What Is Ren?
Ren is a permissionless, decentralized network that allows the transfer of assets across different blockchains. It functions as a bridge for assets, enabling users to lock native assets on one chain and mint a corresponding wrapped renToken on another chain. RenTokens are designed to maintain a 1:1 peg to the value of the underlying native asset.
Background
Taiyang Zhang and Loong Wang founded Ren in 2017, originally as Republic Protocol. The protocol rebranded as Ren Network in 2018.
How It Works
Ren was developed to incentivize a global network of users to facilitate asset transfers across different blockchains. This could involve, for example, locking bitcoins in a smart contract and receiving the equivalent in ether on the Ethereum blockchain. The user’s bitcoins remain locked in Ren software, but they can still participate in Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem.
Ren operates via a network of computers called DarkNodes. These DarkNodes power the Ren virtual machine by contributing resources to the network, allowing users to move crypto assets across blockchains. In return, DarkNode operators earn rewards from the network fees in the form of REN tokens. The Ren virtual machine can accept tokens on one chain and create new tokens representing the original ones on another chain through its RenBridge.
Key Takeaways
- Ren is a decentralized network that permits the transfer of assets across different blockchains.
- It was founded in 2017 by Taiyang Zhang and Loong Wang, initially as Republic Protocol.
- Ren enables users to lock native assets on one chain and mint a corresponding wrapped renToken on another chain.
- DarkNodes power the Ren network and earn rewards from network fees in the form of REN tokens.
- The RenBridge can accept tokens on one chain and create new tokens representing the original ones on another chain.
