Lisk is a blockchain-based platform that provides developers with the necessary tools for decentralized application building. It offers a variety of Software Development Kit (SDK) elements that facilitate the process of creating and managing dApps. Lisk is powered by the LSK coin that ICOed back in 2016. The platform uses JavaScript as its coding language, which makes it accessible for a larger number of developers.
In this article, we will talk about the Lisk network and its structure, the platform’s history, its blockchain peculiarities, and use cases. We will also discuss Lisk crypto, places where to trade and store it, and compare the Lisk network to another popular dApp platform, Ethereum.
Interested in dApps? Check out our review on the decentralized applications phenomena and best dApps of 2020.
Table of Contents
Lisk Platform History & Basics
The story of Lisk started in May 2016 when it forked from another dApp development platform named Crypti. Max Kordek and Oliver Beddows, the two co-founders of Lisk, had a clear vision of how such a platform should work. They wanted to focus on accessibility and usefulness for developers, as well as the future of the entire dApp industry.
A crucial part of the Lisk ecosystem is a Software Development Kit. It was designed to simplify the dApp creation process. Basically, SDK consists of modules that are accessible for all the users of the Lisk network and can be used to develop customized dApps. Lisk advertises SDK to be forever free and open-source, rooted in JavaScript, flexible and modular, and to have comprehensive documentation.
Another important peculiarity of the Lisk ecosystem is that it uses sidechains in addition to the mainchain.
Sidechain is a separate blockchain-based on a mother blockchain. It is possible to transfer digital assets between the chains securely and use them in a sidechain, then move them back to an original blockchain without value loss or security breaches. It happens through a two-way peg technology – a protocol that allows moving assets from mainchains to sidechains and vice versa.
The Lisk sidechains solve the scalability problem, at the same time staying as secure as the parent chain: in the Lisk ecosystem, the sidechains are maintained by the 101 masternodes that operate on the DPoS consensus mechanism. Delegated Proof of Stake mechanism implies that there is a limited amount of nodes securing the network. The Lisk users elect the nodes through an open vote, and there are always 101 nodes.
The Lisk network is often called a “blockchain for developers”. Indeed, Lisk aims to help developers create dApps more easily and quickly. The platform’s development team intended to build a platform that would popularize dApps and involve more programmers in their creation.
One of the ways to do it was to use a code that devs of all ages are already familiar with – JavaScript. This programming language is known to be the most frequently used on the web. So, the Lisk team solved one of the problems that developers had been facing since blockchain was around: they had to learn a new programming language to be able to work with dApp platforms.
For instance, Ethereum uses Solidity, and in order to start creating dApps on this network, one has to learn a whole new programming language. That’s what made Lisk platform likable and accessible for devs in the first place.
Lisk vs. Ethereum
Lisk is often compared to Ethereum because both platforms facilitate dApps creation. Some crypto enthusiasts even call Lisk “Ethereum killer”, insinuating that this network is more well-thought, accessible, and user-friendly, and will evolve into a strong dApps development platform someday. For now, Ethereum has an undeniable leadership on the market. Let’s compare Lisk and Ethereum and see what the strong suits and weaknesses of the platforms are.
Lisk | Ethereum | |
General idea | A platform for dApps creation and management | A platform for dApps creation and management |
Consensus algorithm | Delegated Proof of Stake | Proof of Work (planning to switch to Proof of Stake) |
Programming language | JavaScript | Solidity |
dApp location | Sidechains | Mainchain |
Operation validation | Masternodes | Miners |
Lisk is a much younger project than Ethereum and is still on its way to widespread use.
Lisk Platform Use Cases
There are a number of services the Lisk platform provides. Let’s look at several real projects conceived and implemented on Lisk.
- Education. A decentralized academic and reputation platform Sapiens, an educational incentive platform for children REN.
- Real estate. BrikBit, a platform that develops and manages entire operations for the real estate industry.
- Data management. Madana, a company that offers privacy-enhancing technology for secure data analytics, and Global Data Chain, a decentralized database for storing global datasets.
- Collaborative consumption. A bike-sharing service Lisk Bike.
- Administration. Lisk DAO, a decentralized platform for the governance and operational processes of communities.
The scope of Lisk’s application is even broader: intellectual property management, blockchain oracles, digital identity security (verification and digital signatures), decentralized hosting, supply chain management, etc. Here is what Reddit users think about the practical use cases.
LSK Token Explained
The Lisk coin is a native utility token of the platform. LSK ICO ran for one month in February-March 2016 and raised $6.472.497 with almost 4000 participants. The coin was priced at $0.076.
Lisk crypto is used primarily to pay for transactions on the network and vote for delegates. A standard outgoing transaction costs 0.1 LSK. Users are charged 1 LSK for a voting round, and 25 LSK if they want to register as delegate candidates.
Initially, 100.000.000 LSK coins have been generated. The incentivization started with 5 LSK reward per block and was programmed to decrease by 1 LSK every year. As of today, the reward equals 2 LSK. In October 2020, it will turn 1 LSK and stop at this amount forever, as set by the Lisk platform algorithm.
To better understand the LSK coin future, read an article on Lisk Price Prediction for 2020-2025.
Where to Trade and Store Lisk Crypto
You can buy and sell Lisk on several popular exchanges in various trading pairs. Here are those with the highest trading volume:
BTC | USD | ETH | USDT | EOS | |
Binance | + | + | + | ||
HitBTC | + | + | + | + | |
Kraken | + | + | |||
CoinEx | + | + |
Storing Lisk cryptocurrency is a piece of cake. There are a number of hot and cold wallets compatible with LSK. First of all, let’s talk about mono wallets for this coin: Lisk Desktop Wallet, Lisk Core, Lisk Paper Wallet, and Lisk Freewallet.
- Lisk Core is an official Lisk full node, so you will have to download the whole blockchain when installing it. Be aware that Lisk Core is more of a tool for developers that can serve as a wallet than a simple LSK storage.
- Lisk Desktop Wallet is the official LSK desktop wallet. It is compatible with macOS, Windows, and Linux-based operating systems. Lisk Desktop Wallet is a popular and user-friendly wallet that enables LSK holders to participate in the Lisk ecosystem fully, including voting. It also has a web and a mobile version.
- Lisk Paper Wallet is a secure cold storage option for this coin. Through this wallet, you can generate a random digital code by simply moving your mouse. The cursor movement creates random bytes that form a private security key that protects your assets.
- Freewallet is a well-known open-source wallet that works with many cryptocurrencies, including Lisk.
There are several other multi-currency wallets compatible with Lisk that are worth considering: Exodus, CoinSpot, CoinPayments, Sato Wallet, Ledger Nano S, and Trezor Model T.
Bottom Line
The Lisk platform is a convenient digital ecosystem for developers. It offers a Software Development Kit that helps devs to create and manage decentralized apps. SDK is a modular open-source solution for dApps creators.
The network was established in 2016 by forking from Crypti. The idea of its founders, Max Kordek and Oliver Beddows, was to give the crypto industry devs an opportunity to work with dApps in a more care-free and straightforward manner.
The Lisk platform is written in JavaScript, a popular web programming language, which makes it more accessible for a broader audience. The ecosystem works on sidechains to solve the scalability problem. It is built on the Delegated Proof of Work algorithm, with 101 masternodes securing the network.
The crypto world enthusiasts often compare Lisk to other dApp platforms, especially Ethereum. The latter has been the market’s leading smart contract network for a while now, so it is hard for Lisk to compete with a well-advertised and widely used platform. Nonetheless, some experts think that this ecosystem will outgrow Ethereum at some point in the future thanks to particular Lisk features.