Continuing with the comparison between Cronos and Hive, I have some more experiences to relate, particularly with derivative Cronos (CRO) tokens LCRO and zkCRO. To reiterate one point, CRO is like HIVE in the sense that it's not the greatest token to expect to go to the moon. The value in these tokens is more about accumulation and staking.
The Ecosystem
Cronos on Ethereum
Cronos originally launched as the Crypto.com token on Ethereum. This is similar to many tokens that initially launched on Ethereum before launching their own blockchain. CRO on Ethereum is still in circulation. When listed on other exchanges, CRO is usually this version. Transactions of CRO on this blockchain are paid with ETH.
Cronos PoS
Given that the value of Cronos (CRO) is largely based on accumulation, there is the added benefit of staking it. When it comes to CRO, it gets a bit complex. Cronos has four blockchains. The Level 0 blockchain is Cronos PoS, which mostly serves to secure the network with validators. Those validators take in staked CRO and pay out rewards. That's about all it does. This native CRO token is based on Cosmos (ATOM), making it portable into that ecosystem. Transactions on this blockchain are paid with CRO.
Cronos EVM
Cronos EVM has its own CRO, which is a CRC-20 token. The idea behind this blockchain was to be able to run smart contracts and offer features similar to Ethereum. CRO on Cronos EVM cannot be staked. Most of the action in the Cronos ecosystem is in the Cronos EVM blockchain. CRO on this blockchain relies on the security of the PoS token. CRO on this blockchain pays gas fees.
Cronos zkEVM
Cronos zkEVM is the latest addition to the Cronos ecosystem. This blockchain was built for maximum compatibility with Ethereum and other ZK rollup projects. Theoretically, tokens can be transferred between zk blockchains and Ethereum without the need for bridges. This is similar to how Cosmos has IBC to improve scaling and interoperabiity. However, unlike Cosmos, zk chains rely on the security of Ethereum. On this blockchain, zkCRO is the utility token for paying gas fees.
About LCRO
With all that out of the way, let me introduce you to Liquid CRO (LCRO). You can find LCRO on the Cronos EVM blockchain. LCRO is the creation of Veno.Finance. You can stake your CRC-20 version of CRO with Veno and they'll issue you LCRO in exchange. In the background, they bridge your CRC-20 CRO to the PoS chain and stake it. All staking rewards are accrued into the value of your LCRO. For this reason, LCRO will always have a higher value than the CRO token, and it increases the disparity over time. The value of LCRO is that you can trade it without having to wait for the 28 day unstaking period.
The Trouble With LCRO
I thought I could use LCRO to trade. But it turns out that it isn't very good for trading given its low liquidity and major slippage. I lost about $100 in value on a $500 LCRO trade. It was breathtaking. My intent was to hold all my CRO as LCRO so that I could earn staking rewards and also have liquidity. But until LCRO has greater trading volume, it would eat me up.
If I'm being honest, the value of LSTs (liquid staked tokens) is also in long term hodling. The major convenience of LSTs like LCRO is that you don't have to be constantly claiming staking rewards or wait for the unstaking period when you need to use your token. It makes for fewer transactions in your wallet while still benefitting from staking rewards.
About zkCRO
Another layer to the Cronos ecosystem is the zkCRO token. When you hold a zkCRO token, on the back end it is backed by LCRO on the EVM chain, which is backed by CRO on the PoS chain. Given that zkCRO is backed by LCRO, it means that zkCRO accrues staking rewards, which also means that its value is increasingly higher than that of CRO.
The Cronos zkEVM Wallet Adventure
The ability to hold my CRO on the zkEVM blockchain seems to me like the future of Cronos. Given the zkEVM's compatibility with Ethereum and other zk chains, I think this will be the future of Real World Assets (RWA) for Cronos. My problem was, how do I get zkCRO? I couldn't buy it directly. I admit, I made this more difficult on myself than it had to be.
The most direct path was buy zkCRO on Crypto.com app or their Onchain wallet. But zkCRO isn't available to buy, at least not for me. If I can't buy or swap into it, then I'd have to take an indirect route.
I tried transferring CRO from the EVM wallet into my zkEVM wallet, but that only deposited the CRC-20 token. You need zkCRO to pay for gas fees, so I could't even withdraw my deposited CRO. There is a Cronos zkEVM Bridge, which can take CRO on Ethereum and deposit zkCRO in the zkEVM wallet.
I should have explored the Cronos zkEVM bridge more. The easiest route would have been to buy CRO on Ethereum and then bridge it to the zkEVM wallet as zkCRO. But I didn't see that.
My overall hangup is that when you start going cross-chain, things get messy in the accounting. If I were to buy CRO on Ethereum and then bridge it to the Cronos zkEVM wallet, there's an issue with cost basis. I much prefer to transfer USDC between wallets so that I can put $1 as cost basis when needed. But this is pointless when you don't have any tokens to pay the gas fees.
In the end, I discovered and used Symbiosis.Finance to convert into zkCRO. This finally enabled me to do something with my wallet. Next, I bridged USDC from the EVM chain to the zkEVM chain, which I used to buy more zkCRO.
Now that I've solved that problem, I have to think about whether to move my DeFi over to the Cronos zkEVM chain.
DeFi on Cronos
I have a meaningful portion of my crypto savings in Tectonic.Finance as collateral for loans. The savings are largely positioned in WBTC and LCRO, with smaller amounts of other wrapped tokens. My thinking has been that, over the long term, both will increase in value. CRO simply has too many tokens for the price to moon, which is why staking is the key to getting value out of CRO, hence LCRO collateral.
The market cap of CRO is currently a bit above $4 Billion. According to DeFi Llama, the Cronos EVM TVL is about $415 Million. An Ethereum killer it is not.
In comparison, the Cronos zkEVM TVL is about $11 Million. Granted, Cronos zkEVM is the new kid on the block. In time, it could grow. After all, as a zk chain, it can theoretically draw value from Ethereum. Any RWA in the Cronos ecosystem will happen on the Cronos zkEVM chain.
On the other hand, zkCRO has a market cap of almost $17 Million. Compare that to HIVE's market cap of almost $57 Million.
The numbers aren't great for zkCRO as a token on its own at present. Yet, when you consider that it's a derivative of the entire Cronos ecosystem, and it has access to Ethereum liquidity, perhaps it will grow in time. I have already found Amply.finance, which offers DeFi lending on the zkEVM chain. The advantage there is that the deposit options include LSTs: zkCRO, vUSD, and vETH. In addition to whatever yield the platform offers, the collateral itself earns yield, which can be used to grow the line of credit.
The Frustration With Cronos
This is what is so frustrating with CRO. There are too many options. At its core, if I were simply looking at accumulation and staking rewards, then the DPoS chain would be sufficient. However, I also need access to credit on occasion. I am already established with Tectonic on the EVM chain. I am considering also building up credit on the zkEVM chain through Amply. It duplicates what I am already doing with LCRO collateral on Tectonic. The appeal is that some tokens on the zkEVM chain all earn yield on their own without DeFi, which means I can sit on the sidelines during a bear market and still earn simply by holding. Or, I could trade and the tokens would be doing double duty.
The good news is that I don't have to make a decision just yet. This is all ideation for now. But I can't help feeling that I could be doing more with what I have. I am set up to do well if the market kicks it into gear. The thought of building up on another blockchain is a bit daunting.