Interoperability between blockchains is chop-chop becoming one of the buzz phrases existence thrown around when discussing decentralized finance and the coins almost likely to rally during an altcoin bull run.

The rapid growth of DeFi, its e'er expanding total value locked and soaring ETH gas fees further highlight the sector'south need for a layer two option that also supports the ability to transact value across different networks.

REN's open up protocol is designed specifically to make full this need past providing interoperability and liquidity between the top blockchains including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Zcash.

Over the by 3 weeks the price of REN has increased by more than than 200%, going from $0.251 on December. 27 to a new all-time loftier of $0.778 on Jan. 20 driven by a record $369 million in 24-hr volume.

REN/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

Three reasons for the recent cost surge in the cost of REN include the announcement of a collaboration with Google, the continued increase in total value locked on the platform and the ability to earn passive income in multiple cryptocurrencies through the operation of a darknode.

Google software pivot boosts sentiment, addresses RENvm scaling issues

On Jan.19 the REN squad tweeted:

Ren has been researching & building on @Asylodev, an open and flexible framework by @Google. @GCPCloud confidential computing relaxes RenVM'south economic constraints, allowing for an unbounded scaling solution. #RenVM."

Not long after the tweet, REN cost began to rally to a new all-time high. As mentioned in the tweet, Asylo is an open and flexible framework from Google designed to help build portable applications that run on Secure Enclave hardware.

The secure enclave hardware allows users to run full general-purpose applications in a secure surround where both the data, and the application itself, cannot exist compromised by anyone, including the user. This makes for a more secure experience for all parties involved and helps protect against malicious code and backdoor attacks.

Asylo also makes it possible to port an application from one type of hardware to the next, meaning that developers can support multiple implementations with relative ease, including Intel implementations, AMD implementations, and whatever others that appear in the futurity. The diversity of choice this allows is an important feature to ensure decentralization on the network.

Total value locked soars to a new high

Customs engagement and added value are key factors when it comes to the long-term success of a blockchain projection.

Since the release of the Ren virtual automobile mainnet (RenVM) in May 2020, date on the platform has steadily increased as Bitcoin holders now had some other mode to bring their BTC to Ethereum and the growing DeFi space.

As seen in the chart below, the total value locked on the Ren platform reached a new all-time high of $653.6 million on January. 20 and a total of fourteen,670 BTC are locked on the platform to create renBTC.

Full value locked in RenVM. Source: DeFi Pulse

The list of assets that RenVM supports continues to abound with BTC, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Zcash (ZEC), Filecoin (FIL), Terra (LUNA), Dogecoin (DOGE) and Digibyte (DGB) currently available to transact on the Ethereum and Binance blockchains.

Development is currently underway to make it possible to collaborate on the Polkadot (DOT), Solana (SOL) and Cosmos (Atom) networks besides, which would further heighten the interoperability provided.

Darknodes, passive income and a decreasing supply

The 3rd driving strength behind the contempo cost appreciation of REN relates to the Ren token use case and how it tin assistance users earn passive income. RenVM is a network of virtual computers that make up a virtual machine, which are as well referred to as Darknodes.

REN token holders who wish to operate a darknode need to lock up 100,000 REN which wiil enable them to procedure transactions on the network and earn a fee in the course of the token transacted. Thus, a darknode operator has the opportunity to earn passive income in the form of multiple unlike cryptocurrencies from i location.

Ren Darknode Statistics. Source: Renproject

Equally tin be seen in the to a higher place graphic, 17.13% of REN's full supply is currently bonded on the platform and supports the performance of darknodes.

During the well-nigh recently completed bike, the network every bit a whole earned $839,128 in fees in the form of BTC, ZEC, FIL and BCH. The total network fees nerveless since the launch of the RenVM equals $2.975 million.

The continued add-on of new tokens and interoperability with new blockchains will probable come across increased usage of the network and an increase in the amount of fees earned. At the electric current price of $0.6157 it costs $61,570 to operate a darknode.

RenVM total users over time. Source: Dune Analytics

As activeness on the network increases, the corporeality of fees generated volition also increase, making it fifty-fifty more lucrative for token holders to operate a darknode. This has the potential to lead to farther price appreciation from REN as every new darknode results in a directly decrease in its circulating supply.

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