LeoInfra

LeoInfra works hand-in-hand with LeoCache. We primarily use LeoInfra for the Lite Blockchain Account protocol that we've built as well as handling sign-ins securely and various other data.

Lite Blockchain Account Protocol

Since Lite Blockchain Accounts are the primary function of LeoInfra, let's briefly describe what they are.

Why Lite Accounts?

One of the #1 issues with onboarding people to Web3/Blockchain is private keys. Self-custodying private keys (holding your keys) is very difficult for people when they first get into the space.

This is why you so commonly see the average person using Coinbase or some other centralized exchange to buy and hodl all of their crypto. Private keys are hard to use and dangerous if you don't know what you're doing.

We have had much the same problem in onboarding people to INLEO: when you create an account on INLEO, you're creating an account on the blockchain. This is different than creating an account on something like Facebook or X. They hold your account info on their own servers. We don't hold your account info on our servers. The blockchain holds your account info via a public key and private key setup.

If you are familiar with blockchains like Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc. then you'll know that you have a Public Address and a Private Address.

Your Public Address is how people can send you crypto, kind of like a Username. Your Private Address (or Private Key) is the "Password" you use to access that Public Address.

On Hive (the native blockchain of INLEO), Public Addresses are actually called "Usernames". They are also formatted like a username (this vs. the public addresses on Ethereum which are 0x...strings). For example, my Hive address can be "@inleo" but my Ethereum address would be something like "0x...5591".

Even though the usernames on Hive are easy, the private keys are actually just as hard (probably even harder) to understand as they are on Ethereum. There are 5 different private keys for each Hive account. These keys govern different aspects of the account and allow for enhanced security. For example, a "Posting Key" allows you to publish posts, threads, upvotes and comments. It DOES NOT allow you to publish transactions from your wallet. You need a higher level key for that.

This key hierarchy increases security by allowing users to only allow certain permissions at certain times. All of this is super complicated for a new user and that's why we created Lite Blockchain Accounts.

What is a Lite Account?

A Lite Account is essentially a custodial blockchain account. Instead of you holding your Private Keys, your Private Keys are held in a database and encrypted. To Decrypt and use those keys, we use platforms like X or Google.

How It Works

This allows users to sign up with X or Google and have no password/private keys to sign in to INLEO. We call this a Lite Account because the account is not fully in your own custody. You don't have any password to get in. Your X or Google account serves as your "password" aka your authentication method. All you need to do to access your INLEO Hive Blockchain account is verify that you own the X or Google account tied to the Lite Account.

Lite to Full Account

Going from a Lite Account to a Full Account is super easy. We've built a step by step claim process that can be accessed by Lite Account users via the Settings Page.

Our recommendation is that users utilize the INLEO platform for at least 7 days. Get familiar with it. See if you enjoy it. Learn about the private keys and how to safely store/use them.

Once you are familiar, then you should claim your account to a full account. At this stage, our UI walks you through the whole process. By the end, you will have successfuly changed and downloaded the new private keys for your account.

The upside is that you are now fully on your own. You don't have any counterparty risk. Similar to holding Bitcoin in a cold wallet vs holding it on Coinbase.

That being said, the downside is that you are now fully on your own. If you lose the keys or leak the keys, you lose access to your blockchain account.

The Purpose of Lite Accounts

Lite Accounts are meant to quickly onboard new users and get them using the platform. We want them to gain familiarity with the platform and feel like they're using any other social media app.

Once they start messing around with rewards and wallet features like sending, staking or buying/selling tokens, then we encoruage them to go from Lite to Full blockchain account.