renBTC is one of many wrapped BTCs commonly used on-chain. In recent days, Ren Protocol has become the cross-chain infrastructure most deeply affected by the FTX collapse.

After the "FTX Hacking" incident, hackers sold ETH in exchange for renBTC even in the face of slippage losses. This operation brought this old-fashioned project back to the collective attention of the encryption world. Funds are bridged to the Bitcoin network through renBTC, and the address currently holds approximately 2444 Bitcoins (approximately $40.4 million).

In addition to hackers’ operations that made renBTC frequently appear in the news, Ren Protocol itself was also dragged down by Alameda", Ren Protocol is at risk of shutting down due to lack of operating funds. Recently, the Ren team revealed that the remaining funds for the project are approximately $160,000, which is only enough to sustain development until the end of the fourth quarter.

Today, Ren Protocol issued an official statement: Since the Ren 1.0 network will be closed within 30 days, we strongly recommend that users bridge their Ren assets (such as renBTC) back to their original chain as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the Ren team hopes to launch the latest version of the protocol, Ren 2.0.

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Acquired by Alameda, what did Ren Protocol do?

The core technology of Ren Protocol is built around RenVM. RenVM is a cross-chain encrypted asset custody network developed by the team, which is maintained securely by Darknodes nodes. Its main mission is as clearly stated on RenVM's official website: a Layer 0 that seamlessly connects different chains.

Similar to wBTC, each renBTC is backed 1:1 by BTC. The difference from wBTC is that this is a decentralized protocol that does not require a central organization to host, and anyone can mint and destroy renBTC without permission.

As a well-developed and established cross-chain infrastructure, Ren Protocol currently supports BTC, BCH, DASH, DOGE, ZEC and other non-EVM chain assets to be encapsulated on multiple EVM chains such as Ethereum, BSC, Fantom, and Polygon. Compared with the current more mainstream bridges that only support inter-crossing between EVM chains, this is no different from a huge functional difference.

According to OkLink data, the current circulation of renBTC is about 3242 BTC, which is the third largest BTC anchor currency in the market. But the share is not outstanding, accounting for about 0.01% of the total circulation of BTC anchor coins. At the same time, the circulation of wBTC is about 235,000, and the circulation of HBTC is about 13,000.

However, in the autumn of 2020, the circulation of renBTC once exceeded 26,000 pieces, accounting for about 20% of the market share.

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How does the FTX mine explosion implicate Ren Protocol?

In 2021, Alameda Research announced the acquisition of Ren Protocol. After the acquisition, the development team will add support for Solana to its RenVM protocol. At the time, SBF praised Ren Protocol: "We think they will continue to make great projects."

Under the agreement, Alameda Research will provide Ren Protocol with $700,000 in quarterly operating capital. After Alameda went bankrupt, Ren Protocol naturally fell into a shortage of funds. Last Friday, Ren Protocol officially issued a statement that the team currently has only US$160,000 in operating funds, which is only enough to maintain its project until the end of the fourth quarter.

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Where is the future of Ren Protocol headed?

At present, the Ren Protocol team has not initiated a formal governance proposal, and the future direction of the protocol is still under negotiation. However, in the announcement, the team expressed its intention to raise funds, and also considered fully decentralizing and community-owned.

Although Ren has accumulated a lot of user base, it seems that it is difficult to innovate in "storytelling" in the cross-chain track with many players. In the encrypted world that is constantly chasing hot spots and creating new narratives, it has entered a stable stage Old projects developed lack room for hype. In the bear market where liquidity is scarce, investors cherish "bullets" more, and the competition between old projects and new projects has its own strengths and weaknesses. For Ren Protocol, it is still unclear whether its refinancing will be smooth.

According to the original plan, Ren 2.0 should have been launched in the fourth quarter of this year. But given that Alameda owns the intellectual property for Ren 1.0, the transition to Ren 2.0 will be accelerated.

The processing team for the Ren 1.0 version has now confirmed that the Ren Protocol will disable the mint function of Ren 1.0 and stop creating new anchor assets. After 30 days, Ren 1.0 was officially shut down.

In the Ren 2.0 phase, Ren Protocol will enable a new architecture based on Geth, which supports the deployment of EVM-based applications on Ren, supports all blockchains integrated with Ren, and supports all bridging functions provided by Ren 1.0. Finally, a cross-chain network that is completely open source, community-operated, and has its own independent incentive structure can be established. The Ren team will continue to maintain discussions with the community.

For the community, this is good news. The team made a positive statement and promised to continue to introduce governance proposals until the community is satisfied and passed. For users, will the involvement of Ren Protocol and Alameda have negative impacts?

Ren Protocol also tried to reassure users in the announcement. Unlike centralized institutions, as a cross-chain network, the assets minted by the protocol can be checked on the chain. The team believes that Alameda will not affect the security of ren-anchor assets, and boast that Ren Protocol can achieve "100% security".

As the affected person of the FTX mine explosion incident, where will the ill-fated Ren Protocol go?