Overview
Lantr Engineering is a blockchain research and development company that builds tools and infrastructure for other builders. It also takes on client work, building smart contracts (programs that run on a blockchain) and auditing them for security flaws1. Its Scalus toolkit lets programmers who already know Scala, a general-purpose programming language, write Cardano applications without switching to a new one2. Lantr also builds the pieces that let Cardano programs check what happened on Bitcoin.
Cardano is where most of Lantr's products run: the Scalus toolkit, an exchange design, and a file-hosting service3. On the Bitcoin side, the company builds an oracle, a service that brings Bitcoin data onto Cardano so contracts there can verify Bitcoin activity4. A proposal to fund work from the Cardano treasury (the shared fund that Cardano's on-chain governance can spend), led by Input Output, names Lantr as one of six partner teams, responsible for adding automated contract-checking tools to Scalus5.
Key Features
- Build a whole Cardano app in one language. Scalus lets developers write smart contracts (the programs that run on the blockchain), build transactions, and write the rest of the app in Scala 3, then compiles the contract into the code Cardano runs2.
- Same code on servers, in browsers, and in native apps. Scalus runs on the Java Virtual Machine for server software, in JavaScript and TypeScript for browser apps, and as native code for high-performance programs, so developers can share one codebase between the server and the app people use2.
- Cardano contracts that can see Bitcoin. Binocular is Lantr's Bitcoin oracle. Anyone can submit Bitcoin block data to it without registering, and Cardano smart contracts can then check that a specific Bitcoin transaction took place4.
- Exchange-style trading while you keep control of funds. Cosmex is Lantr's design for an order-book exchange that matches trades off the main blockchain, while users keep the option to withdraw their funds from the exchange's smart contract after a dispute window6.
- Paid file sharing with a penalty for cheating. Adastream adapts the BitStream file-selling protocol to Cardano: the seller locks up a deposit, the buyer pays, and the buyer can claim that deposit if the seller cheats7.
What to Expect
The Lantr Engineering website is short. It has a homepage that lists the company's services1, a products page covering Scalus, Binocular, Cosmex, and Adastream3, and a blog. Organizations that want a contract built or reviewed reach the team by email from the products page3.
Developers will spend most of their time in the Scalus documentation, which walks through setup, a first smart contract, and a first transaction2. The Scalus source code is open-source under the Apache 2.0 license on GitHub, and its README lists projects built with it, including the Bifrost Bitcoin-to-Cardano bridge from FluidTokens8. Readers comparing similar teams can browse other development companies in the directory.
Lantr's blog mixes technical write-ups with public progress reports. Part of the company's Scalus work has been paid for from the Cardano treasury8, and the blog posts milestone updates for the Scalus budget that Intersect administers9. Project Catalyst, Cardano's community grant program, funded Binocular, and its proposal page marks the project complete10.
