Introduction

Lit Protocol is a distributed key management network that providers developers with two main services: encryption and programmable signing. Though distinct, these features work hand-in-hand and are powered by a single overarching primitive: threshold cryptography.

For a more in-depth explanation of how Lit works, check out our Developer Docs.

Access Control

Lit’s access control protocol runs atop most EVM chains, Cosmos, and Solana (you can view the full list of supported networks here) and introduces private data to the open web. Using Lit, users can encrypt data behind specific access control conditions (ACCs) which dictate specific rules for decryption. When another user attempts to access the data encrypted by Lit, the network will first verify that the required conditions have been met by running the ACC in parallel. If the’ve been met, the network will provision unique decryption key shares that can be combined client-side and used to access the locked content. You can read more about decentralized access control on our blog.

Some examples of applications that can (and have) been built harnessing this functionality:

Web3 Apps with Private Data

Add Token Gating to Web2 Apps

Unlockable NFTs

Programmable Signing

Lit’s access control feature gives individuals the ability to read private data from the dWeb based on on-chain conditions. But this is only one half of the equation. What about writing data?

To facilitate signing (aka writing data to blockchains and other distributed systems) Lit provides two interrelated services: Programmable Key Pairs (PKPs) and Lit Actions (PKPs).

PKPs are cryptographic key-pairs generated collectively by participating node operators, stored as key shares distributed across the Lit network.

Like their name suggests, PKPs are programmable. The programs that dictate when, why, and what a PKP will sign is called a Lit Action. These Actions are immutable JavaScript functions stored on IPFS. Actions can be thought of as smart contracts with superpowers: they can initiate the signing of a transaction and use off-chain data in their computation.

When these components work together, they have the power to facilitate seamless onboarding experiences and complex signing automation. What if you could create a wallet with nothing but your email account or phone number? What if you could “tell” your wallet to execute a trade when your token fell below a specified price? Or to automatically list your NFT when the collection hits a certain floor price? Or what if you wanted to use off-chain or cross-chain data as a “trigger” to execute functionality within your decentralized application? With PKPs and Lit Actions, these use cases become possible

You can read more about PKPs and Lit Actions in our docs, or check out our blog to learn more.

Below you will find some examples of projects that have been built using PKPs, as well as some other potential ideas and use cases. You can find even more examples here.

DeFi Automation