Ethereum, Lisk & DApps
Blockchain was the buzzword of 2017, and rightly so. The underlying technology behind cryptocurrencies, Blockchain was first conceptualised with the invention of Bitcoin.
The Blockchain provides an open, decentralised database, like a virtual ledger or a spreadsheet that records transactions of value (money, bonds, stocks, art, ownership agreements, etc.). It can be viewed by anyone with an internet connection. The Blockchain database is hosted by millions of computers across the world simultaneously running the same instance of it. The decentralised nature of the Blockchain ensures that these records are safe from hacks and failures since there is no single (central) point of failure. Furthermore, the transactions that are recorded on the blockchain are immutable i.e. they cannot be edited or deleted and are not controlled by any single entity and essentially lives forever. The Blockchain is envisioned by many to be the second coming of the internet. While the internet brought with it freedom of information exchange, Blockchain promises freedom of value exchange.
Utilising Blockchain technology, open-source softwares or applications could be built to leverage on this technology. Imagine having better control over who gets access to your data and getting paid for the data you that you share. What if you could earn for browsing the web or for sharing your the free memory in your computer to other internet users? With the new-age of applications that can be built on Blockchain, this does not seem like an esoteric concept any longer. This new breed of applications termed as Decentralised apps or DApps would be immutable, distributed, and decentralised. While there is no distinct definition for Dapps, they can be broadly defined as open-source, decentralised, incentivised applications that utilises cryptography to establish proof of its value. Ethereum is a platform used to create these so called Dapps and deploy them. Interestingly enough, the definition would see Bitcoin itself categorised as a Dapp.
With Bitcoin, users were limited in the kind of operations they could use it for as the Blockchain was designed around facilitating payments. So how would one be able to create these Dapps? Enter Ethereum, a Turing-complete platform that allows users to create Dapps. Ethereum as a platform could essentially perform any task without instances of interference or fraud. Any computation that is conducted within the Ethereum platform is monetised and is termed as gas or fuel. The monetary fuel element for the Ethereum platform is known as Ether. Thus, users have to pay with Ether for any computations that are made on the Ethereum platform.
Ethereum is already attributed with having a vibrant ecosystem of Dapps and has been the primary choice as a Dapp development platform with many successful ones emerging out of it. A great majority of cryptocurrencies themselves are Dapps/Smart Contracts built on the Ethereum platform. Some of the popular ones being Augur, OmiseGo, Civic etc. Today, Ethereum is the second most popular cryptocurrency in the world.
In the Ethereum platform, users had to develop applications by coding it in Ethereum’s own language- Solidity. So developers had to learn a whole new language to make these new applications? Well, not necessarily. In May of 2016, Lisk launched its own Blockchain development platform. Lisk too allowed users to create Dapps but with several key distinctions from Ethereum:-
- Lisk allowed developers to code in Javascript
JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages. Unlike Ethereum’s Solidity far many more developers now had the opportunity to start creating Dapps right away.
2. Lisk allowed the use of sidechains
In Ethereum, the code is always stored on the main Blockchain, which runs the risk of bloating the Blockchain and causing transactional delays. In Lisk, the Dapps are stored on external links called Sidechains that are linked to the main Blockchain but do not end up bloating it. This essentially allows developers to create their own sidechains complete with their own incentivisation systems to be deployed.
Lisk has a large community that is very active in the development of the platform. By design, the Dapps created on the Lisk platform offer better scalability. While Lisk offers more versatility to end-users, it does not inherently make it better than Ethereum.
With the increasing adoption of Blockchain technology and Dapps, it seems inevitable that many industry-giants will be rendered obsolete. Banking, supply chain, social networking, software companies could all be in contention for a major upheaval. The very fact that many of the largest businesses are rushing in to the get on the blockchain movement is testament to the fact the DApps are the future.
