Router Protocol, a prominent chain interoperability protocol, recently revealed the much-anticipated arrival of its very own blockchain solution, Router Chain.
A video accompanying the announcement emphasizes the user-centric approach of Router Chain. The message is clear: developers can leverage Router Chain’s abstraction layer to seamlessly build unified experiences across various blockchains, scheduled for launch on July 30th, 2024.
Router Chain is designed as a next-generation layer-1 blockchain specifically built to address chain abstraction challenges. Its ambitious goal is to connect over 150 blockchain networks, encompassing EVMs, non-EVMs, Rollups, and L2/L3 chains. Integrations with major players like Bitcoin, Solana, and Osmosis are actively under development.
The protocol’s native token, $ROUTE, will serve as the security backbone for this permissionless network.
As the launch date approaches, Router Protocol is actively inviting community participation in a crucial vote. This vote will determine the criteria for an upcoming token allocation, with voting participants receiving an allocation multiplier based on their involvement.
Strategic Funding Round Secures Investment from Key Players
Building on the momentum, Router Protocol recently concluded a successful strategic funding round, exceeding its initial targets. The round included participation from prominent crypto angels and venture capitalists.
The primary goal of the funding round was to expand Router’s cap table with strategic investors who are aligned with the vision of Router Chain, a layer-1 blockchain designed to support chain abstraction.
Accomplished Founders and Operators Join Router Protocol
The announcement also highlighted the participation of several prominent figures in the crypto industry, including founders, operators, and web3 angels. These figures include:
- Kene Hon, CEO of Monad
- Anurag Arjun, CEO of Avail
- Ajit Tripathi, and others
Funding to Fuel Router Chain Launch And Ecosystem Growth
The proceeds from the funding round will be used to support the upcoming launch and ecosystem growth of Router Chain. Router Chain is a layer-1 blockchain designed to support chain abstraction.
Router Chain powers Router Protocol’s chain abstraction suite, which includes:
- Nitro: An ultra-fast asset bridge/swap engine that has processed over $350 million in volume for more than 300,000 users.
- Router Intents: A plug-and-play toolkit that enables chain abstraction functionality for any decentralized application (dApp) on any blockchain.
The announcement also noted that Router Protocol’s goal has always been to create a chain-abstracted world for users. The Router Chain is a significant step towards achieving this vision. It introduces stateful interoperability to Web3, enabling interoperable dApps to be built on top of it.
This represents a paradigm shift from the current approach to building dApps, where dApps must be deployed on a single chain and then customized for users on different chains. With Router Chain, dApp developers can offer native experiences of their dApps on all chains.
Liquidity Bridge And Router Chain Integrations
Nitro, built on Router Chain, has already processed over $350 million in volume with more than 310,000 users. Several Layer-1 blockchains, such as Arthera and Saakuru, have used Router Chain to deploy their canonical bridges.
Additionally, Router Chain empowers the CCIF framework, which has been used to build interoperability adapters for Lido, Stakestone, and Lynex.
Router Ecosystem Grants Program And Revamped Tokenomics
To further accelerate ecosystem growth, Router Protocol announced the upcoming launch of the Router Ecosystem Grants Program. This program will provide financial support and resources to promising projects building on Router Chain.
In addition, Router Protocol also announced its recently revamped tokenomics. This will allow the protocol to focus on community engagement, ecosystem expansion, and the development of new cross-chain primitives.
