What Is Moonriver

Before we dive into Moonriver, it is essential to know about its big brother, Moonbeam. Built on the Polkadot Network, Moonbeam is a permissionless, open-source, developer-orientated blockchain with an Ethereum-compatible smart contract platform. Moonbeam makes it easy for developers to build natively interoperable applications. It does this by providing a full EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) implementation, a Web3-compatible API, and bridges that connect Moonbeam to existing Ethereum networks.

As per Polkadot/Kusama design, code will be tested and experimented on Moonriver before deployment on Moonbeam. Given the success of Moonriver to date, the team has decided that Moonbeam and Moonriver will now be independent of each other and unique in their own way. Moonbeam’s code will still be experimented on Moonriver, but the two infrastructures will essentially have their own desirable functionalities and communities!

Moonriver has recently secured a Kusama parachain slot, and Moonbeam aims to deploy on Polkadot later this year, 2021. This has been a massive milestone for the team, and rightly so. As a parachain on the Kusama Network, Moonriver will benefit from Kusama’s relay chain’s shared security and integrations with other chains connected to Kusama. The same principle will apply to Moonbeam on Polkadot. It is important to note that Kusama was created for testing code before deploying on Polkadot. Both Polkadot and Kusama are identical to each other.

For the remainder of this article, I will just refer to Moonriver and Kusama, but please be aware that the same theory applies to Moonbeam and Polkadot.

What Is Moonriver Solving

Moonriver is solving two mains issues that are plaguing the cryptocurrency sector.

Network congestion on Ethereum – slow transaction speeds and high transaction costs are still a concern for Ethereum. In addition, there is no clear indication of when Ethereum will finally make the switch to Proof of Stake.

Cross-chain Interoperability – the inability for blockchains to communicate with each other. New chains are being developed, aiming to solve Ethereum’s problems, but these new chains lack interoperability, creating more issues.

Moonriver and Ethereum

Moonriver allows Ethereum based projects to easily connect and interact with all parachains within the Kusama ecosystem. So how does this happen? First, let’s look at Moonriver’s EVM. Moonbeam and Parity Technologies developed an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). An EVM, module (Frontier) is one of many “pallets” that can be easily installed in a substrate base blockchain.

This EVM simply enables new and existing Ethereum based projects to easily build on or transfer their entire project onto Moonrivers platform. There are thousands of Ethereum based projects that suffer from network congestion and its side effects. Moonriver provides an escape route and solves these issues, all without changing any solidity-based code. Genius.

Features and Benefits

Cross-Chain Interoperability

By implementing the EVM (described above), Moonriver enables Ethereum to interact with other chains within the Kusama ecosystem. This interoperability is a huge advantage for users and projects as it allows for data and asset transfer, price discovery, and market liquidity.

Thanks to Moonbeam and Parity, each one of the one hundred parachain slots on both Polkadot and Kusama will have the option of implementing a full EVM onto their Substrate based blockchain! So imagine one hundred different blockchains, Ethereum compatible, all communicating with one another under the same roof!

In addition, Polkadot has created a cross-chain messaging service that will enable all parachain’s to communicate with one another. This will allow them to share trusted logic with each other.

Transfer of Tokens

Moonriver allows for the movement of tokens from other chains into Moonbeam-based tokens. Use cases for these tokens could be Defi and other applications on the platform. These assets can either be transferred back to Moonriver or sent to other chains depending on user requirements.

Permissionless DAPP’s

Decentralize applications (DAPP’s) can be migrated from Ethereum straight onto Moonriver without any difficulties.

Advanced API

Moonbeam also provides a powerful API that allows for enhanced Web 3.0 access and ease of use when deploying Solidity smart contracts and DAPP’s.

On-Chain Governance

Unlike Ethereum, Moonriver will provide on-chain governance features based on Substrate functionality. These on-chain governance modules include functionality to power upgrades to the blockchain itself based on weighted token voting. Any on-chain decisions made by the community can be implemented without the need for any forks.

Unified Accounts

Unified Accounts simply allows a user to avail of the features provided by both Substrate and the EVM by holding one single H160 address. Yes, the user gets the best of both worlds from the Polkadot/Kusama & Ethereum Ecosystems, with on-chain governance, staking, and cross-chain interoperability features.

Direct Advantages For Developers

Developers can deploy existing solidity smart contracts to Moonbeam and gain access to Polkadot’s growing market. In addition, Moonbeam allows you to keep the same tools, programming languages, and accounts you already use.

When migrating to Moonriver, there is no need to re-write or configure any contracts. Furthermore, everything can be tested in a safe testing environment that is 100% compatible with the Ethereum developer toolchain!

Moonriver accepts all familiar languages such as Solidity, essentially anything that compiles to Solidity bytecode.

Use Existing Tools and DAPP Frontends to connect popular tools like MetaMask, Remix, and Truffle via a complete set of Web3 RPC endpoints. Also, well-known Javascript libraries such as Web3.Js or Ethers.Js can help developers.

Token Utility

➤ Transaction fees on the network
➤ On-chain governance mechanism
➤ Proof of Stake – chain security
➤ Supporting the gas metering of smart contract execution

Tokenomics

Very attractive tokenomics and vesting schedule. No Private Sales, VC’s or Seed Rounds
30% tokens are allocated to the parachain slot (community-owned)
40% of supply held for future Initiatives and Parachain Slot’s

Total Supply: 10 million
No max supply as the project is Inflationary due to block rewards
Please see further detail in the images below.

Partnerships

➤BwareLabs
➤Polkamarkets
➤Seascape
➤Subscan
➤Equilibrium
➤OnFinality

Integrations

➤Yuser Inc.
➤Lido (Integrate and collaborate)
➤CREAM Finance
➤Figment
➤Impossible Finance
➤Covalent
➤Jambb
➤myNFT
➤Waffle
➤Mars
➤Cardinal Entertainment
➤OpenZeppelin
➤API3
➤Convergence Finance
➤Polkassembly
➤Axelar
➤Frax Finance
➤Orion Protocol
➤Balancer
➤Human Protocol
➤IDEX
➤Chainlink
➤Band Protocol
➤Ocean Protocol
➤ChainBridge

Investors

➤Arrington XRP Capital
➤Coinbase Ventures
➤Fenbushi Capital
➤Hashkey
➤KR1
➤Signum Capital
➤IOSG
➤A195
➤Binance Labs
➤Coinfund
➤CryptoDiscover
➤D1 Ventures
➤GBV
➤Moonboots Capital
➤Parafi Capital

Incentives

Staking Rewards – check out link https://moonbeam.network/tutorial/stake-movr/
Collators Rewards (block producers)

Roadmap

The team are currently working on the following

➤ Continuous integration of projects and deployment Moonriver
➤ Kusama integration which includes work required to support relay chain functionality  – staking from Moonriver based smart contracts. 
➤ Asset integrations to other parachains

Team

Team size – 33 employees
Developers – 9

Derek Yoo (CEO of Moonbeam & PureStake) – https://www.linkedin.com/in/derek-yoo-8a050/
As a serial as-a-service technology entrepreneur, Derek has been building successful software and cloud companies for more than 20 years.

Stefan Mehlhorn (COO at PureStake &. Moonbeam –https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefanmehlhorn/.
Technology executive and entrepreneur with a broad skillset and international expertise. He is experienced in leading multi-functional and multi-cultural teams in high-growth, rapid pace innovation environments.

Verdict

Moonriver is like the ultimate hybrid blockchain. Combining the robust architecture, high security, and true decentralization of Kusama with Ethereum’s smart contract capabilities, and large ecosystem Moonriver is a feature-rich, multi-chain beast.

The value that Moonriver is bringing is something that crypto land has been crying out for. Moonriver combines the unique qualities of Kusama’s ecosystem with Ethereum’s smart contract compatibility to solve two main issues, cross-chain interoperability, and network congestion.

Moonriver has a specular team. They have been executing milestones in a timely fashion and have gained the respect of the wider crypto community. I take my hat off to the entire team.

In my option, this project is here to stay. Furthermore, I see it embedded in the top twenty in the near future (not financial advice). The technology and value presented cannot be denied and should be considered an asset, not just to token holders but also to projects that want a quality infrastructure to build on.

Please see the fundamental analysis results summary below.