Kordek said.
These guys know Ethereum from the inside out, meaning that in addition to its plus sides (the ability to run apps in blockchain), they also know what could potentially be wrong about it.
Related to that, check out how Lisk compares to Ethereum:
5. Designed for developers
The fact that apps run in sidechains and that they can be written in JavaScript, should make Lisk the single most popular blockchain-based platform for developers. Lisk people know this and they do want to become the “de-facto standard for blockchain applications and services.”
“There is no public cryptocurrency platform which allows developers to easily deploy their own blockchain and build a JavaScript blockchain app on it,” said Lisk CEO Max Kordek. “This will give millions of developers the ability to create their own sidechains, particularly around consumer applications, including games, social networks and the Internet of Things, but the same core functionality can also be used to develop and scale business applications.”
In a nutshell, Lisk can be used to simplify the process of building, publishing, distributing and monetizing decentralized apps (dapps).
6. Microsoft is one of the partners
While we’re at developers, it is worth adding that Microsoft is one of Lisk’s partners, with the two parties agreeing to integrate Lisk into the Azure Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) program. This in turn enables developers to develop, test, and deploy Lisk blockchain applications using Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform and infrastructure.
Considering the power of Microsoft and increasing popularity of its cloud offering, this move could help entice more developers to consider Lisk as their blockchain platform of choice.
7. Controlled but unlimited supply
You may have heard that Bitcoin’s algorithm is set to stop rewarding miners once the 21 million bitcoins have been issued. Like Ethereum, Lisk doesn’t have that limitation; but it won’t make it easy to get new Lisk coins after some time, either.
Lisk’s system utilizes an inflationary forging rewards system which creates new LSK for every successful block. During year 1, the forging rewards are set at 5 LSK per block. Every 3,000,000 blocks (~1 year) forging rewards are reduced by 1 LSK, ending at 1 LSK per block after 5 years. The forging rewards will then stay at 1 LSK per block indefinitely. These rewards will be equally distributed through all active (top 101) delegates, same as any network fees.
8. Country Ambassadors
As part of the idea to “strengthen the bond between the Lisk core team and local communities in different countries,” Lisk came up with the country ambassadors initiative.
Under the deal, cherry-picked country ambassadors are taking care of community members in their nation and give technical support if needed. Also, they help promote the Lisk ecosystem with its decentralized applications and custom blockchains.
For what it’s worth Lisk ambassadors are selected by the Lisk team, and one cannot just sign-up to be instantly accepted as an ambassador.
Wrapping up…
Although young, Lisk is a promising blockchain platform that has many resemblances to Ethereum. In a way, it is also a better platform, but that doesn’t guarantee its success. Nevertheless, we see it’s gaining a momentum with developers all across the board joining in to try their skill with the new platform, one that lets them make app using familiar tools.
Whether you decide to invest in Lisk — buy Lisk coins — is totally up to you. This article isn’t an investment advice and we expressly disclaim any liability, including in respect of direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage.
