Moonbeam, the fully Ethereum-compatible smart contract platform on Polkadot, has announced the availability of the Bifrost native token, BNC, on Moonriver. BNC can now be used as xcBNC (an XC-20 representation of BNC) across the Moonriver ecosystem. This cross-chain channel and the listing of the xcBNC asset were each launched following a successful on-chain governance vote. The connection between these two growing parachains is made possible by XCM, cross-chain messaging, which continues to enable rich inter-parachain integrations across the broader Kusama ecosystem.
Bifrost specializes as a DeFi protocol that provides staking derivatives and liquidity to bonding assets. Within the larger PoS Network, Bifrost powers vTokens (Staking Derivatives Voucher Token), which allow users to mint PoS tokens into vTokens and obtain liquidity and staking rewards through SLP protocol at any time. In the future, the Bifrost Mainnet will migrate from Kusama to Polkadot.
The introduction of the XC-20 standard enables users to “deposit” tokens from elsewhere in the Kusama ecosystem, like Bifrost, to be used in Moonriver-based applications. Developers can create EVM-style fungible assets on Moonriver that are capable of moving from one Kusama parachain to another, or import Substrate-style assets from other parachains to be used within Moonriver-based DApps.
As the Kusama ecosystem continues to become more interconnected, users are increasingly given choice with where and how to use their Kusama-based tokens. The underlying technology that enabled the XC-20 standard is called XCM (Cross-Consensus Messaging) which is uniquely made possible by the Polkadot architecture. Other chains have to use third-party bridges to move tokens between chains, whereas XCM allows parachains in the Polkadot ecosystem to exchange messages with the same security as the underlying network. In this way, any parachain built on Polkadot or Kusama is able to communicate with other parachains connected to the Relay Chain. Learn more about XCM on the Moonbeam documentation website.
About the Moonbeam Network
Moonbeam is an Ethereum-compatible smart contract platform on the Polkadot network that makes it easy to build natively interoperable applications. This Ethereum compatibility allows developers to deploy existing Solidity smart contracts and DApp frontends to Moonbeam with minimal changes. Like Moonriver, its sister parachain on Kusama, Moonbeam is expected to accumulate developer and user activity from the 80+ projects building DApps and protocols on the network. As a parachain on the Polkadot network, Moonbeam benefits from the shared security of the Polkadot Relay Chain and integrations with other chains that are connected to Polkadot. Learn more: https://moonbeam.network/.
What is Bifrost
Bifrost is a web3 derivatives protocol that provides decentralized cross-chain liquidity for staked assets. By leveraging on the cross-consensus message (XCM) it can provide cross-chain liquid staking services for multiple chains.
Bifrost’s mission is to provide standardized cross-chain interest-bearing derivatives for Polkadot relay chains, parachains, and heterogeneous chains bridged with Polkadot. Furthermore, by aggregating over 80% of PoS consensus chains’ staking liquidity through cross-chain derivatives, our protocol lowers users’ staking threshold, increases multi-chain staking ratio, and improves the ecosystems application interest base, by creating a three-way positive cycle for the StakeFi ecosystem by empowering users, multi-chains, and ecosystem applications.
Bifrost has raised over** USD 2M** from top-tier venture capital firms by the likes of NGC, SNZ, DFG, CMS and other institutions. In addition to being an early receiver of a Web3 Foundation Grant, Bifrost is also a member of the Substrate Builders Program and the Web3 Bootcamp.