Is this transition solely characterized by a name change? What are the underlying factors that motivated it? What is the rationale, and finally, how does this transformation impact the future trajectory of the Lisk project? In the following blog post, we will provide a comprehensive overview of this new exciting development.

The narrative of the Lisk Foundation

Firstly, let’s take a step back to 2016 when Max Kordek and Oliver Beddows established the Lisk Foundation, marking it as one of the pioneering crypto foundations based in Zug, Switzerland.

Its aim was to support Lisk, an alternative Layer 1 blockchain platform to Ethereum and its smart contract development capabilities. Max Kordek and Oliver Beddows envisioned building a blockchain application platform with a modular architecture that would be accessible and user-friendly. Particularly for developers – thanks to using JavaScript, one of the world's most widely used programming languages.

From February to March 2016, an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) was conducted that raised over 5,800,000 USD, making it one of the most successful ICOs at the time. Lisk essentially ignited the ICO trend and inspired many other blockchain projects such as Cosmos, Polkadot, and Cardano. Lisk’s ICO was closely followed by the achievement of its first significant milestone and successful launch of its mainnet in May 2016.

Just two years later, in the summer of 2018, another important milestone was achieved with the release of the Lisk Software Development Kit (SDK), providing modularity, scalability, and a range of convenient tools and resources. This allowed both novice and experienced JavaScript developers to create their own blockchain applications (dApps) for the first time.

In 2021 important protocol upgrades were integrated to enhance security with a new address system and BFT algorithm for block finalization, increase scalability with a more performant P2P layer and improved consensus algorithm, as well as reduce transaction costs with dynamic transaction fees.

Last week on December 5th, the conclusive and arguably most pivotal phase was reached. The introduction of blockchain interoperability and the rollout of the Lisk blockchain application platform signify the fulfillment of all the ICO commitments made by Max Kordek and Oliver Beddows, solidifying Lisk’s status as one of the longest-standing projects in our industry. One of the few that delivered on its promises.

The objective of this change

It has been an exciting ride, and after experiencing the myriad of challenges and successes throughout this journey, it’s now a crucial moment to contemplate decisions regarding the future path forward. To quote Max Kordek:

The Foundation celebrates the fulfillment of its ICO promise from 2016, the delivery of the blockchain application platform Lisk, an enormous technological challenge achieved. Today, the Foundation is taking on a new name and with it additional challenges. We are entering a new era with the goal to become an industry leader and to build sustainable revenue streams. Previously, we were building a decentralized protocol, from now on we are building a real business. Things are about to get awesome!

Therefore, Max Kordek comes back to reignite the flame with his pioneering spirit. The Foundation’s scope will be broadened to encompass new opportunities and technological innovation. It’ll be coupled with positioning the new Onchain Foundation as a prominent player in the ever-evolving blockchain sphere.

The scope of the Onchain Foundation

The new Foundation is embarking on a transformative journey by expanding its horizons and embracing a broader mission to foster and support the entire blockchain industry. In alignment with its overarching vision of “bringing people onchain,” this new identity underscores its commitment to inclusivity, innovation, and the collective advancement of blockchain technology.

The introduction of the Onchain Foundation brings forth a fresh era of diversification and new initiatives. Among these, we’re excited to offer a glimpse into one of our new projects. We are in the process of establishing “Onchain.” It represents a fusion of multiple facets, including a web3 research arm, a membership for blockchain visionaries, and a knowledge-rich magazine open to all who wish to “come onchain.” This extension of our activities underscores our commitment to knowledge-sharing, research, and fostering a vibrant web3 community in the ever-evolving blockchain industry.

It’s worth mentioning that Onchain is a direct outcome of our in-depth analysis of the current web3 research and education landscape. The results of our study revealed substantial voids in this domain, which subsequently unveiled promising business prospects. These gaps include the absence of comprehensive information regarding tangible use-cases for blockchain technology, a deficiency in awareness regarding the transformational potential of web3, and the erosion of trust due to occurrences of major market crashes.

These unaddressed voids motivated us to embark on this mission to address the challenges and elevate the overall landscape of web3 research and education, to enrich this domain and empower everyone to harness the potential of blockchain technology and “come onchain.”

Empowered by the Onchain Foundation, we are committed to changing this! And as we approach 2024, we sincerely hope you will join us and become an integral part of our collective.

Keep your eyes open, our inaugural research piece is set to be released next week, and the Onchain Foundation has another announcement in store. 👀