Injective Protocol

What is Injective (INJ)?

Injective is a layer 1 blockchain protocol purpose-built for finance, allowing anyone to build and use best-in-class financial dApps (decentralized applications).

As the first blockchain to offer auto-executing smart contracts, Injective pushes the boundaries of what’s possible while pioneering interoperability. All dApps within the Injective ecosystem can natively access sovereign layer 1 chains like Ethereum, Cosmos, and Solana.

Developers on Injective can quickly build sophisticated dApps with plug-and-play modules that enjoy deep liquidity support from day one. The project is home to many innovative features, including the world’s first on-chain derivatives orderbook. Various sorts of dApps are made possible by Injective’s diverse Web3 modules and primitives.

When was Injective Launched?

Injective’s mainnet was launched in November 2021 and is intended to be a sector-specific blockchain heavily optimized for DeFi applications. In just its first year, Injective launched an interchain smart contract layer and processed over 130 million transactions.

The project also became one of the top Cosmos IBC zones and was integrated with several other prominent projects to push the envelope of interoperability. Injective has significant capital backing from Binance, Pantera, Jump Crypto, and Mark Cuban. According to Crunchbase, it received more than $56 million in five funding rounds.

Who are the Founders of Injective?

Injective, formerly known as Injective Protocol, is the product of Injective Labs. The company was founded by Eric Chen and Albert Chon.

Chen was formerly a researcher and trader at a prominent fund, where he led trading in the blockchain industry and invested in some of its leading firms. He is widely considered an expert in both blockchain protocols and traditional finance.

Injective Labs’ other founder, Albert Chon, serves as the company’s CTO. A graduate of Stanford University, he had a stint at Amazon and is known for pioneering the ERC-1178 Ethereum token standard.

How Does Injective Work?

Injective is a permissionless public blockchain developed using the Cosmos SDK. This means that it can leverage IBC and enjoy interoperability with the Cosmos ecosystem. It is also compatible with Ethereum, Solana, Klaytn, Algorand, and Aptos, thanks to Wormhole integration.

CosmWasm allows smart contracts to be implemented on Injective and opens the door for seamless multi-chain smart contract transactions. Developers can also take advantage of Injective’s unique ability to automatically execute smart contracts. This truly sets Injective apart from the rest of the pack.

What makes Injective Unique?

Injective is uniquely positioned as a blockchain dedicated to finance. In fact, one of the first major dApps on Injective was Injective Pro, a derivative orderbook DEX (decentralized exchange) that took only 30 days to reach $1 billion in trading volume. In contrast, top Ethereum DEX Uniswap took over a year to hit that milestone, and leading CEX Kraken took three and a half years.

Injective Pro is currently in its second iteration and is considered one of the most powerful DEX platforms in the blockchain industry. It even contains a “lite” version of the Injective Bridge, allowing assets to be brought across from Ethereum and other Cosmos IBC blockchains.

For dedicated bridging, however, the ecosystem also features Injective Bridge V2. This project brings cross-chain compatibility for the entire DeFi ecosystem to interact with Cosmos and Ethereum. It supports any ERC-20 token from Ethereum and includes many Cosmos Zones like Osmosis and Terra.

Gas fees were covered by Injective for first-time Injective Bridge users transferring from Ethereum. Transferring into IBC-enabled chains, meanwhile, carries a permanent zero bridge fee.

How is the Injective Network Secured?

Developed using the Cosmos SDK, Injective uses Tendermint, the Cosmos consensus mechanism, to power its proof-of-stake system. Tendermint is a product of Byzantine Fault Tolerance design, meaning that the system can remain resilient even if a third of its validator nodes fail or act maliciously.

Thanks to instant finality, Tendermint also makes Injective extremely fast. In fact, Injective has the potential to sustain a transaction throughput in the region of 10,000 transactions per second (TPS).

As a proof-of-stake system, Injective relies on validators to bond INJ to the protocol. They then receive rewards based on how much INJ they have chosen to lock up, providing an incentive to perform well.

What is the Use of INJ?

INJ is the native coin of the Injective layer 1 blockchain and is used for network security via staking and protocol governance. INJ plays a critical role in the latter because all governance proposals on Injective pass through a DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) governance vote.

How Much INJ is In Circulation?

INJ has a circulating supply of 73 million, with a maximum supply of 100 million INJ. However, the INJ supply is flexible since the project features a unique token burn auction mechanism.

60% of all fees collected from dApps on Injective are auctioned off weekly via a buyback and burn system. It is claimed that Injective has the highest token burn ratio in the industry. While this system continues, INJ could be considered deflationary, although there is inflationary pressure from emission through block rewards.

How Do You Buy INJ?

Given Injective’s interoperability, it may come as no surprise that you can buy ERC-20 INJ tokens on various Ethereum-based decentralized exchanges, such as Uniswap and SushiSwap. It’s also possible to buy INJ on many cryptocurrency exchanges, including Injective backers Binance.

How Do You Store INJ?

Since Injective is interoperable with Ethereum and Cosmos IBC, you have a wide array of wallet options to store INJ. Some of the most popular browser extension wallets for INJ include Metamask, Keplr, Leap, and Cosmostation, while Ledger and Trezor are excellent hardware options.

Is INJ a Good Investment?

Injective is a highly customizable blockchain powerhouse with the infrastructure, security, and speed required to build financial plumbing that could easily eclipse TradFi.

Furthermore, interoperability with other blockchains is key to growing the industry as a whole, and Injective also expands its reach in that domain.

If it can continue to develop and remain clear of any regulatory pressure that the panicked establishment may levy in order to defend itself from disruption, Injective could very well be the future of finance.