REN is a protocol aiming to provide access to inter-blockchain liquidity for all decentralized applications.
In short, the project attempts to bring Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and other crypto-assets on to Ethereum.
It's unfortunate to witness the demise of a once-promising project following the collapse of Alameda. Initially, the project's official publication stated that due to the collapse, the development team only had funding until the end of Q4 2022*, and they planned to attract additional funding to cover their costs.
By the end of 2022, the team announced via Twitter that REN would go offline in the future and work on REN 2.0**. It's become evident that the project would have lacked any decentralization if Alameda hadn't footed the bill for the server in the millions of dollars. Perhaps the gradual transition to the gray core and REN2.0 was all about this endgame.
Based on official announcements on Discord, it appears that the minting function for renBTC is currently not working, although the burning, releasing, and returning of renBTC back to BTC is still operational. Additionally, it is expected that the RenBridge and Command Center sites, which are currently under the renproject.io domain, will soon be moved to IPFS or new domains. The team is actively working on launching Ren 2.0, which will be governed through a DAO, but there is currently no clear plan or funding for this project. Communication with the Alameda debtors team about the support and operation of Ren 1.0 is ongoing, and progress has been made so far. In the event that Alameda is unable to extend the Ren 1.0 network, it is possible that the infrastructure supporting it may fail soon. However, negotiations have revealed that the DAO can potentially take over the operating costs of the Ren 1.0 network. Creating a fund quickly will allow the DAO to take over these costs, but in the meantime, alternative payment mechanisms may need to be organized to keep the network operational.
The lack of activity within the community raises questions about the success of their REN 2.0 development. Since there are no funds for development, the community has accepted an offer to release an additional 180 million new REN. The initial 1 billion rens was equivalent to an additional 18%, which leads to the need for 18% token inflation to secure funding. This is good for the project participants, but not for investors.
I don't have a strong opinion on the project. On one hand, judging by the github , development is underway and it's not unusual for a DAO to have limited funding since many DAOs operate successfully without significant funding or influential backers. If they can come back from this, it'll be impressive On the other hand, given the significant drop in the project's credibility, its potential revival is uncertain and there is a risk that it could end up being another failure.
*https://medium.com/renproject/moving-on-from-alameda-da62a823ce93 **https://twitter.com/renprotocol/status/1605326882999631872
Souce: renproject.io; medium.com/renproject; forum.renproject.io; discord.gg/ren; github.com/renproject. Show Less
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