Users in Web3 Will Do a lot More Than Just Trade Crypto: Cronos’ Ken Timsit (Interview)

In a recent interview with CryptoPotato during EthCC 5 in Paris, Ken Timsit, managing director of Cronos chain and Cronos Labs, outlined the network’s advantages over other competitors, spoke about the current bear cycle and what Cronos is doing in preparation for the next bull run, the future of the Internet and crypto, and much more.

Cronos Chain Vs. Cronos Labs Vs. Crypto.com

Cronos chain is a relatively new blockchain network supported by the popular crypto exchange – CryptoCom – which interoperates with both the Ethereum and Cosmos ecosystems. It’s powered by Ethermint, allowing for the porting of dapps and smart contracts from Ethereum and EVM-compatible chains.

It doesn’t have a founder “because it is an open source project created by the Cosmos community that was subsequently grabbed by a team and put into production,” Timsit said.

Being supported by CryptoCom means that all exchange users can operate on the Cronos blockchain, as well as all CRO holders (the company’s native cryptocurrency). As such, Timsit estimated that the total number of addressable users is around 50 million at the time of this interview.

So far, though, only about one million “have migrated and created an account on Cronos chain,” and the number of third-party applications created on the blockchain is approximately 300.

Cronos Labs, on the other hand, serves as the foundation for promoting the Cronos ecosystem. It manages a $100 million Accelerator Program, released in June, that looks to invest in early crypto startups which are likely to create the most innovative projects on Cronos.

However, Timsit emphasized that his team doesn’t believe in “walled gardens” and encourages applicants on Cronos to also become multi-chain.

The exec also informed that not all projects wanting to take advantage of the program need to have their own native token because “oftentimes if you’re just using NFTs as in-game assets, just having NFTs is sufficient to create a business model.”

When it comes down to DeFi protocols, though, Timsit believes they should have a native coin as they generally have many stakeholders.

“You are using the token to make sure that each actor has the right incentives to behave in the way that you want them to behave. So, that’s why oftentimes, tokens are useful for that particular reason. But, on our side, what we’re really interested in are applications that find a way to charge transaction fees to their users or monetize the protocol.”

Crypto.com Recent Layoff Effects

Asked whether Crypto.com’s staff reductions had any impact on the two projects he spearheads, Timsit reassured that they are separate organizations, saying, “Cronos and Cronos Labs are independent of CryptoCom in terms of businesses and entities.”

Nevertheless, the exec admitted that they were also affected by the declining market prices and user interest. The strategies have changed since spending too much on marketing doesn’t make sense now as it did until several months ago.

He added that the daily transactions right now are somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 on the Cronos network, and they had peaked just before the most recent market crash at almost 500,000.

The Total Value Locked (TVL) peaked at a high of $5 billion, but it’s now down to $1.5 billion. Still, this makes it the fifth-largest EVM chain, Timsit claimed.

‘Do a Lot More Than Just Trade Crypto’

With so many giant VCs backing emerging projects from the often-praised Web3 gaming and metaverse vertical, Timsit touched upon the topic as well. He described it as a virtual realm that allows for “self-custody of assets and direct integration with smart contracts.”

“Our vision is that this is the future of crypto. So, for everyone who is currently trading crypto, buying, and selling crypto, we believe that the next step for them is to use DeFi and Web3 gaming so that they can do more than just trade crypto. They can borrow and lend assets that have meaning and utility in these virtual worlds; they can invest these assets in various yield-generating protocols.”

However, he asserted that Web3 could reach its full potential only in environments “where you have applications compatible and composable with each other, which is the strength of the EVM ecosystem..”