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Cronos: An Introduction and Analysis of a New L1
Key Insights
- With $100 million allocated from the CRO ecosystem fund, Cronos Labs was formed to launch the Cronos chain (formerly Crypto.org EVM chain). The first version was launched in November 2021 as a standalone Layer-1 (L1) leveraging the Cosmos SDK.
- Cronos functions as the smart contract-enabled chain of the Crypto.com ecosystem, with its sister chain Crypto.org focused primarily on the transaction and staking activity of Crypto.com. Cronos aims to be a destination chain for DeFi and Gamefi.
- Since its inception, Cronos has had impressive growth, ranking in the top 10 in total value locked (TVL) and top 20 in market capitalization.
- After the fall of the Terra ecosystem, Cronos is now the largest cryptocurrency within the Cosmos ecosystem.
- While growth has been impressive to date, challenges remain, including the current level of centralization, comparatively high transaction fees, and somewhat low funding.
Cronos chain is the new smart contract platform associated with Crypto.com. While the creation of the chain was funded by Crypto.com, this new L1 functions as an independent project facilitated by Cronos Labs, the ecosystem development arm of Cronos chain. If the name Crypto.com rings a bell you’ve probably heard of them from one of their many recent marketing campaigns.
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Tom is a Sr. Research Analyst at Messari. His primary focus is on Layer-1's as well as the relationship between traditional finance and crypto. Prior to joining Messari, Tom worked in Investment Consulting at Meketa and Investment Management at SSGA. Tom studied Finance at Bentley University and earned his CFA and CAIA Charters.
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