On July 18, we had an AMA session with LTO Network in our Telegram Chat. Our guests were Rick Schmitz, CEO, Arnold Daniels, Lead Architect, and Ivan Golovko, CMO of LTO Network, one of the most interesting hybrid blockchains built for business needs.
Here are the essential points of Rick, Arnold and Ivan on the product and future prospects.
Please welcome Rick (R), Arnold (A), Ivan (I), and the questions from our Telegram chat members (Q).
Q: First of all, how do you explain the concept of LTO? Why was it designed?
I: It was created out of the need for distributed storage, p2p data sharing and privacy. We did not make a blockchain just out of the air, it was an evolution of the products. LTO team started getting together since 2014 and had a journey for over 4 years!
R: We solve the silo problem that so many big organizations face. If you have a company that has processes that involve multiple stakeholders; then, everyone else doing the same administrative work. Communication happens through phone, email and letters. Using LTO Network you can connect those silo’s and share only the data and business logic that is relevant for that process. So everyone that is involved benefits from the data re-use and automation.
Q: Which countries is LTO focusing on?
I: For now Europe. Later US. Further Asia. we already talk with global partners, but we better over-deliver than over-promise
Q: Security, scalability, and data privacy are three aspects that are very important at the enterprise level, how LTO network handles these issues?
A: The public chain only processes anchor transactions, storing hashes. All other logic is done on the private event chain level. Each process creates a new event chain (think similar to git). That makes it possible to have it scale horizontally.
Process data can be pseudonymized, where the details are shared on a need-to-know basis. Private data is only shared with a specific actor and only if the process is in a state where an actor can perform a specific action that needs that data.
Q: How is LTO different from other projects in the crypto space? & what problems LTO network intends to solve in terms of achieving mass adoption if in the coming months? What are your short term goals and what are your plans to accomplish those goals?
R: We have a product / market fit. We are one of the fastest growing chains (in terms of usage). We don't take the futuristic approach by building some distant pipedream. We build something that can be used today and where you can save money for your clients.
Our advantages are mainnet live, based in EU, very solid team, governments and multinationals running live projects on LTO. So adoption or usage is very high and it’s increasing rapidly.
I: Moreover, the killer feature is the hybrid architecture enabling GDPR compliance.
A: IMHO a permissioned model undermines the whole concept of blockchain. A hybrid chain is an alternative, which provides privacy on top a permissionless system.
Q: Are you confident that GDPR compliance tooling will be used by company and government in the future?
R: Already is used by governments and multinationals just because of this USP. People are starting to realize it is a bad idea to store data on a blockchain when personal data is involved.
Q: If I am a company that needs to use your Blockchain solution what are the perquisites I need to take care of?
R: You need to have processes that run outside your own organization that you want to make more efficient. Then you should look into LTO network.
Q: What difficulties have been encountered during the development of LTO?
R: Business. They are slow. If you increase the funnel, you have a constant stream of new integrators. We have gotten successful in that.
Q: Is your service already offered by a centralized entity? If so, why does decentralizing it make it better?
A: Yes. You have a lot of centralized workflow solutions. But these typically aren't used in a cross-organization setting. Problem is that you have to trust the other party (or a third party) with your process data, which is often company sensitive information. Therefore, orchestration between orgs is done via email, phone and fax. With LTO decentralized workflow you can participate with your own system and share data peer-to-peer on a need-to-know basis.
I: We don't restrict you to what you are doing. For example, ETH is decentralized, right? But they have custody providers, who make adoption go further. With LTO case, it's similar. You can have your own access point, you can rely on an integrator, you can decide to sue a software and make them anchor. Not every use case has to be decentralized. It is what the user wants.
Q: What are the key differences between smart contracts and live contracts? Are smart contracts better?
I: They are better for what they need to do. In basic terms, smart contracts facilitate an exchange of value without intermediaries, based on the conditions written in that code. Just execution. For example, I send you 1 ETH - the contract sends me xxx tokens based on the amounts specified in the contract. That is fully on-chain, nothing extra involved. Just code.
So what can you just execute with a smart contract? Only assets, like tokens, ETH. You can't on-chain lock up an off-chain action. If I promise you to walk your dog if ETH price goes to 100, I cannot put that in the smart contract. It's just retarded to do so. So when you get into issues like dispute resolution of more subjective things, then you cannot live without off-chain data. Let's say you make a bet: someone needs to fill in the results, so then the smart contract can execute the result.
Q: In today's age AI and ML is everywhere. What are your plans to integrate Artificial intelligence and machine learning in LTO network?
I: Good one! We are partners with IBM Watson (AI ML) and have a joint use case for the government already.
A: With Live Contracts you have all data on a process in a structured way. That can allow making some decisions in the process automatically. We're doing a project with IBM Watson as p.o.c.
Q: Can you put some light on your partnership ? How are they helping you out in your project?
R: Yes, we are partnering with integrators and ISVs. We give them the tools and LTO fabric to create efficiency for their clients. So you get the network effect and snowball. Much better than directly serving the clients.
Q: What the purpose LTO listed or work together with Atomic Wallet AWC? How about your Roadmap if your project not yet working it?
I: Our roadmap started in 2014. And it keeps developing every day! We have a live use case, live mainnet, and TOP20 most used blockchain Work together? Integrate mainnet :)
Q: Are there any new or upcoming additional use-cases for LTO that you want to share with us?
R: Yes, use cases that are being built currently by new integrators are data sharing on certification processes (cant mention the organization yet, public company). And more supply chain cases (3 sectors).
I: In much perspective, our next-up plans are: raising in LTO; ecosystem becoming the major European player; lobbying governments; integrating major software providers; working with IBM and Docker.
Q: What is your strategy to spread LTO over every exchange platform?
I: We know them all. Our goal is to get listed everywhere without killing company runway. More adoption - more leverage = less fees.
Q: What future developments would you expect would be most appealing to larger institutions?
I: Something that adds value but is simple. No research papers. Give simple code, make things smooth. Add value. This is what we do
Q: How LTO Network can be used in the future?
R: Same as it can be used today. We are not a project with a promise in a white paper. We have a working fabric with many organizations that use it.
We were glad to host LTO Network on our Telegram. Thanks to the team and all members of the session!
Stay updated with our news on Twitter, Telegram, Facebook, Reddit and see you soon!