CRONOS ECOSYSTEM

In November 2021,  Crypto.org in a bid to upgrade its blockchain and inculcate open-source, SDK-based EVM compatible properties, launched the Cronos mainnet beta.

SDKs and EVMs

The role of the EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) is to deploy several extra functionalities to the Blockchain to ensure users face limited issues on the distributed ledger.

This gives EVMs the ability to run on many different types of operating systems and hardware, making them the perfect engine for a decentralized ecosystem.

An EVM acts like a global processor or computer that lends its accumulated computing power to developers. The developers, in turn, use this resource to create smart contracts and decentralized apps or dApps.

SDKs provide a comprehensive collection of tools that enable software developers to build software applications faster and in a more standardized way.

SDK stands for software development kit. Also known as a devkit and include the building blocks, debuggers, and often, a framework or group of code libraries such as a set of routines specific to an operating system (OS).

Typically, SDKs include resources such as:

- Compiler

- Code samples

- Code libraries

- Testing and analytics tools

- Documentation and

- Debuggers.

The Cosmos SDK is said to be the world’s most used framework for building blockchains.

It provides an open-source, secure, customizable, scalable, interoperable tool kit with proof of stake modules and is optimized to enable users to build custom blockchain applications with three easy steps that involve: Writing your custom blockchain, Launching it, and connecting to their blockchains on the go.

CRONOS CHAIN

Cronos is the EVM compatible chain running in parallel to the Crypto.org Chain.

It is the first Ethereum-compatible blockchain network built on Cosmos SDK technology.

Cronos is powered by Ethermint (a Cosmos SDK library for running scalable and interoperable EVM chains) which allows rapid porting of apps & smart contracts from Ethereum and EVM-compatible chains. Cronos’ base settlement currency is $CRO, the native currency of the Crypto.org Chain.

Its Inter Blockchain Communications (IBC) protocol enables interoperability and bridging to the Crypto.org Chain.

Key features

EVM Compatibility: Built on Ethermint, Cronos supports rapid porting of apps and smart contracts from Ethereum and other EVM-compatible chains. If you are a builder on other EVM-compatible chains, you can seamlessly port your app over to Cronos

Instant Finality: Built on top of the Tendermint core, with instant finality being the most important property of the Tendermint consensus algorithm. Transactions happening on Cronos are finalized almost as soon as a block is created.

Scalable and Affordable: Cronos can process more transactions per minute than most base layer blockchains, making it faster, cheaper, and greener to execute smart contracts.

Inter Blockchain Communications (IBC) Interoperability: Cronos being IBC-enabled allows for interoperability and seamless bridging to other IBC-enabled Cosmos based chains (e.g., Crypto.org Chain, Cosmos Hub, Osmosis, Terra, etc.)

Access to Broader Crypto.com Ecosystem: Cronos provides access to a massive retail user base within the Crypto.com ecosystem. This allows projects to target both DeFi natives and DeFi newcomers from the broader Crypto.com ecosystem.

Armed with these features, The Cronos ecosystem has grown fast and vast. Projects have been built that support functionalities such as: decentralized exchange, Gaming, NFT, Lending, Yield Optimization, etc. Here is a picture overview:

Extract from Cronos ecosystem’s published snapshot of projects which went live in Nov.2021. (Not an exhaustive list)

The top Five DApps on the Cronos Chain Ecosystem

Despite various reviews and opinions about the best DApps on Cronos chain based on volume, user experience, DApp utility, total value locked (TVL) and overall performance; Here is a conclusive list of the top five (5) according to DAppRadar.

1. MM Finance: The MM Finance application has an all-in ecosystem that comprises a yield optimizer, Non-fungible token (NFT), and decentralized exchange. It allows you to stake crypto assets and earn passive income from interests. MM Finance is the biggest application on the Cronos platform based on volume and users. It boasts of over 10000 daily users who complete more than 45000 smart contracts transactions. The DeFi platform records a massive daily trading volume of $119.55 million, translating to 60.17 million CROs. The total assets locked on its vaults, farms, and pools is $770 million. A total of $MMF tokens worth $140 million are in circulation after burning tokens worth $8.7 million. The ecosystem is protected by high technology from Paladin, Certik, and Immunefi.

2. VVS Finance: Apart from the fact that liquidity provider holders earn up to 0.2% of the transaction fee for every trade, A special anticipated feature worth mentioning is the plan to make the VVS Finance dApp a governance token to give holders a say in the future development of the protocol. VVS Finance is another awesome Defi platform on the Cronos chain, designed with an easy-to-use interface and several utilities, including trading and staking.  In addition, users can earn digital tokens through mining, trading, and providing liquidity. The protocol aims to make Defi easy to use and accessible to more people. The app has a 24-hour trading volume of $17 million, with the smart contracts on the platform having a total locked value (TVL) of 1.2 billion.

3. Toxic Deer Finance: With over 1,300 unique wallet addresses interacting with the DApp’s smart contact, over 2,900 transactions made, a $900,000 volume and total value of over $1,000,000; ToxicDeer Finance is the first ecosystem running around an algorithmic token pegged to USDC on the Cronos chain. It is an anti-deflationary and anti-inflationary crypto project that draws its inspiration from BasisCash as well as its predecessors, Pegasus, Soup and Tomb Finance. Based on its USDC interactions, it is said that USDC is DEER and DEER is USDC.

4. Crona Swap: CronaSwap is a decentralized exchange platform that allows users to swap CRC-20 tokens. The DEX runs on the Cronos chain network with a 0.25% transaction fee, one of the lowest on the Cronos ecosystem. Users can also become liquidity providers earning a 0.25% fee on all trades. The total locked assets on the app's smart contract is $1.94 million. Currently, the CronaSwap token is trading at $0.08811. The platform also has a GameFi gambling feature, enabling users to play CROissant games without any gas fees. The payout goes as high as 34 times the wager.

5. Tectonic: Founded by Gary Or, former CTO of Crypto.com, and incubated by Particle B, The core use case of the platform is governance and staking, the staked tokens go into a community pool to earn rewards and secure the protocol. Tectonic is a cross-chain money market that enables crypto investors to save crypto tokens and earn passive yield in the form of attractive APYs. In addition, you can get instant loans by using your idle assets as collateral for opportunities like yield farming. Moreover, you can access your crypto assets for Initial Dex Offering without necessarily liquidating underlying collateral. The decentralized finance app has a 24-hour trading volume of $10 million and total locked assets worth $111 million. The platform guarantees the safety of digital assets by auditing their smart contracts and plans to introduce an insurance fund to safeguard the digital tokens. The Tonic token of Tectonic is trading at $0.000000956005, putting the Tectonic market cap at $53 million. Tonic is predicted by cryptopredictions.com to increase by roughly 40% by the end of 2023.

Cronos Ecosystem Vision

Both Cronos and Cosmos share similar values and a vision to make it easy for developers to build blockchains and break the barriers between blockchains by allowing them to transact with each other. The end goal is to create an internet of Blockchains, a network able to communicate with each other in a decentralized way.

Designed to be a public good that helps drive the mass adoption of blockchain technology, Not only has Cronos facilitated interoperability with other IBC-enabled chains (like Cosmos Hub and Terra) in a decentralized way, but its inception has also massively grown the blockchain-verse as intended, also launching the Cronos Ecosystem Grant to support early-stage on Cronos by bootstrapping initial product development and providing technical support.

Cronos Ecosystem Program Grant Benefits

• Technical Support: Grant recipients will have the full technical support of the Cronos development team to ensure the production of a well-functioning Minimal Viable Product (MVP) on Cronos.

• Milestone Incentives: Grants will be awarded based on certain pre-agreed milestones (for example: delivery of MVP, beta launch, etc). Recipients would be awarded grants based on the quality of the team, potential of the project, execution capabilities, and its contribution to Cronos.

• VC Introductions: Projects that meet requirements will likely be connected with Cronos Venture Capital partners that could potentially support future fundraising rounds.

• Marketing Support: Projects may receive Cronos marketing support across its social media channels.

The benefits are enormous as Cronos warmly welcomes talented individuals and teams from all over the world, using its unique foundational position to align incentives together with new builders and teams and helping their projects grow together with the broader ecosystem.

As a product studio working toward global financial inclusion powered by blockchains, Pontem Network shares in the dream of a decentralized world.

About Pontem Network

Pontem is a product studio working toward global financial inclusion powered by blockchains. We are partnered with Aptos to build foundational dApps, development tools, AMMs, and more. The Move IntelliJ IDE is just the beginning.

Pontem offers a head start to developers looking to design projects for a Diem-powered metaverse.

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