Decentralized networks bring with them a certain amount of privacy. Blockchain users are typically known only by their public address, a number assigned to them for the purpose of preserving their anonymity.
Businesses, on the other hand, need to know who they’re dealing with. In many instances, they are legally required to know the names and official identity of those they deal with, as a matter of protecting the integrity of their trade.
The Hybrid Model
Therefore, it seems unlikely that businesses would be able to easily utilize decentralized networks. LTO Network is designed to bridge this gap, offering a “hybrid” blockchain that includes a public and a private layer, allowing businesses to work together and connect.
So how does it work? What does the average user need to know about LTO Network? Take a look at some of the key details about the LTO Network.
Trusted by the Dutch Government
The LTO Network (here’s the official website) started life as a platform known as LegalThings, which was part of the Contract Live Cycle group. Initially created as a way to create, share and sign contracts digitally for company incorporation, the scope of their capabilities changed with their win at the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security “hackathon.”
The team was able to digitize complete laws as a Finite State Machine (FSM) and store them on the blockchain. For this, they were awarded the project of digitizing all Dutch law. Currently, the Dutch Ministry of the Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) uses the LTO Network to check permits and transmit data regarding processes and procedures.
From there, the LTO Network expanded on the process of shared data security via blockchain for business to business clients, officially kicking off its involvement in the cryptocurrency world with its own token, launched in 2017.
What Is the Concept Behind the LTO Network?
The LTO Network brings public and private layers together in order to allow businesses to cooperate via blockchain technology. Just as the blockchain assists cryptocurrency investors in trading assets via decentralized finance, blockchain technology can also help in creating and sharing decentralized workflows.
Workflows are any daily processes related to business, from getting signatures from authorizing parties, sharing and acknowledging receipt of legal documents, and reviewing projects.
Historically, an actual person had to run around with a variety of documents, attempting to get things signed as quickly as possible. You might remember interoffice return envelopes, in which confidential documents were shipped from office to office to retrieve all the necessary signatures.
Today, many of these processes are automated online. However, this can lead to the “silo effect,” in which businesses are then unable to share documents across companies due to online security concepts.
Privacy, Security and Integration
Much of this security is regulated at a legal level, with privacy laws such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) guiding practices preventing automated processes from being transmitted between separate organizations. Blockchains are traditionally not GDPR compliant, due to the high level of privacy offered to users.
The LTO Network uses blockchain technology to not only automate workflows, but share them as well.
Blockchains allow authorized users to create and authorize transactions in a secure environment. None of the historical data on a blockchain can be altered or tampered with, which adds a heightened level of security to the overall environment.
The design of the LTO Network allows businesses to simply “plug in” their existing software to share workflows on a business to business level. And, by combining a private layer on which businesses can share data and automated processes with a public layer that acts as an immutable digital notary.
All transactions occur in their entirety on the private blockchain level, but the overall action is noted on the public chain without the specific details that are included on the private level. So if two parties sign a contract, the contract itself will be stored on the private blockchain, while the public blockchain simply notes that a contract was signed.
As such, the LTO Network is GDPR compliant, maintaining data security and privacy equally.
What Is the Focus of the LTO Network?
The primary focus of the LTO Network is building relationships between businesses. These are the long-term users of the network, for whom it was designed.
However, these are not the only users of the LTO Network. As mentioned earlier, the LTO Network has its own cryptocurrency. This is used to incentivize staking of transactions on the blockchain. These clients may be active in the areas of automated business processes or passive clients, that is to say, they may or may not take advantage of all of the transactional opportunities on the site.
All blockchain transactions must be verified via staking, which is part of what keeps them so secure. Not only are all transactions fully recorded and unchangeable, but in a permissionless environment, transactions must be validated by staking parties.
LTO Network has its own tokens for this purpose, and as such, has gathered a small group of parties called “passive stakers” who participate in the validation purpose for the sake of the token rewards. However, while these passive stakers play a huge role in the activity that occurs on the LTO blockchain, they are not necessarily participating as clients.
You can purchase, stake and earn passive income on the LTO token with us! If you want to learn more and get started, check out this page.
Additionally, the LTO Network allows those who utilize the service to maintain their own current internal software and processes, as well. This means no disruption to day-to-day workflows within the businesses themselves. They can continue to use their own IT departments and software. The blockchain is simply where the B2B transactions and workflows will be handled.
Conclusion
While blockchain technology is commonly associated with cryptocurrency trading, experts are demonstrating that it can have many practical applications in the business world.
Though this is a very new type of service, it is quite possible that many businesses will continue to buy into the idea of a secure yet transparent, private yet compliant network on which a variety of workflows can be hosted and shared between many different users.
