Lit Protocol Community Update: August '23

Read about the latest updates from around the Lit ecosystem.

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Aug 7, 2023 • 4 min read

Lit Protocol is a decentralized key management network powered by threshold cryptography. A blockchain-agnostic identity layer, Lit can be used to power access control, signing, and authentication for web3 applications.

Introduction.

Welcome to the eighth edition of the monthly Lit community update!

To learn more about the protocol and start building with Lit tooling today, check out the developer docs. You can also find Lit on Twitter or join the developer community on Discord.

Without further ado, let’s jump right in!

General Updates.

State of the Network

A state of the network reminder for developers currently building on Lit! The network currently exists in two separate branches: the Jalapeño Alpha Mainnet (persistent), and the Serrano Dev Branch (not persistent), with new branches expected soon:

Jalapeño Mainnet — Default network

Right now, Lit Protocol is in an alpha mainnet state (the "Jalapeno Mainnet") and we are running all the nodes. It is unaudited and the nodes are not distributed yet. There are various security improvements to be made, and cryptoeconomic guarantees as a result of staking are not in place yet. Data is persistent and we plan to support this network in perpetuity. We are in the active process of decentralizing and working towards a decentralized mainnet release. The Jalapeno network is the default. You can also specify this network via the litNetwork: "jalapeno" option in your LitNodeClient config.

Uptime and Status

https://jalapeno-status.litprotocol.com/

Serrano — Developer Preview

The Lit Actions and PKP network (the "Serrano Testnet") is in a developer preview state.

The data on the Serrano Testnet is not persistent and may be erased at any time. Therefore, we do not recommend storing anything of value on the Serrano Testnet. You may use the Serrano testnet by installing the latest @lit-protocol/lit-node-client package and specifying litNetwork: "serrano" in your LitNodeClient config. You can find more info in the Lit Actions sections of the docs.

Uptime and Status

https://serrano-status.litprotocol.com/

Around the Ecosystem.

Updates from the community!

Index.as: Create and Monetize Your Web3 Content

Index.as allows users to create a topic-based index by adding articles, documents, NFTs, products, videos, tweets, and more to create personalized content libraries. Advanced filtering and search options turn the index into niche, searchable indexes.

The team are currently using Lit Actions to enable curator roles which allow groups such as DAOs and online communities to collaboratively curate content in a fully decentralized way. Lit Actions promote scalable and composable collaboration, as well as provide greater autonomy and flexibility in content curation and indexing for these groups.

Gateway: Simplifying the User Onboarding Experience

Check out how Gateway, a web3 credentialing protocol, is using the Lit stack to radically simplify the user onboarding experience! Check out the Lit docs to learn how you can harness social logins (for example, Google, Passkeys, or SMS) to create distributed custody MPC wallets.

SafeMail: Sending Tokens to an Email Address

Check out this amazing project that was created at this year’s ETHGlobal hackathon in Paris! SafeMail enables you to send tokens to any Google email address, prior to a given user creating their account. No private keys, no wallets, just a Google sign-in!

Ecosystem Ideas

The Ecosystem Ideas page (previously ‘Ecosystem RFPs’) has been updated and moved to the Lit Protocol GitHub. If you are interested in building with Lit but not sure where to get started, check out the Ideas page which includes suggestions for projects and developer tooling, all with the goal of advancing what is possible with Lit’s suite of developer infrastructure!

Build with Lit

If you’re interested in integrating Lit into your existing project, or want to build something completely new using Lit infrastructure, check out the Lit grants program. Grants are offered to developers who have a passion for building innovative solutions to the current shortfalls of web3.

Community Calendar

To ensure you never miss a beat, subscribe to the Lit community calendar. Here you can find the schedule for Lit’s Office Hours, additional community events, conferences, announcements, and more.

Content Recap

Hackathons and Events

ETHGlobal Paris Recap: This was a monumental event for web3 and ETHGlobal’s largest European gathering to date. From the most seasoned blockchain veterans to those just starting their journey into web3, there was an unprecedented turnout that solidified this event as a must attend for the blockchain community. In the post above, we highlight a few standout submissions that encapsulate the remarkable spirit of innovation present throughout the entire hackathon and represent a compelling approach to utilizing Lit.

Coming soon 👀

Here are some of the things to look forward to in the months ahead:

The release of Lit’s open-source interface for managing the assets in your PKP cloud wallet is coming very soon! This will provide a home for viewing and sending your tokens and NFTs, “installing” dApps, and assigning arbitrary logic via Lit Actions.
SDK V3 Revamp. Some updates are being made to the Lit SDK in an ongoing effort to facilitate a smooth and seamless developer experience for those building on Lit. You can expect more info on the new changes in the coming weeks!
Decentralizing the Lit Network! Right now, test networks are running with a few node operators and the distribution process is ongoing. Decentralized testnet coming soon!

Wrapping up…

This wraps up the August update! If you enjoyed it, you can click below to subscribe and receive future updates directly in your inbox.

Once again, you can reach out to the Lit team on Discord with any questions, concerns, or feedback.

Until next time,

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A Monthly Newsletter on all things Lit.