What does that mean for Catalog? Was the Catalog design dependent on Ren being an L1, or was that just a “nice to have” and running on an EVM chain with RenVM integration is completely fine? I suppose I’m missing the point of recreating Ren as an L1 with subnets, which seems like a radical change from where we are today. Not saying it can’t be done, just seems like a massive, high-risk undertaking, and not so sure I see a market for it, tbh. I see a market for a cross-chain AMM, but if that can be built without Ren having to introduce subnets, then why embrace all this complexity and uncertainty? I say let’s go for something we can actually deliver in a reasonable amount of time.
And yes, actually building a decentralized network of Darknodes should be our primary focus, imo. I didn’t realize it was an “either or” option ("the team can drop the focus on developing Ren into an L1 and shift all focus to decentralizing the network"). To be honest, I can’t see anyone building their own apps or chains on Ren L1 without decentralization at a minimum, so this was going to happen first anyway. Maybe Catalog, OK, it’s more or less the same team. But anyone else? Doubtful.
And from a business perspective, who is asking for a Ren L1? Apparently Catalog can function just fine without it. I can’t see any established project like Curve, Aave, etc. building on Ren L1. Can you imagine the process to get community approval from Aave to join a Ren subnet??? I would think a better business model is we help existing or new projects go cross chain by incorporating Ren into their stack, not having them come join a Ren subnet.
Let’s get back to basics and deliver what was promised, what has been on our roadmap for years. Let’s focus on decentralization so we can have credibility across web3 as a cross-chain option with a unique value prop (h2h). Let’s focus on differentiating renBTC from wBTC (still 99% of our volume!), and work with projects to create use cases that can drive renBTC volume further. Let’s look at helping permissioned chains move assets onto Ethereum, Solana, Cosmos, BSC, etc. For that we need bus dev and marketing people focused on that segment. No doubt our friends at Alameda have many contacts, why wouldn’t they help? I would expect permissioned chains to take off in the coming years, as countries and corporations look to interact on-chain, but in a more tightly controlled space. But they’ll want to move assets on and off Ethereum, certainly. Seems like there are so many business possibilities that don’t require us to transform ourselves into an L1. And where we already have credibility. Why don’t we go for those?
If the community chooses to focus on Ren as an L1, I really hope we’ll see a lot more details on how that’s going to happen. More technical info, plus a detailed roadmap and frequent progress reports (not monthly or quarterly updates lacking substantive info). Because I’m incredibly skeptical it can be done in any reasonable time, and I’m also skeptical there is a market for it once built.