Lightstreams

Decentralised Applications (DApps) are a new breed of applications that run on peer-to-peer (P2P) networks in contrast to traditional applications that run on centralised servers. They are made possible as a direct consequence of blockchain and Ethereum smart contract technology. Through a shift toward decentralised business models, DApps

will impact almost every industry, unbundling business models that have been dominated by the few and open the way for new and more efficient models. The primary disruptive features of DApps are:

● The ability to coordinate transactions (via a smart contract) between two or more participants of a system without requiring an intermediary. For example, a user could sell power to a neighbour in order to charge their car without requiring a power company to act as a go-between.

● The ability to incentivise network nodes through a token that can represent a store of value. Users can then be incentivised to individually and collectively perform tasks that would otherwise have been the responsibility of an intermediary.

Ethereum’s smart contract capabilities have shown huge promise in revolutionising digital agreements, but the network itself is hindered by an inability to provide adequate privacy for the content being shared in smart contracts. This rules out all use-cases where parties are dealing with confidential data (intellectual property, sensitive messages, etc.). To truly unlock the potential of smart contracts, a network like Lightstreams is required that provides privacy controls for shared content. The protocol runs on a modified Ethereum stack while remaining compatible and version synchronised, and makes use of a permissioned IPFS [6] version to to control access to shared protected content. We expect to see Lightstreams play an integral role in DApps development through Lightstreams’ combination of on-chain and decentralised off-chain technology to pave the way for future blockchain applications. By leveraging the smart contract functionality of

the Ethereum network and the secure content distribution, Lightstreams brings an unprecedented solution for blockchain privacy and confidentiality.