Laconic Update: Product Evolution and Network Progress

Laconic Update

When I started working on Laconic two years ago, the main product was called Watchers, a highly performant indexing solution for Dapps, i.e., a blockchain data oracle. While we still have Watchers in production for customers, it was difficult to find product market fit. At that time, key features of the existing Laconic Network testnet were still in development. Today, we introduce a much needed product for the web3 community.

A Product You Can Use Today

We're excited to announce that the Laconic Store and Laconic Deployer are now live and operational. These offer a decentralized alternative to traditional SaaS webapp hosting. Behind the scenes, Laconic Deployer uses the ongoing Laconic Network testnet and its qualified Service Providers.

First Testnet Recap

Our first testnet ran for three weeks at the end of August 2024. LNT was allocated based on our published formula. Participants with the App Publisher role will be invited to complete KYC procedures prior to mainnet launch; Service Providers that participated in this testnet completed KYC.

Second Testnet Upgrade

We've transitioned to a second testnet featuring an auction service for webapp hosting. Special recognition goes to rxpwnz and BlackBlocks for their coordination to restart it following a network halt. It is on this testnet for which you'll receive tokens from the Laconic Store for use in the Laconic Deployer.

Building a Service Provider Network

The first testnet helped us identify qualified Service Providers capable of configuring and operating bare metal Kubernetes clusters using the Laconic tech stack. These providers have been invited to formalize their participation through KYC and SLA agreements, ensuring the Laconic Network can deliver reliable uptime of various infrastructure for any web3 project.

Laconic Registry

The Laconic Registry, supported by bonds and name auctions, enables Proof of Publication for arbitrary records. Registry records are used across multiple services and drive the Laconic Deployer infrastructure. Service Providers running Laconic software monitor the Laconic Registry for paid deployment requests. These requests automatically trigger the building, deploying, and hosting of webapp frontends in a repeatable, secure and decentralized manner.

Laconic Store and Deployer

The Laconic Store is a payment gated faucet for Laconic Network testnet tokens. These tokens can be used in the Laconic Deployer, held for future services, or used to request specific services from Service Providers, e.g., as a governance proposal. The Laconic Deployer is a convenience front end for Laconic developer tooling. This tooling offers the full set of features to facilitate projects' migration from centralized SaaS services. With five and growing active Service Providers - each in different countries - projects can select specific providers or create auctions for multiple deployments across winning providers.

Project Integration

We've demonstrated that our system works across multiple formats of web applications. Since the beginning of the first testnet, a variety of community members have published all manner of web apps: from DeFi frontends like Osmosis, Uniswap, and Namada, to games like Snake and Oregon Trail. Laconic Service Providers are qualified to run all types of web3 infrastructure such as RPCs, indexers, validators and everything in between.

Roadmap to Mainnet

The following development tasks remain as we prepare for mainnet:

Bridge Implementation - Transfer Ethereum LNT (an ERC20) into the Laconic Network
Stack Deployer - Registry driven deployments beyond webapps
Watcher Parties - Decentralized load balancing and DNS services
Liquidity Pool - Protocol owned liquidity that receives tokens from projects that request service from the Laconic Network

Looking Ahead

We're focused on driving usage of the Laconic Network testnet via the Laconic Deployer and related web3 infrastructure services. We invite projects that have a need for services to reach out on Discord.