Cronos recently announced a second round of Cronos Ecosystem Grant awards, dishing out a substantial amount of $CRO tokens to four of the most promising early-stage projects built on its blockchain.
These are all projects with big potential, not least because they’re looking to take advantage of the unique level of interoperability that only the Cronos ecosystem provides.
Cronos is notably an EVM-compatible chain that’s able to work with the Ethereum Virtual machine, meaning, it can send and receive data and assets to and from any other EVM-compatible chain, including Ethereum itself, Avalanche, Binance Chain, Polygon and many more.
EVM-compatibility alone, while most certainly very useful, isn’t a big deal these days as many blockchains have the same capability. Where Cronos really stands out though, is it’s also compatible with Cosmos and its Internet of Blockchains, which is a group of networks that can communicate with each other using the Inter-Blockchain Communication protocol.
It means Cronos is the only blockchain in the world that’s both EVM- and IBC-compatible and that puts it in a very commanding position. Decentralized apps built on Cronos are therefore distinct in that they can not only tap the enormous amounts of liquidity and the user base of Ethereum and compatible chains, but also the fast-growing number of Cosmos-based assets. In other words, apps built on Cronos are the only ones in the entire crypto ecosystem that can interact with any EVM or IBC token.
Cronos Ecosystem Grants
With this unmatched level of interoperability, the decentralized applications being built on Cronos will not only be extremely versatile, but also potentially reach a much bigger audience than other apps. So it’s no wonder that Cronos is aiming to fund the development of new projects in its ecosystem.
Launched in December 2021, the Cronos Ecosystem Grant awards were established with two goals in mind. First, Cronos wants to support the most promising early-stage projects in its ecosystem by bootstrapping initial product development and by providing technical support. At the same time, it’s trying to align incentives between new builders and teams to help those projects grow along with the broader Cronos ecosystem.
The grants are available to all projects building directly on the Cronos blockchain that fit into one of seven eligible categories. So they can be DeFi projects building AMMs or DEXs, staking protocols etc.; NFT projects; Gaming and metaverse projects such as new metaverses or play-to-earn games; Tools and analytics apps such as DeFi protocol tools and charting solutions; Critical Infrastructure projects such as Oracles; Social Good and Community Engagement projects such as community forums; DAO projects; and finally Web 3.0 Applications such as decentralized storage or decentralized social media.
The grants are provided directly by Particle B, the main developer of the Cronos blockchain and are awarded based on factors such as a project’s potential, the quality of its team, its execution capabilities and the potential impact and benefits it may have for the wider Cronos ecosystem. Those projects that are awarded grants will see the funds dished out when they achieve pre-agreed milestones, such as the delivery of MVP, a beta launch and so on.
The program isn’t just about Cronos’s largesse though. In addition to providing funding, it also provides an equal amount of technical support from Cronos developers to ensure that money is put to good use. Further, the chosen projects also benefit from marketing across Cronos’s social media channels, plus the possibility of introductions to venture capitalists for further funding, once they achieve their initial goals.
The First Recipients
With such a compelling offer, Cronos reported being overwhelmed, with more than 150 applications for grants over two rounds. Of those applicants, they were eventually narrowed down to 10 lucky recipients, each of which received an undisclosed amount of $CRO tokens to take their projects forward.
Among the very first recipients of Cronos’s munificence was Agora, an NFT marketplace built atop of the Cronos blockchain that does pretty much what that suggests, allowing users to search for, mint, buy and sell Cronos-native NFTs.
Chrtr meanwhile is an order flow tracker that was originally built to support Avalanche-based DeFi apps. Having been awarded a grant, the team behind it is now adding cross-chain support for Cronos too. Chrtr provides a number of useful tools for traders besides order flow tracking, including trading view charts
As for EntropyFi, this is another DeFi application that provides traders with a fun way to amplify their yields by playing decentralized lossless prediction games including its unique Hold-to-Earn game. EntropyFi first went live on Polygon but is now expanding to sit on Cronos too.
Gamers will also appreciate Legends of Mitra, which bills itself as a “free-to-play-to-earn” multi chain strategy defense game that’s available to play on both desktop and mobile devices. The game was created by Gem Studios, known for earlier P2E titles such as Angry Warlord and Dragon Fly. Its mission is to develop P2E titles that appeal to casual gamers so as to introduce them to the world of blockchain-based gaming.
Coming back to DeFi, Single Finance is a novel platform that offers a variety of single-click market-neutral yield farming strategies. Each of the strategies on offer target different returns with varying levels of risk, and they all attempt to minimize the risk of impermanent loss and price fluctuations that can eat away at investors’ earnings.
As for TheCronicle, this was the first community engagement-focused app to benefit from the grant program. It’s a news and media app that’s focused on the Cronos ecosystem and provides market news, project updates and interviews with team leaders, publishes press releases, podcasts and more.
The second batch of grant winners announced at the end of March saw another NFT marketplace highlighted. Ebisu’s Bay is actually the first ever NFT marketplace to be built on Cronos and is also one of its most popular, having recently surpassed more than 50 million $CRO in transaction volume.
Cronos News is another media app and once again it’s focused on providing news around the Cronos ecosystem. It specializes in tracking the social media accounts of Cronos projects, covering updates from Twitter, AMAs and more, in addition to regular news reports.
After reading the latest news, investors may well be keen to try their luck with Thetanuts Finance, which is a DeFi app that offers sustainable yield through a variety of crypto-structured products. Traders can choose from various vaults that allow them to access simplified options trading strategies. The idea is that traders who don’t understand these advanced strategies can take advantage of them to generate higher yields.
Last but not least, the final Cronos grant recipient so far is Lootex.io, which describes itself as a decentralized multi-chain GameFi NFT marketplace. In other words, it’s a marketplace specifically for P2E game NFTs, so gamers can quickly come in, buy what they need and get started playing. Lootex.io already supports a number of major blockchains and will use the funding to expand to Cronos as well.
The Cronos Grant Ecosystem program is by no means done and will continue to announce new grant winners on a regular basis. So if you think you have a good idea for DeFi, NFTs, GameFi, social good or blockchain infrastructure that will benefit from the unparalleled level of interoperability that Cronos provides, fill out this form and see where it takes you!
