Ren Development Update | August 2022
The month of August has been historic for Ren with the announcement of Ren 2.0 and the progress made since then, which will take the protocol to the next level in terms of security, efficiency, and developer tooling. The first Cosmos chain — Kava — was also integrated into Ren, and work was begun to support more non-Ethereum stablecoins, which will open up more bridge routing pathways and support more use-cases. Finally, the process to begin auditing the upgraded Ren gateway contracts has begun. This will ultimately enable the earliest assets such as $renBTC to migrate to the new version that supports the burn-and-mint functionality, allowing direct any-to-any-chain bridging for Bitcoin, Dogecoin and more.
Ren 2.0
This month we announced the next iteration of Ren in this emergent multichain world. Ren 2.0 is an open protocol, enabling novel multichain application development with EVM support — leveraging Ren’s robust bridging technology for a new world of opportunities. Check out the announcement blog for more details: https://medium.com/renproject/introducing-ren-2-0-43025b3d5d6
Ren 2.0 boasts improved security, support for generic application logic on top of Ren, an improved MPC algorithm that’s more scalable and able to support more signing schemes, and optimized tokenomics to further align incentives for ecosystem participants.
Since the announcement, work has been done to add RenEVM support for the Darknode CLI, and the new FROST MPC algorithm has been undergoing testing and improvements to enhance its robustness, and been integrated into the new Darknode client. Documentation is currently in works, and the Chaosnet deployment is expected to come up soon, with a demo currently being prepared.
Ren integrates Kava
We are excited to announce that Ren supports direct bridging to and from Kava for every asset that is supported, such as $BTC, $ETH and $USDC!
Kava is a lightning-fast Layer-1 blockchain featuring a developer-optimized co-chain architecture that combines the two most used permissionless ecosystems — Ethereum and Cosmos — into a single, scalable, network. With Ren supporting it, you can now bridge $BTC, $DOGE, $ZEC as well as tokens and assets from the 8+ other smart contract chains Ren supports directly to Kava and back.
With Kava integrated, it opens up not just a direct Bitcoin bridge to Kava, but 8+ chain bridges from the largest EVM chains and L2s, as well as Solana, directly to Kava, and as a result the Cosmos ecosystem at large! This massively expands interoperability for the whole crypto-finance ecosystem, as assets and liquidity can now move fluidly from almost anywhere to anywhere else, without needing to interact with centralized exchanges.
New stablecoin integrations
Work has begun to integrate a new cohort of tokens, this round focusing on non-Ethereum stablecoins, such as Polygon and Avalanche USDT and USDC. This will open up for better and more liquid pathways for cross-chain trading as arbitrary tokens can be routed through liquid stablecoins before swapping into the destination asset on another chain. These additions will be live in September.
Contract upgrades undergoing audits
The process for getting the latest gateway contracts audited has begun. Among other features, the latest gateway contract support the burn-and-mint functionality which enables direct bridging of renASSETS between chains without having to burn it to the source chain before minting it to the destination chain. When these upgraded contracts have been audited and deemed sufficiently secure, the earliest assets such as $renBTC and $renDOGE will migrate to the upgraded contracts, which finally will enable burn-and-mint for those assets as well. This will make $renBTC a premier routing asset between chains given its high liquidity across many chains.
When the deployment of Chaosnet starts, the Ren community and node operators will need to work closely together and coordinate to ensure smooth sailing. If you have not already, join the Community to stay up to date and ensure you are ready for the Multichain Future.
Onwards and Upwards,
Ren Team
About Ren
Ren is an open protocol that enables the movement of value between blockchains.
