Ren, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol with backing from Polychain Capital and FBG Capital, launched its core product ‘RenVM’ on May 27.
The RenVM allows users to create tokenized Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Zcash (ZEC) in the form of ERC-20s for use on the Ethereum ecosystem.
“Successfully launching RenVM’s mainnet is a critical step in our long-term mission of creating a decentralized platform for DeFi that is self-sustaining and advances the industry as a whole,” said Taiyang Zhang, co-founder, and CEO of Ren.
“Generic interoperability has been a thorn in DeFi’s side, and we’re thrilled that RenVM is now solving this problem by enabling cross-chain liquidity to crypto investors everywhere,” Zhang added.
Ren also plans to introduce tokenized representations of crypto assets for other leading blockchain networks in the future, including Libra and Celo.
Ren alliance to support RenVM
RenVM tokens will be supported by the members of the recently formed Ren Alliance — a consortium of more than 50 firms who will work to secure, develop and utilize the protocol.
The alliance includes many leading DeFi projects, including Kyber Network, Aave, and Matic, in addition to crypto investment firms Polychain Capital and Synapse Capital, and crypto exchange Idex.
“RenVM is an elegant solution for solving generic interoperability, and we’re thrilled to help guarantee the safety of RenVM by serving as a darknode in its semi-decentralized core,” stated Polychain’s Sherwin Dowlat.
DeFi still has "a lot of room to grow"
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Zhang stated the Ren will spend the next few months ensuring that the RenVM goes smoothly.
“As it really matures and it gets battle-tested then we will be rolling out more stages and allowing more people to really interact with the system,” he stated. Zhang added that more alliance members will be integrating support for RenVM soon.
On the subject of the DeFi ecosystem, Zhang noted that the sector is still “very nascent, and there is still a lot of room to grow,” emphasizing the increased liquidity pool that tokenized Bitcoin opens up for Ethereum-based DeFi protocols.