A tokenized version of Bitcoin is now available on Solana via Ren’s bridge.
Ren Integrates Solana
Ren has launched a bridge to Solana.
The project announced the integration Thursday, remarking that “Solana brings a unique set of features to the Layer One space, along with a growing ecosystem and community.” Solana is a high-throughput Layer One blockchain that offers similar DeFi functionality to Ethereum. However, it processes transactions at a much higher speed and lower cost than the second-ranked blockchain. The ecosystem has grown at a rapid pace this year and the project has received a significant amount of attention: the blockchain’s native SOL token has climbed to 13th rank of all cryptocurrencies.
Ren, also known as RenVM, will bring more activity to Solana by offering a bridge to bring assets onto the network. It works by allowing users to mint tokenized versions of the asset they bring onto the bridge. It aims to achieve cross-chain interoperability, and it’s been particularly successful in offering a way to use Bitcoin in DeFi on Ethereum. It also integrated Polygon last month and partnered with Alameda Research to bring Solana-based assets to Ethereum’s DeFi network in February.
The Solana x RenVM bridge will initially support four assets: BTC, BCH, ZEC, and DOGE. It will later add DGB, LUNA, and FIL. The Ren-based versions of each asset will then be available to use on Solana.
In the blog post announcing the integration, Ren added that it would work “to ensure Ren-based assets are adopted throughout the Solana ecosystem,” making specific reference to projects like Serum, Mango, Oxygen, and Step Finance.
Perhaps the most notable development is Ren’s support for Bitcoin on the Layer 1 network. Tokenized versions of the original crypto asset are most frequently put to work in Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem today, but that could soon change if Solana sees wider adoption.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this feature owned ETH, ETH2X-FLI, MATIC, and several other cryptocurrencies.
