Lately, Ferrum has been receiving a lot of attention from the broader Web3 community. It can be hard to keep up with a project that moves as quickly as Ferrum, especially for newcomers. This article is meant to serve as a comprehensive overview of where we’ve been, where we’re at, and where we’re heading. It is meant to serve as a guide for all things Ferrum. We hope you enjoy it!
Brief History
Ferrum has come a long way since our inception in 2019. From creating a suite of white label Staking as a Service solutions that has been deployed for over 200 projects with a lifetime TVL of $500 million and providing advisory services to numerous successful projects, Ferrum has grown into a reputable company having amassed an impressive ecosystem of partners known as the Iron Alliance.
Because of the revenue generated from these products and services, unlike most projects in Web3, Ferrum does not have to sell FRM or FRMx. In fact, we continue to buy back tokens using the revenue that we generate through these products. The revenue generated has allowed Ferrum to scale the team in the same fashion as teams that raise millions of dollars. More on how we have not only survived but thrived in the bear market can be found in this article.
Ushering in the Era of Interoperability 2.0
Due to the solid foundation, we have built for ourselves, we can now focus on a far more ambitious and impactful undertaking — Interoperability 2.0. At Ferrum, we believe that the future is multichain and that true interoperability will be one of the major cornerstones in onboarding the next billion users to Web3. However, true interoperability is not simply the ability to bridge assets across networks. It’s the ability to move arbitrary information, data, and messaging across networks. Interoperability 2.0 means the advent of multichain smart contracts and multichain dApps. Imagine a future where developers can build an app on one network but deploy it across any major EVM or non-EVM compatible network. Imagine a future where projects can build dApps that not only exist across multiple ecosystems but leverage the specific value propositions of each one. For example, imagine an application that leverages the speed of Solana, the security of Ethereum, and the built-in governance of Polkadot.
So how do we plan on ushering in this new era of interoperability? First, let’s look at what we’ve already accomplished in terms of interoperability.
Phase 1: Ferrum Crosschain Token Bridge
Some time ago, Ferrum launched the Ferrum Cross-chain Token Bridge in response to the over $2 billion (just this year) that has been siphoned by bad actors through interoperability protocols. We reimagined how assets are moved across networks by eliminating the ‘lock and mint’ mechanism inherent in most bridges. This commonly used approach is responsible for two things. 1. The massive honeypots that are created by locking funds on a bridge. 2. The dangerous abilities bestowed upon bridging protocols to have operational control of a token contract and mint-wrapped versions of assets. Ferrum uses an entirely different approach; one that boasts nearly $200 million in bridged volume without ever having more than a few hundred thousand USD locked on the bridge at any given time — hardly enough incentive to warrant an exploit. More on our approach to securely and effectively bridging assets can be found here.
Phase 2: MultiSwap
Ferrum is now in the process of upgrading the Ferrum Cross-chain Token Bridge to a truly revolutionary product called MultiSwap. MultiSwap is a smart routing multichain aggregator that enables cross-chain swaps. Users can swap ANY ASSET for ANY ASSET on ANY NETWORK to ANY WALLET in less than 2 minutes. MultiSwap taps into existing DEX liquidity to support the volume being transacted via the aggregator. This feature makes the product even more decentralized than the already secure Ferrum Cross-chain Token Bridge.
Why Multiswap?
Problem: Barriers to Entry
Currently, there are far too many barriers to entry for young ecosystems to attract users. In the case of a user wanting to liquidate an asset on Ethereum and use the funds to invest in a project on BSC, for example, they would need to use 4 applications to do so. They would need to use a DEX on Ethereum such as Uniswap to liquidate the asset into an asset that is bridgeable to BSC, a bridge to move the asset to the desired network, Coinmarketcap to check where liquidity lies, and finally, a BSC native DEX like PancakeSwap to then purchase the desired asset.
Solution: Removing Barriers to Entry
MultiSwap makes assets on any network more composable and allows users to port liquidity to the network using a single interface while generating volume and encouraging TVL on existing DeFi platforms by leveraging their LPs. MultiSwap removes multiple layers of friction between new potential users and other ecosystems.
Traction So Far
So far, v1 of the product is compatible with Ethereum, Polygon, BSC, Moonriver, and Avalanche. At the time of writing, testing is being done on Harmony. But don’t just take it from us! We have received grants from EVM-compatible networks such as Harmony, Moonbeam, Fuse, and Shiden, as well as non-EVM-compatible chains like Algorand and Casper, to integrate their networks with the product. Currently, we are in talks with many other EVM and non-EVM compatible networks as we aim for MultiSwap to be the most interoperable protocol on the market.
If you’d like to dive deeper into the architecture of MultiSwap, stay tuned as the MultiSwap Architecture Doc will be released soon.
Phase 3: Ferrum Network Mainnet and Multichain dApps
The third and final phase of Ferrum’s push toward interoperability begins with the deployment of the Ferrum Network mainnet. Ferrum plans to launch 2 networks using the Substrate framework on both Polkadot and Kusama. The Ferrum X Network will serve as the parachain on the Kusama relay chain and canary network to the Ferrum Network, which will be built as a parachain on the Polkadot relay chain. Find out more about our strategy toward securing Polkadot and Kusama parachains by checking out this article
Why Mainnet?
PROBLEM: INTEROPERABILITY 1.0 IS NOT MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE BLOCKCHAIN INDUSTRY
Blockchains are siloed and aren’t designed to communicate with each other. For developers, it’s nearly impossible to build multichain dApps. Furthermore, users are limited to single ecosystems and subject to the risks associated with insecure interoperability between networks.
SOLUTION: THE FUTURE OF INTEROPERABILITY IS BRIDGELESS
Ferrum Network’s InfinityLayer mainnet is a highly interoperable L1 network powered by a multichain messaging engine (Quantum Portal) designed to communicate and connect with every blockchain. Ferrum Network will enable a frictionless environment for developers to deploy multichain dApps and for users to engage in a fully interoperable Web 3.0. Ferrum believes in a bridgeless future. Ferrum believes in Interoperability by Design!
QUANTUM PORTAL: Quantum Portal and its related smart contracts with programmable interfaces maintain the state of value and information across blockchains.
This powerful technology enables the build once, deploy everywhere functionality throughout our network’s connected chains.
VALUE CONSTRAINED MULTICHAIN ROLLUPS: Value Constrained Multichain Rollups (VCMR) tap into the L1 security much like the ZK and Optimistic rollup. However, VCMR can support multiple L1s and is not limited to Ethereum. VCMR enables Ferrum’s blockchains to become the L2 for many chains.
MULTICHAIN VALIDATOR STAKING: Multichain Validator Staking (MVS) allows Ferrum’s blockchains to tap into native security mechanisms of each chain where transactions occur instead of relying on off-chain or secondary chain centralized staking. Staking happens on the chains where validation of transactions/information is required.
Find out more about Ferrum’s mainnet when Nick Odio, EVP of Partnerships and Growth, dives into it with Kusama treasury-funded media group WagMedia at Polkadot Decoded in Buenos Aires:
The Ferrum Gateway and Crucible
While all of Ferrum’s products will eventually live on the Ferrum mainnet, Ferrum currently maintains a slew of products that live on what is called the Ferrum Gateway. Gateway is just as it sounds; the gateway to all of Ferrum’s products. An all-in-one DeFi hub that is evolving consistently. Perhaps its most impressive product thus far is Crucible.
Why Crucible?
DeFi is an amazing phenomenon that has only just begun to embark on its journey toward mass adoption. While its value proposition is a noble cause — reshaping the current financial system by decentralizing financial instruments — there are certain elements inherent in DeFi 1.0 protocols that are hindering mass adoption of the sector.
Most problems are solved out of necessity. Ferrum has been one of the go-to Staking as a Service providers since 2019. While these products are alive and well, Ferrum wanted to create a solution that not only curbed token emissions but was, in fact, deflationary. The underlying technology of Crucible is a proprietary set of smart contracts that does just this!
Dive deeper into the ‘Why’ behind Crucible in this article!
What is Crucible?
Ferrum Network’s Crucible brings DeFi 2.0 to the masses with sustainable rewards powered by natural market fluctuations, trading volume, and arbitrage opportunities. With an intuitive, user-friendly UI, Crucible is even more impressive under the hood, combining elements of reflection token and liquid staking technologies to create a sustainable and deflationary rewards economy driven by transaction volume.
Crucible allows users to mint their FRM and FRMx tokens for cFRM and cFRMx. These assets are stakeable but also have transaction fees associated with them. Every time the token is bought, sold, staked, unstaked, or transferred in any way, a 1–4% transaction fee is charged to the user. These fees are then distributed back to those staking cFRM and cFRMx.
The most fascinating takeaway from this model is where the rewards that make up the APR for staking are sourced. Unlike the case with unsustainable rewards models, these reward tokens are not sourced from the inflationary emissions schedules, treasury, marketing budget, or any other uncirculated token supply. On the contrary, all the rewards being generated were already a part of the circulating supply and are, in fact, directly correlated to the trading volume!
Get a better understanding of Crucible in this simple explainer video:-
FRM and FRMx Utility
Reducing Circulating Supply
One of the best things a project can do for its token is to reduce the circulating supply. This is arguably the number one value proposition of our Staking pools from the past. However, for the reasons outlined below, we needed to improve the mechanism for reducing the circulating supply. By taking your FRM and minting cFRM, you are effectively removing FRM from circulation.
Ability to Stake and Get Access to Presales and Monthly Holder Rewards
One of the biggest areas of improvement that community members have contested for over a year now was the fact that their staked FRM did not count toward their presale allocations. This deterred many folks from staking, and in some cases, it deterred people from buying FRM and FRMx altogether.
With Crucible, users can stake their tokens earning APR while gaining access to presales and Monthly Holder Rewards!
Burn Baby Burn!
One of the features of Crucible is that a portion of the transaction fees (10%) are burned. This means that 0.2% of all trading volume is taken out of circulation, thus decreasing the supply of cFRM and cFRMx and their unwrapped counterparts.
In Conclusion
It’s easy to see that Ferrum has come a long way since its days of solely providing Staking services and conducting presales. While those business verticals are still alive and well, the team has scaled from 6 to nearly 40 full-time employees and has much larger goals. We’re putting it all out there and are building something that we believe will be truly revolutionary.
With a reimagined brand identity (check out our new website), a soon-to-be-released whitepaper outlining our vision of a bridgeless future, the highly anticipated release of MultiSwap, and not one but TWO parachain auctions in our near future, Ferrum is set to take the Web3 space by storm!
Ferrum Network Important Links
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>> Disclaimer Risk warning:- Cryptocurrency Investment is subject to high market risk. The information on our website is for educational purposes only. Please do your own research before investing anywhere, we will not be responsible for your investment losses.