Lightstreams Update: Q4 2019
Latest Developments and what’s coming next.
In this post, I’d like to update you with what has been happening in Q4 for Lightstreams and what is coming up next for the network. There is a lot to cover, the team has been incredibly busy in the last few months with new developments and there is a lot of new opportunities on the road ahead that I’d like to share.
Ethereum Devcon, Osaka
In October, we had the opportunity to attend the Ethereum Devcon conference in Osaka where we met with other teams in the crypto space and discussed the latest technical developments.
One of the main topics at the conference was the challenge the industry is facing to achieve greater user adoption. The top issues that are identified as hindering adoption:
- Installation of a Metamask plugin or similar to get started.
- Payment of upfront gas fees required to get started.
- High gas fees.
- Lack of privacy of user data.
- Slow and sluggish apps.
We took the opportunity at DevCon during our conversations to highlight how Lightstreams is tackling these issues with products like Lightchain, Smart Vault and the Gas Station.
Developers especially wanted to know more about that Smart Vault’s ability to store files of any size and share them within private groups. We found that Ethereum developers were surprised to hear that the Smart Vault can actually be used with Ethereum (in fact, it can be used with any Ethereum-compatible network today). Our point of view on this is that the Smart Vault helps the industry as a whole, and while using the Smart Vault, we believe developers will discover more about what Lightstreams has to offer.
AgoraNext Global Innovation Summit, Madrid
In November, we were warmly welcomed by Telefonica, one of the largest telephone operators in the world, at their headquarters in Madrid, to present at the AgoraNext Innovation Summit.
Afterwards, I was personally invited to a VIP dinner attended by CEOs of major corporations where I had the opportunity to hear about the progress and the challenges migrating their legacy systems towards blockchain-enabled infrastructure. It was a great opportunity to raise awareness about our ongoing work at Lightstreams in the areas of scalability, privacy and usability.
MyEtherWallet
We were pleased during this quarter to add another crypto wallet, MyEtherWallet (MEW) to the Lightstreams ecosystem.
MEW is one of the leading digital wallets for Ethereum-compatible networks. Not only does this new integration bring greater awareness of Lightstreams, but it also brings greater security to holders of Lightstreams Photon (PHT) tokens. Users of MEW can now use their favourite hardware wallets that are supported by MEW for holding PHT tokens.
For more information, refer to our documentation that has a detailed example of using a Ledger Nano hardware wallet with MEW.
More Exchanges: CoinDeal
In July this year, Lightstreams mainnet was officially launched with the distribution of PHT tokens and the listing on the crypto exchange, CoinAll.
We were pleased to announce in October, another exchange, CoinDeal has integrated to Lightstreams and has listed the PHT token.
CoinDeal is a mid-tier European exchange that has seen rapid growth since launching in 2018 and recently has expanded to now support US customers.
CoinDeal features:
- Major credit cards are accepted.
- 7 fiat currencies are supported including USD, EUR and GBP.
- Open to US customers.
- Very high security and regulatory standards.
Developer Community Growth
One of our initiatives this quarter was to make getting started with developing on Lightstreams easier for teams and to better support developers. Following feedback gathered at the Decentralized Storage Summit in Berlin, we have put a lot of effort into the following areas:
- New technical documentation. A completely new website was released making it easier for developers to get started with more clear examples. We will continue to build these docs as we add new features and products and through both feedback from the developer community on what they require.
- Discord chat. We opened up a new Discord group for discussions around particular topics of interest and so developers can more easily put directly in contact with our technical team or other experts.
- Smart Vault. A unique decentralized datastore with privacy controls for sharing data within private groups and for selling content. We separated the Smart Vault into its own product enabling it to be connected with any Ethereum-compatible blockchain (and potentially any blockchain). We believe this contributes to the blockchain ecosystem as a whole and bring greater awareness of Lightstreams.
Our efforts are already being rewarded. We have seen an uptick in developer interest in the last few months, with some interesting and exciting projects being proposed by developers.
If you are a Developer, join our Discord group and say hi!
We’re happy to help answer any questions.
Latest Features of Lightstreams
The following are the latest features that have been developed further and added to Lighstreams this quarter.
- Lightstreams Gas Station: We brought the Gas Station Network to the Lightstreams ecosystem. With Lightsreams GSN, there is now no need for users to install Metamask or any other third party software to set up a digital wallet in order to begin using a Lightsreams DApp. Instead, a user can begin using the app (and signing transactions) without requiring an initial balance of PHT tokens. This greatly removes a major pain point of when new users want to get started using a DApp.
- Augmented Bonding Curve: Our development team has been working closely with the CommonsStack team to bring the Augmented Bonding Curve to Lightstreams. The Augmented Bonding Curve is based on Bancor technology and enables apps to issue their own tokens and collectable items. Listing Bonding Curve tokens on an exchange is not required since the tokens are exchangeable to PHT at any time using a pricing mechanism that is defined by a smart contract.
- Lightstreams Naming Service (LNS): Similar to the Ethereum Naming Service (ENS), the LNS offers a secure and decentralised way to address resources both on and off the blockchain using simple, human-readable names. This means that users can use custom names (e.g. johnwick.fanbase.lsn) for their crypto account and profile addresses instead of the random characters (e.g. 0x89205A3A3…) used in standard Ethereum addressing.
Fanbase Developments
The Lightstreams development team has been continuing work on Fanbase, an app that will launch on Lightstreams and aims to bring a new revenue stream to artists.
Fanbase is a next-generation app that combines tokenisation with social media in order to foster fan engagement and fan loyalty.
By using tokenomics, fans are rewarded for their contributions to the network. Artists can issue their own tokens that become both collectable items and the medium of exchange for rewarding fans and redeeming purchased items. Artists, in turn, generate revenue through the issuance of tokens and transaction fees.
We got to know Scott Cohen last year, a key figure in the music industry. Scott enthusiastically described Fanbase:
Imagine a place where people are respected and rewarded for their passion, which is music, and there is an industry that can tap into this network, which is also rewarding for the fans — Scott Cohen, Orchard.
It is great to see blockchain technology beginning to enter the mainstream. Companies such as Warner Music joined a recent $11 Million funding round for CryptoKitties’ Dapper Labs and are committing to pushing the innovation envelope forward.
For developers, Fanbase showcases the capabilities of Lightstreams. Our aim is to bring greater awareness about building powerful DApps using Lightstreams:
- Lightchain — Fast transactions for supporting responsive apps.
- Smart Vault — Decentralised storage for publishing and selling content.
- Gas-free transactions — Freemium access for users. Provides a painless experience getting started using a DApp without installing a wallet.
- Augmented Bonding Curve — Ability to issue individualised and custom tokens.
- Lightstreams Naming Service (LNS) — Named account addresses.
Next, we hope to release a video update that will give a sneak preview of Fanbase and what is coming!
Other Highlighted Projects building on Lightstreams
A number of teams have been working with us early on before mainnet was launched this year in July. These teams have been helping us test the network and identify any potential issues before the network was officially launched.
We have also seen in the second half of this year, post network launch, a surge in interest by projects enquiring about Lightstreams.
In this post, I would like to announce one particular team, Regavi who have been working with us quite early on and has now partnered with Lightstreams to launch their new Simulpass product.
Simulpass — An self-sovereign identity and verification tool for consumers.
We will be sharing more details about Simulpass in the coming weeks and months as developments progress.
What’s Coming Up Next?
- Expansion of Lightstreams Stack — We will continue to expand the features and capabilities of the whole Lightstreams stack to support teams and their requirements for building powerful DApps.
- Fanbase — Fanbase is launching with a focus group of DJs and artists in the Balearic Islands (Ibiza, Mallorca, Menorca). The launch strategy is, to begin with, a localised campaign before expanding globally.
- More Digital Wallets — We will be working with more digital wallet providers to support the use of the PHT token. Our current pipeline of wallet integrations includes MyCryptoWallet, Trustwallet and Scatter. We’d love to hear if there are any others that you would like Lightstreams to support, please reach out to us on one of our chat channels.
- More exchanges — We are keen to see more exchanges list the Lightstreams PHT token. Our team is actively supporting all exchange enquiries about the integration of the Lightstreams network into their service offerings.
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Enjoy the holiday season!
Michael Smolenski
