Ren is a distributed network that enables the movement of value between blockchains. It is designed to facilitate interoperability and cross-chain transactions, enhancing the accessibility of decentralised finance (DeFi).
Ren works by using RenVM, a decentralised virtual machine that employs secure multi-party computation (sMPC) and Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) to enable secure, privacy-preserving transfer of assets between blockchains. It allows digital assets to be converted and moved across different blockchain ecosystems without intermediaries.
Ren enables various use cases, including:
Ren was initially founded as Republic Protocol in July 2017 by Taiyang Zhang and Loong Wang, headquartered in Singapore. It launched as a decentralised dark pool for cryptocurrency trading in January 2018. The protocol evolved to introduce cross-chain asset transfer capabilities, leading to the launch of RenVM in May 2020 after a $34 million ICO. Over time, Ren has developed towards establishing a DAO and strengthened its technological features to support decentralised interoperability.