Diving into Cronos

What is Cronos

Cronos is an EVM-compatible chain recently launched on 8 November 2021, which is a part of the growing Crypto.com ecosystem of products.

However, before we dive into all things Cronos, we must first take a step back and explore their beginnings. Cronos is part of the wider Crypto.com ecosystem, which used to encompass the Crypto.com Exchange, Crypto.com App, and Crypto.org Chain.

Crypto.com has made a name for itself, starting off as a crypto debit card issuer under the name of Monaco, rebranding to Crypto.com, and launching an all-in-one crypto app. The company had earlier launched its own chain via the Crypto.org foundation in the form of the Crypto.org Chain. So why is Cronos being launched if the Crypto.org Chain already exists? That’s due to the fact that the original chain is a Cosmos SDK-based blockchain built on top of the Tendermint blockchain. This means that it is incompatible with Ethereum, which is coded on Solidity, while Cosmos chains uses Rust and Go programming languages.

However, the Cronos chain is meant to bridge the gap between these two chains, and that is thanks to the usage of Ethermint. Ethermint allows for the running of Ethereum / EVM chains as a Cosmos application, thus making the two blockchains compatible. It has all the features of Ethereum but also benefits from Tendermint’s PoS implementation.

Simple Comparison

To best understand how Crypto.com and Cronos are related, we can compare them to the Binance ecosystem of products.

As can be seen from the infographic, Binance and Crypto.com have a similar suite of products. Binance has its native chain in the form of Binance Chain, while Crypto.com has the Crypto.org Chain. Both of these products are Cosmos SDK-based applications, built on the Tendermint blockchain.

On the other hand, they also have Binance Smart Chain, and now Cronos. Both of these are EVM-compatible products, thus allowing the deployment of protocols and contracts that are commonplace on Ethereum.

Features of Cronos

Some of the features Cronos brings to the table include:

Uses Crypto.com Coin (CRO) for gas fees
Able to interact with the Cosmos ecosystem, as well as other EVM chains
Has Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) capabilities, meaning it is able to communicate with other Cosmos-based chains such as the Crypto.org Chain, but also Terra, Kava, Cosmos, and more.
Being an EVM chain, it also becomes possible to deploy Ethereum-native protocols such as Curve, Aave, Compound, and more on Cronos
Transactions performed on Cronos are low cost and executed in seconds

How-to Get Started on Cronos

Setting it up on Metamask

In order to get started on Cronos, you will first need a wallet to store funds as well as interact with any protocol on the network. Any wallet that can support EVM chains should work, though we use Metamask here as the example.

Step 1: Open Metamask, click on Ethereum Mainnet, and select “Add Network”

Step 2: Fill the fields up accordingly. The details can be found below.

Network Name: Cronos
Chain ID: 25
Block Explorer URL: https://cronos.crypto.org/explorer
New RPC URL: https://evm-cronos.crypto.org/
Currency Symbol: CRO

Step 3: The network has been added to your Metamask. You may now use the Cronos network!

Getting funds to Cronos

Being a rather new chain, there aren’t many bridges that support the transfer of funds to Cronos from other EVM chains. However, there are still ways to get funds across, both through centralized applications as well as decentralized ones.

Crypto.com Wallet & Exchange

If you already have a Crypto.com account, the easiest way to bridge funds to Cronos would be via the wallet or exchange. However, first, you’ll need to copy the address from the Metamask wallet you’ve set up and get it whitelisted.

Once the address has been whitelisted, you will be able to request a withdrawal from your account. Do note that you will first need to set up 2FA in order to secure your account, before proceeding with a withdrawal. Once the withdrawal is confirmed, you should receive the CRO tokens within an hour if the network is not congested.

With the CRO in your wallet, it’s now time to try out some protocols. (Reminder: Whenever performing a transaction/trade be sure to save some CRO for gas fees and future transactions)

Crypto.org Chain to Cronos

While the centralized method is rather straightforward, the decentralized way has a few more hoops. In this tutorial, we will be sending CRO from Osmosis (a Cosmos-SDK application) to Crypto.org. From there, we will be using the Crypto.org Bridge to send funds to Cronos.

To get started, here’s what you will need:

Keplr Wallet
Cosmos (ATOM) or Crypto.com Coin (CRO)

Step 1: Set up a Keplr Wallet (be sure to write down and store your seed phrase somewhere safe).

Step 2: Deposit some ATOM (to cover transaction fees). Also, deposit the amount of CRO you would like to transfer to Cronos. If it isn’t possible for you to obtain CRO, then sending ATOM is fine as it can be later sold to CRO.

Step 3: Add the IBC Channel to your Keplr Wallet. If you’re sending funds from Osmosis, the ID will be “channel-5”. Meanwhile, if you’re sending from Cosmos to Crypto.org, it will be “channel-109”. For the full list of channels, do use this site.

Step 4: Initiate an IBC transaction from Osmosis to Crypto.org, sending CRO.

Step 5: Use the Crypto.org bridge to send CRO to Cronos.

* if your funds are on Cosmos, you will need to bridge them to Osmosis using an IBC transaction. This tutorial can be used to move funds from Cosmos to Osmosis. The channel ID to be used for this is: “channel-141”.

Exchanges

While it’s a rather new chain, there are already various automated market makers (AMMs) available on Cronos. We will take a look at some of the most popular ones.

VVS Finance

Undoubtedly the largest decentralized exchange (DEX) on Cronos, VVS Finance pushes the most volume and has the deepest liquidity. Currently, the main products on VVS are Bling Swap, Crystal Farms, Glitter Mines, and Initial Gem Offering (IGO).

Bling Swap: Allows users to trade between various Cronos-based tokens.
Crystal Farms: Its liquidity mining program.
Glitter Mines: Allows users to stake their VVS tokens (VVS’ governance token) to earn yields.
Initial Gem Offering: VVS’ version of a token launchpad, where new projects are able to raise capital from VVS users. This feature has yet to launch, but according to VVS, it should be shipped pretty soon.

Cronaswap

Cronaswap is also one of the mainstays on Cronos, and offers similar products as VVS Finance. It has an exchange, yield farms, launch pools, and a lottery.

Exchange: A DEX for trading of Cronos-based tokens
Yield farming: Staking of LP tokens in exchange for CRONA tokens (Cronaswap’s governance token) as rewards.
Launch Pools: Single-sided staking is enabled here, though only CRONA is supported at the moment. In the future, Cronaswap intends to add more tokens.
Lottery: Users are able to use CRONA tokens to purchase lottery tickets (each costing $2) for a chance to win the CRONA prize pool.

Yield Farms

In order to acquire users, new chains and protocols tend to hold large liquidity mining events where users are rewarded with tokens in return for providing liquidity. Cronos is no different, and if you’re looking for some juicy yields, then you’re at the right place.

VVS Farms

VVS is the largest AMM on Cronos for a reason, and that’s due to its solid yields from its farms. Under its Crystal Farms, there are various pools to choose from, ranging from pool 2’s such as VVS - USDT, to stable farms like USDC - USDT. At the time of writing, yields range from 23% to a high of 820%.

Autofarm

Originally deployed on Binance Smart Chain, Autofarm has since made its way across to multiple chains including Cronos. As its name suggests, it helps users farm automatically. Simply pick a farm to deploy your monies, and it will be compounded automatically every once in a while. The number of optimal compounds in a year is determined by Autofarm.

Autofarm has deployed multiple strategies catering to various DEXes on Cronos. At the moment, VVS, Cronaswap, and Crodex are supported. In order to get started, one will need to deposit liquidity in one of the aforementioned AMMs. Once the LP tokens have been obtained, these can then be staked on Autofarm.

Beefy Finance

Similar to Autofarm, Beefy Finance is a yield aggregator as well. It currently supports only VVS, and Cronaswap, and therefore has fewer strategies than Autofarm.

Charting Platforms

Have some tokens of a Cronos protocol, and want to keep track of the price in real-time? That’s where charting platforms come in.

GeckoTerminal

GeckoTerminal currently supports tokens that are traded on VVS Finance and on CronaSwap. It is able to track all tokens traded on these exchanges, and in real-time as well. Not only is it able to display prices, but it is also able to showcase trading volume, liquidity, past trades, as well as fully diluted valuation (FDV).

Disclaimer: GeckoTerminal is a product of CoinGecko

Crodex

Crodex is another major charting platform on Cronos. Similar to GeckoTerminal, it provides data in real-time. However, it only supports tokens traded on its AMM.

Blockchain Explorers

Cronos.crypto.org/explorer

Currently the default blockchain explorer for the Cronos chain. It allows you to search for addresses, tokens, and transactions. It can also be used to view the balances of any address on Cronos.

CronoScan by Etherscan

While it has yet to be launched, Cronos has inked a partnership with Etherscan to develop a blockchain explorer for the chain. It will be called CronoScan and have the same functionalities as Etherscan. It is set to be the default explorer for Cronos in the future.

Impact of Cronos Launching

Positive Price Appreciation for CRO

Source: CoinGecko

EVM-compatible chains require gas in order to conduct transactions, and this is usually paid in the chain’s native token. For example, Ethereum requires ETH, Binance Smart Chain uses BNB, Avalanche needs AVAX, and Polygon requires MATIC. Cronos is no different and needs gas to facilitate transactions on its network.

Cronos uses CRO as a form of payment for gas fees on its network, and this has benefited the growth of the token price. At the launch of Cronos mainnet on November 8, CRO was trading at 35 cents. However, as liquidity flowed to Cronos, and trading volumes on the chain picked up, CRO spiked to a high of 95 cents, marking an all-time high for the token. Unfortunately, the market pullback in early December has affected CRO as well. The token has since plummeted 40% from its all-time high, and it remains to be seen if it will recover.

Sharp increase in Total Value Locked (TVL)

Source: DeFi Llama

Cronos saw a sharp increase in liquidity locked in their ecosystem soon after the chain went live. It has since surpassed $1 billion and seems to have hit a plateau. However, this figure remains impressive, and it has surpassed many other chains to take a spot in the top 15.

What to look forward to

With Cronos having only recently launched its mainnet beta, not much activity has taken place it aside from a few farms, and exchanges. However, we foresee this changing in the near future, and here is why we believe so.

Particle B

Crypto.com has launched the Particle B ecosystem fund in order to support the growth of Cronos. With $100 million in its treasury, it is ready to grant up to $1 million to projects committing to build on Cronos. This fund should be able to drive the development of new projects, as well as entice existing protocols to expand to Cronos.

In-flow of new DeFi users

Crypto.com boasts 10 million users, many of whom can be assumed to have not interacted with DeFi applications on other platforms considering it targets non-native crypto people. It is inevitable that Crypto.com will eventually expose these users to Cronos, and thus bring an influx of new users into the DeFi ecosystem.

Porting of protocols from Cosmos-SDK based chains

As previously explained, Cronos is IBC-enabled. This means that protocols that are from Cosmos SDK-based chains will be able to deploy on Cronos. To put it simply, we could start seeing protocols from Terra, Cosmos, and Kava appear on Cronos in the near future.

More ways to bridge to Cronos

Currently, there aren’t many ways to bring funds over to Cronos. One has to either create a Crypto.com account or use Keplr Wallet, and that’s not a lot of options for users to pick from. However, more ways to bridge are being worked on, and will potentially allow users to bridge back and forth to the mainnet.

Conclusion

Cronos has the viability to survive in the long-run especially thanks to its backing from Crypto.com. It has already managed to attract builders in the short-term to set up shop on their chain, and has gotten a number of DeFi users interested.

However, competition amongst EVM chains has been heating up over the past year, with a flow of new entrants. These chains need to deliver more value and incentives to users and builders alike in order to attract the crowd.

If Cronos wants to shed its tag of “being just another EVM chain”, it will need to differentiate itself from the others, and sell that idea to the masses.

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