Ethereum Pioneer Unveils New Blockchain for Creatives and Artists – How Does it Work?

Sead Fadilpašić
Last updated: | 4 min read
Fabian Vogelsteller. Source: a video screenshot, DoinGud / YouTube

Fabian Vogelsteller, the visionary behind the LUKSO project, aims to establish an all-encompassing ecosystem for creative professionals by “constructing a comprehensive toolset, ecosystem, and marketplace centered around NFTs, grounded on a universal profile.”

Renowned for developing the ERC-20 and ERC-725 token standards for Ethereum (ETH), Vogelsteller has been instrumental in formulating a rule set for tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. 

This has not only simplified matters for developers but also ensured the predictability of any newly minted ERC-20 token.

Vogelsteller left the Ethereum Foundation in 2018 to focus on his new project: layer 1 blockchain called LUKSO, which is preparing for launch. 

One of the goals, he told CoinDesk, is to improve on the standards that he proposed while working on Ethereum. 

Vogelsteller highlighted that this novel blockchain, tailored for the “creative economy,” aims to rival the massive Ethereum network.

He argued, however, that the user experience on Ethereum is not as simple as it needs to be for mass adoption to be reached. 

The average Joe and Jane have a hard time following transactions on-chain and determining which address belongs to which wallet.

Vogelsteller said that there is a solution: a universal profile – a comprehensive, all-in-one profile containing all the needed on-chain activity.  

“It can be a wallet, but it’s way more than that,” Vogelsteller told CoinDesk. “It is a whole profile. It has a name. It has a picture. It can be managed by multiple devices, by multiple keys, with different levels of permission.”

These universal profiles also come with the so-called “key managers” that allow users to add multiple keys to their on-chain accounts which are assigned or execute different actions. 

On the one hand, the key manager will check the purpose of each key, restricting specific activities of certain devices as necessary, and on the other, these multiple keys can serve as a backup system should the user lose access to a key, said the founder. 

Born Out of Ethereum as It was Born Out of Bitcoin

Vogelsteller argued that the potential for creative-type applications on the blockchain can be seen in the massive popularity of non-fungible tokens, which have been adopted for various uses, from art and music to collectibles and much more. 

That said, these systems are difficult to use and have not matured yet.

Vogelsteller said that,

“One of the advantages for starting a new network was thinking about how we can improve the basic direction of the blockchain.”

LUKSO will be born out of Ethereum like Ethereum was born out of Bitcoin (BTC), he said, adding that it will use Ethereum as a sort of an on-ramp.

A Genesis Validator Deposit Smart Contract on the Ethereum blockchain will go live in a few weeks, the founder stated, and there will be time given for validators to join LUKSO.

The Genesis Validator Deposit Smart Contract will allow users to become genesis validators by depositing an ERC-20 token called LYXe, which went live in an initial coin offering (ICO) in June 2020.

And when the mainnet launches, LYXe will be converted to LYX, LUKSO’s native token.

Furthermore, Vogelsteller was inspired by the decentralized blockchain identity standard he created for Ethereum, but has decided to turn it into a series of LUKSO Standard Proposals, or LSPs, and the blockchain account in the ecosystem called LSP0.

LSP0 serves several functions, he explained. It turns ERC-725 into a smart contract-based profile, while it tackles the functionality and makes profiles more user-friendly. 

Additionally, it combines a crypto-type wallet, similar to an Ethereum account, with smart-contract storage. 

Besides attaching a regular crypto account to these profiles, users can also link to any public information they choose, including their Twitter account and NFTs.

Individual users, as well as teams and organizations, will be able to create any profile on LUKSO to identify themselves as in Web3

This profile, said the founder, will also act as their blockchain account, which is meant to make the user experience more seamless.

Meanwhile, per an article shared in January, LUKSO is a network based on Ethereum’s Proof of Stake (PoS) technology, and unlike Ethereum, LUKSO will start as a PoS blockchain with an Initial Genesis Validator Set that anyone can join. 

“LUKSO’s Mainnet will launch in a fully decentralized way. Meaning you, the community, will run most, if not all of the validators,” it said. 

LUKSO Mainnet Timeline. Source: LUKSO, Medium

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