Project Overview
LSK is the abbreviation and token of the project Lisk. The goal is to create a Dapp (application software) ecosystem based on side chain technology, similar to Apple's App Store (application download store) .
The Lisk project was separated from the Crypti blockchain project in January 2016, and the mainnet was launched in June 2018. It is unclear whether Lisk version 1.0 includes sidechain technology.
How Lisk Works
Like BitShares, Steem, and EOS, Lisk uses the dPoS consensus algorithm. There are 101 delegates who act as block producers. Delegates are elected through blockchain voting. The number of votes allocated to each account is equal to the number of LSKs it has. Block production takes place in rotation, with 101 representatives producing one block per round. Lisk supports 10-second block generation, and each block will be rewarded with 4 LSK. 10 seconds to produce blocks, which means that more than 12 million LSK will be awarded to delegates within a year. The initial supply is 100 million LSK with an annual inflation rate of over 12%.
As we've seen with BitShares, Steem, and EOS, the dPoS consensus algorithm is a trade-off: dPoS algorithms are fast and scalable, but at the cost of decentralization.
Team Lisk
Lisk was founded by Max Kordek and Olivier Beddows. Both Max and Olivier are from the Crypti project. According to a Lisk blog post, they left Crypti and founded Lisk in early 2016 after disagreements with the rest of the management team. Little is known about Max and Olivier's respective histories before Crypti and Lisk. Max currently serves as Lisk's President and CEO, and Olivier serves as Lisk's Vice President and Chief Technology Officer.
To build Lisk, Max and Olivier co-founded lightcurve GmbH, a blockchain consultancy, development studio and marketing agency. There are over 50 people working for lightcurve, and its only client is Lisk.
Project Highlights
LISK is the first decentralized application solution completely written in js. This opens up a new field for ecology and developers. Any web developer already familiar with JavaScript and Node.js right from the start can immediately transfer developing decentralized applications.
Our core goal with LISK is to create a complete plug-and-play system that allows developers to complete all steps from design, development, publishing and monetization on one platform. Leveraging the LISK ecosystem, developers can quickly deploy their JavaScript applications on managed storage nodes, get listed on the LISK store, and immediately access LISK computing code execution nodes. Instead, it is backed by the integrity and security of the sidechain for the borrower consensus function.
Best of all, all these cloud functions are paid by users and LISK representatives who are paid both through the built-in invoicing system (or on behalf of the network itself in the case) and paid in grams (grams of cryptocurrency) or BTC . It's truly a one-stop application development offering a cutting edge, lightweight, and forward-thinking solution.
Lisk plans to utilize sidechains and encourage developers to build dApps in sidechains. Sidechains can store LSK tokens on the mainnet by locking LSK tokens in the sidechain owner's mainnet account through special mainnet transactions. This means that in the event of a flawed sidechain, all LSK tokens are safe and can be retrieved by the owner of the sidechain. However, this also means that any sidechain user is under the control of the sidechain owner.
Sidechains are fully customizable blockchains. Developers can customize all specifications, parameters and transaction types of the sidechain. Sidechains can use LSK tokens from the mainnet, or issue their own custom tokens.
A key challenge for sidechains is finding node operators to "keep alive". According to Lisk, sidechain developers can specify their own consensus algorithm or choose to use Lisk's consensus algorithm. If so, they need to find their own representative to keep the blockchain running. The 101 representatives of the mainnet are not required to act as sidechain representatives.
The technical details of how Lisk's sidechain technology works are unclear. It is unclear how secure sidechains are, how dApps operate on sidechains, and how sidechains communicate with the main chain.
