REN is a cryptocurrency that powers the RenVM protocol, a network that gives its users access to permissionless interblockchain liquidity across a range of decentralized applications. 

Initially established by Taiyang Zhang, co-founder of crypto hedge fund Virgil Capital, REN completed its initial coin offering in 2018. The RenVM network launched in May 2020.

The network aims to create an ecosystem that enables users to transfer any token across different blockchains. Smart contracts utilized on the network allow users to access any token from any blockchain without any wrapping/unwrapping. Because transactions are only accessible by private keys, users can safely exchange crypto assets without moving the market. 

As far as the RenVM platform’s biggest differentiating advantages, those would be computational ability and storage capacity. A quick summary: the RenVM protocol functions through a network of virtual computers, or darknodes; they power universal interoperability. That’s the ability to send any asset from any chain to any other chain, connecting a range of decentralized applications particularly in the fast-growing realm of Decentralized Finance, or “DeFi.” The DeFi banner hangs over a huge space. One major subset of DeFi, for instance, are Decentralized Exchages (DEXs); and there’s a large subset of DEXs, automated market markers (AMMs). This type of technology decentralizes, and thus displaces traditional intermediaries (collecting tolls) in the world of finance.

The REN coin acts as a bond for these darknodes. To that end, each darknode, to be operational, requires a bond: 100,000 REN tokens. The operators of the darknodes are compensated with fees for contributing computational power and storage to the network. (Users of RenVM pay the fees). The bonds protect and validate the darknodes while simultaneously guarding against malicious activity.

What is the price of REN?

Trading around $0.53 towards the end of January, REN has enjoyed a remarkable 568.85% gain since its inception in early 2018. The token has participated in the broad crypto rally beginning around the end of November 2020, reaching an all-time high of $0.78 on Jan 20. 

Since hitting, in November 2018, a bottom (of $0.016), the token has rallied an astounding 3357.2%. REN’s inherent utility facilitating cross-blockchain financial activity has fueled its price momentum, as more DeFi apps incorporate the network.

REN can be bought and sold from a number of exchanges; its 10-day average daily trading volume as of late January 2021 hovered at about $180 million. REN has a market capitalization of roughly $500 million, putting it 68th among the largest digital assets based on market cap. 

The supply of REN tokens is limited to 1 billion. 

Is REN viable as a long-term investment? If it gains more adoption within the DeFi ecosystem, demand for REN could increase. Believers in the possibilities of cross-blockchain could find that there is a bullish case to be made. The disruptive force of DeFi – applications continuously reinventing financial services – lending, trading, securitizing – various apps could eventually converge abetted by universal interoperability such that potentially hundreds of DeFi protocols conceivably could wind up harnessing RenVM to expand their reach.