Decentralized finance projects like Ren had their moment in 2021, only to end the year right where they started, as high transaction fees in Ethereum (ETH) led to declining activity for many protocols and DeFi took a back seat. versus more popular sectors like non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Now, it appears that downward trend is in the process of reversing course after recent global events highlighted the benefits of DeFi and holding assets outside of the traditional financial system. This week, the REN price is up 69%, from a low of $0.247 on Feb 24 to a daily high of $0.418 on March 3.
Three reasons for the potential price rally at REN are the launch of its first Layer 1 application, Catalog, the launch of VarenX on Polygon, and several new partnerships and integrations for REN and the Ren Virtual Machine (RenVM).
Catalog Launch
The biggest development to come out of the REN project lately has been the release of Catalog, the first application built on top of the Ren blockchain.
Say goodbye to multi-chain acrobatics with Catalog♂ï¸
Learn more about what @catalogfi and partners are bringing to the multi-chain ecosystem herehttps://t.co/bRqCyyCsis
Join the waitlist for early access and morehttps://t.co/hb4KyRhA8r
— Ren (@renprotocol) February 26, 2022
Catalog is a “metaversal” exchange according to Ren and is designed to be a secure cross-chain decentralized exchange with built-in liquidity mechanisms that allow users to trade assets between popular networks at minimal cost.
The liquidity mechanism for Catalog will leverage native asset pools as well as liquidity via third-party DEXs, meaning Ren will be able to support a wide range of projects without worrying about liquidity constraints.
Other features of Catalog are the absence of gas fees and low fixed trading fees, the ability to earn passive income from cryptocurrencies held in a Catalog account without the need to stake or participate in liquidity pools, and future plans to add the possibility of linking a bank account to facilitate deposits and withdrawals.
VarenX launches on Polygon
A second development that fueled REN’s momentum was the integration of its DeFi hub, VarenX, into the Polygon network.
VarenX is live on @0xPolygon with free GAS thanks to @varenfinance!
Gasless cross-chain swaps are here and it’s a big milestone for improving the native multi-chain user experience.
Learn more below https://t.co/XMyTh0bB5Y
— Ren (@renprotocol) February 25, 2022
Until now, VarenX has only operated on the Ethereum network, which makes it difficult for it to gain relevance.
Polygon’s low-fee ecosystem has enabled VarenX to offer free transactions through its “FreeWei” feature, which takes over gas costs for users, allowing them to transact cross-chain for free.
Associations and integrations
A third factor that has helped improve Ren’s prospects has been a series of partnerships and integrations that have helped strengthen its cross-chain relationships.
Ren recently partnered with Kava to join the Kava Pioneer program, which will see the RenVM deployed on the Kava Network Ethereum co-chain on March 8.
Announcing a new Kava Pioneer!
Welcome @Renprotocol!
Excited to have RenVM deploying on the Kava Network Ethereum Co-Chain on March 8th!
The Pioneer Program is still open for submissions with a 100K $KAVA pool up for grabs! https://t.co/h3v6URIPmF pic.twitter.com/syTE6bHAHW
— Kava Network (@kava_platform) March 3, 2022
Other notable developments include a partnership with DappBack, a renBTC integration with Vesta Finance, and REN trading on the Voyager app and exchange.
VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began detecting a bullish outlook for REN on Feb. 25, prior to the recent price rally.
Exclusive to Cointelegraph, the VORTECS™ Score is an algorithmic comparison of historical and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trade volume, recent price movements, and online activity. Twitter.
As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for REN rose into the green zone on February 25 and reached a high of 81 around 56 hours before the price increased by 35.8% in the following three days.
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