An introduction to Moonriver — WHAT is it and WHY you should care

With FantOHM’s newly added cross chain compatibility with Moonriver, we thought it might be helpful to brief this wonderful community on exactly what Moonriver is, where it’s heading, and what it means for the future of FantOHM.

In this article, we’re going to breakdown:

• The basics of Moonriver and how it fits into the Kusama/Polkadot ecosystems
• Why we chose to launch on Moonriver & why it’s destined for an incredibly bright future
• Why Fantom and Moonriver are the perfect combination for an innovative OHM fork
• The new & exciting cross chain possibilities us FantOHMies now have at our disposal

Understanding Moonriver

A multichain future is on the horizon, and Moonriver is a big part of that. Moonriver is a layer 1 Ethereum-compatible parachain that’s connected to the Kusama network . It’s main purpose is to provide compatibility between Kusama/Polkadot and the existing Ethereum developer toolchain, network and dApps.

Moonriver is the companion network to Polkadot’s Moonbeam, but to wrap your head around what all this means, you’ll need to get savvy on the core basics of the Polkadot/Kusama ecosystem:

Polkadot is like the ‘internet of blockchains’. It’s what’s seen as a ‘layer 0’ blockchain with various layer 1 blockchains (aka parachains) built on top of it. Polkadot’s main purpose is to increase the interoperability between blockchains and be the foundation of an interoperable multichain future.

Moonbeam is a layer 1 parachain built on Polkadot that offers smart contracts and interoperability with Ethereum. Moonbeam allows Ethereum developers to easily branch out and deploy applications to the incredibly diversePolkadot ecosystem — which, given the Ethereum’s dominance of the market, is key to Polkadot’s mission of seamlessly connecting multiple chains.

Kusama is the sister network to Polkadot, acting as a testnet/public pre-production environment for Polkadot where developers can experiment and test new blockchains or applications before releasing them onto Polkadot. If Polkadot is the main act, then Kusama is the opening act. However, this does not mean it’s merely a testnet platform, Kusama and its KSM token is much more than that given its specialised use-cases and the fact that it’s integral to the Polkadot empire.

Okay, now we’ve got a handle on what Kusama, Polkadot and Moonbeam do, let’s take a look at where Moonriver actually sits in all this.

What is Moonriver?

Moonriver is a layer 1 smart contract platform and the much needed bridge between Ethereum and Kusama, and thus the Polkadot ecosystem. It is a companion network to Moonbeam and provides a ‘canary network’ or testnet that is permanently incentivised.

Devs can test dApps on Moonriver under real economic conditions before shipping the code over to Moonbeam and Polkadot. Like Moonbeam, Moonriver is a full Ethereum-like environment and works with industry-standard Ethereum tools, DApps, and protocols — it’s the bridge that allows Ethereum to expand its reach while allowing projects who launch on Moonriver to connect with the Kusama and Polkadot ecosystems.

Similar to how Kusama is the sister network to Polkadot, Moonriver is the sister network to the Moonbeam Network. Moonbeam is a layer 1 on Polkadot, and Moonriver is a layer 1 on Kusama. While Kusama (KSM), and Moonriver (MOVR) by extension, may not seem like worthwhile tokens to hold, both are integral to the Polkadot ecosystem and have a number of specialised use-cases that make them much more than just a testnet that will become obsolete once Polkadot goes live.

Currently, Moonriver is the most adopted parachain on the Kusama network. It has 60+ live integrations, 195k+ wallets and 2k+ ERC-20 tokens. It’s also got the highest market cap and total value locked (TVL) of all parachains on Kusama and literally thousands of enthusiastic users waiting for innovative new projects like FantOHM to arrive. As far as parachains and upcoming networks go, Moonriver is hard to beat in terms of both quality, reach and adoption.

The Moonriver Token

Moonriver relies on the MOVR token to function. According to the Moonbeam website, some uses of the MOVR token include:

• Paying for transaction fees on the network
• Supporting the gas metering of smart contract execution
• Incentivizing collators and powering the mechanics around the creation of a decentralized node infrastructure on which the platform can run
• Facilitating the on-chain governance mechanism including proposing referenda, electing council members, voting, etc

Moonriver Tokenomics

While supply and other token economic behaviors on Moonriver will be the same as Moonbeam, the token distribution is different. Similar to FantOHM, Moonriver is a community-led project where the community will decide the direction it takes, and the tokens have been distributed accordingly.

The total supply of MOVR tokens is 10 million. The token allocation will be as follows:

• 40% to community initiatives and parachain slot reserve;
• 30% to parachain crowdloan;
• 24.5% to long-term network stewardship & adoption;
• 4.5% to developer adoption program;
• 0.5% to treasury;
• 0.5% to parachain bond reserve;

Source: Moonbeam Official Website

Genesis Token Supply: 10 Million

Transaction Fees: 80% Burned / 20% to Treasury

Annual Inflation Rate: 5% Uncapped Supply

What’s to love about Moonriver?

There’s A LOT to love about Moonriver, which is why the MOVR token has seen some very promising price action in recent times, with the platform attracting attention from all corners of crypto.

Bringing DeFi 2.0 and our native Fantom OHM fork over to Moonriver is a dream come true for us and for thousands of users out there. As you are probably aware, OlympusDAO has ushered in a new era of DeFi, and we are incredibly excited to be taking the model of a decentralised reserve asset protocol one step further by going cross chain and unifying two of the most promising networks in all of crypto (Fantom + Moonriver).

There’s a long list of reasons why Moonriver deserves its hype and why an innovative, community-driven project like FantOHM would want to launch there. Here are a few:

The right time and place

Moonriver plays perfectly into two of the biggest narratives in crypto right now. The first is the unsustainable gas prices of the Ethereum network, which has led many to look for an alternative. Given this perennial gas issue, Moonriver provides a perfect segway for Ethereum developers to enter the Kusama and Polkadot ecosystem seamlessly.

The second narrative is that of Polkadot’s parachain auctions, which are undoubtedly one of the most awaited events of all time. A multichain future is not so far away and Moonriver is a big part of that. With hype steadily building, Moonriver is poised to see some explosive growth as Polkadot finally goes live — an event many in crypto have been hanging out for for a long long time.

Decentralisation

Moonriver extends Polkadot and Kusama’s emphasis on decentralisation established, which aligns perfectly with FantOHM. We’ve always admired how Moonriver implemented a fully on chain governance process from the start for all changes and upgrades to the protocol.

Moonriver’s staking mechanism is also very equitable and the project did well to keep their tokens within the community, restricting the usual VCs from swooping in to buy up a lion’s share. By engaging a broad range of stakeholders as initial token holders in the network, Moonriver greatly reduces the chance that big players will dump on the average trader — something we have also gone to great lengths to assure.

Cross chain liquidity through Huckleberry

Huckleberry, a hugely popular community driven AMM crosschain DEX built on Moonriver that makes use of Wanchain’s decentralized cross chain bridges, will be utilised for FantOHM’s liquidity over on Moonriver.

The founder of Huckleberry, who is widely respected in the industry, is also a big supporter of the project and is highly active in our Telegram.

A door to Ethereum, Kusama and Polkadot

Many top DeFi projects, particularly those coming from Ethereum, are choosing to deploy on the Moonriver smart contract platform as it is a perfect way to reach Kusama and Polkadot’s users, assets and ecosystem.

By bridging our Fantom native project to these 3 networks, we continue to extend the dream of a multichain future, opening the doors to a huge new pool of potential users. Moonriver also shares and benefits from the security, scalability, interoperability and governance of Kusama and Polkadot, which is an added bonus.

First mover advantage

Moonriver is the eminent smart contract platform on Kusama and is a key piece of the Polkadot/Kusama ecosystem. This means it is uniquely poised to grow as Polkadot’s much-awaited parachain auctions finally arrive. Furthermore, very few OHM forks are compatible with Moonriver, giving us the first mover advantage, which, in crypto, is HUGE. We’re over the moon to be the first Fantom OHM fork to go cross chain and take full advantage of the massive user base and ecosystem on Moonriver.

Moonriver tools and integrations

The number of tools, integrations and features Moonriver provides is staggering. They are attempting to be a platform that is used by a number of protocols, and they have gone to great lengths to be as adaptable and open as possible, making them a powerful addition to our Fantom native token. Some tools and integrations include:

• Ethereum developer tools such as Metamask, Remix IDE, web3.js, Ethers.js, Truffle and other toolkits such as Polkadot.js apps
• Oracle integrations such as Chainlink, Band Protocol, Razor, and DIA Protocol
• API & Infrastructure integrations: Onfinality, Covalent
• Wallets: Mathwallet, Polkadot.js, Metamask, AirGap
• Bridges: Chainbridge, Ren_, Interlay_, Snowfork_, Axelar_
• Block explorers — Subscan, Polkadot.js, Blockscout
• DeFi Protocols: Balancer, SushiSwap, Offshift, IDEX, Linear Finance, Injective Protocol
• Assets & Issuance Partners: Ocean Protocol, AllianceBlock, AMPnet, Poolz, Polkastarter and Kilt
• DApps: Human Protocol, Polkacover, BePro
• And much more

Moonriver’s partnerships

On top of being integral to both the Kusama and Polkadot ecosystems, Moonbeam and Moonriver have some impressive partnerships with many of Polkadot’s projects as well as some other notable names in the space, which include:

Chainlink — The most widely used and secure way to power universal smart contracts. With Chainlink, developers can connect any blockchain with high-quality data sources from other blockchains as well as real-world data.

Synapse — A cross-chain layer protocol powering interoperability between blockchains.

The Graph — The indexing and query layer of the decentralized web.

Ankr — A Web3 infrastructure and cross-chain staking DeFi platform that aims to increase efficiency in blockchain ecosystems by building dApps, hosting nodes or staking.

Wanchain/True DeFi — The Wide Area Network chain, is the world’s premier decentralised blockchain interoperability solution.

And many more. (Full list found here)

A match made in heaven

You’ll be hard pressed to find two blockchains that pair together like Fantom and Moonriver. Both are upcoming networks with low gas fees, a community-minded governance structure, undeniable transactions speeds and a rapidly growing ecosystem that’s attracting some of the best projects and developers around.

Moonriver’s ecosystem is still in its infancy as and as more baselayer protocols start deploying on the network, that’s when we’ll see some serious growth. As the first and most experienced reserve currency on the Moonriver network, we are in a unique position to capture a large share of the market and establish ourselves as the premier reserve currency of this up and coming platform.

We’re incredibly excited to be bridging these two networks with FantOHM, and we are excited to have you along for the ride.

There are a number of things FantOHMies will now be able to enjoy, including:

• Seamless bridging of assets cross chain (most importantly stablecoins)
• A diversified cross chain treasury with higher trading volume and wider reach
• Exposure to the appreciation of Moonriver’s native tokens
• Insanely high APRs on Moonriver due to badly needed liquidity
• Cross chain arbitrage opportunities
• Access to the all the assets and possibilities on Moonriver’s rapidly growing ecosystem
• A rising demand for the FHM token and thus the price of FHM
• A bridged FHM token via WanBridge to Moonriver as FHM.m
• Access to the liquidity of Huckleberry over on Moonriver (The founder of Huckleberry is a FantOHM supporter and is highly active in our Telegram)
• A seamless UX on both chains, with global, unified values
• APR and Yield farming opportunities not found anywhere else
• A bridge into the world of Moonriver and thus Kusama and Polkadot

With our launch on Moonriver and this wealth of new possibilities at our disposal, it won’t be long before FantOHM gains widespread attention. Every OHM fork is trying to find a way to be different, but few can claim to have actually diverged from the OlympusDAO model in such an original and unprecedented way

FantOHM is not just your average OHM fork. And this is just the beginning. Stay tuned for my updates and announcements. Rest assured FantOHMies, we have a wild ride ahead.