The Ren protocol (formerly known as the Republic Protocol) is intended to promote interoperability by allowing users to move bitcoin between blockchains. It allows anybody to lock cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Zcash (ZEC) into the Ren program and mint the ERC-20 equivalent tokens RenBTC, RenBCH, and RenZEC on Ethereum in a 1:1 ratio. Ren employs powerful cryptography and algorithms to allow the transfer of specific crypto assets between blockchains - without the requirement for complex intermediary stages such as the usage of "wrapped" tokens.

These new ERC-20 tokens may now be utilized in a variety of DeFi products, including trading, portfolio management, borrowing, and lending. The original assets are still locked in the Ren program and may be unlocked by paying a charge at any time.

History

Ren, formerly known as Republic Protocol, was created in 2017 by software developers Taiyang Zhang and Loong Wang. Taiyang Zhang previously co-founded Virgil Capital, a crypto quantitative trading business, and Neucode, a software development startup. Zhang went on to co-found mining pool KeeperDAO in 2019. The REN token private sale took place in January 2018, followed by the REN token public sale the following month, and Republic Protocol was renamed to Ren in 2019.

How does it work

The Ren protocol is enabled by a decentralized network of machines known as Darknodes, which is driven by the Ren Virtual Machine, or RenVM. In exchange for fees, these computers provide their CPU power and storage space to the virtual machine, allowing cryptocurrency to travel across blockchains.

RenVM acts as a trustless custodian for your cryptocurrency, since each RenBTC token you create is backed by an equivalent BTC token held in the RenVM. The RenVM employs some rather complex technology to enable this while still protecting privacy:

Shamir's Secret Sharing is a cryptographic theory that distributes secret material into portions owned by several individuals. Ren uses this method to keep private keys used in the RenVM network concealed, even from the Darknodes.

Secure Multiparty Computation (sMPC) is a technique that enables developers' code to be executed without disclosing the inputs or results.

Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) - this method ensures that the Ren network continues to operate successfully even if some nodes fail.

RenVM's consensus method, Hyperdrive, is meant to process transactions at breakneck rates.

Total supply and circulation

REN is almost at its full capacity because maximum supply is set to 1 billion REN coins. Total supply is 999,999,633 tokens while the circulating supply is 999,037,500 REN.