[Recap] Cycle Network’s 1st AMA

This is a recap of the key questions answered by Robbie, co-founder of Cycle, during the inaugural AMA of Cycle Network on May 3, 2024.

—What is Cycle Network, and how it could help every web3 user？
—Backstory about Cycle Network.
—What’s chain abstraction, and why is Cycle the leader in this track?
—Cycle’s roadmap.
—Campaign recap and upcoming campaign teaser.

Host: What is Cycle Network, and how it could help every web3 user？

Robbie: Cycle is an Omni Trustless Distributed Ledger with a Global State View of All Blockchains. By leveraging ZK Rollup+Extended DA, Cycle extends the trustless Native Bridge between L1 and L2 to all connected chains, enabling a native trustless cross-chain Rollup technology that seamlessly connects users across the entire chain.

Applications built on Cycle have the potential to become super apps, The capabilities provided by Cycle allow end users to perceive it as a simple transition between two applications, rather than the transition between multiple chains.

Devs can directly program for the entire WEB3 user base and data through Cycle, ushering in a new paradigm of omnichain ledger programming and unlocking the innovation potential of WEB3 applications.

Cycle’s mission is to decrease the fragmentation of blockchain, empowering users and devs to efficiently achieve on-chain applications at minimal cost, and fostering true mass adoption of blockchain technology.

Host: What is the story behind Cycle Network?

Robbie: Two main reasons led to the establishment of Cycle. Firstly, in 2022, numerous well-known cross-chain bridges were attacked. Wormhole lost $325 million, Horizon Bridge lost $100 million, and Nomad lost $190 million. With the development of multiple chains, no single chain can handle the global transaction volume. The infra for supporting secure messaging between chains was not yet fully established, giving hackers more opportunities. So, we started thinking about whether there was a highly secure solution to prevent such problems. and secondly, the collapse of FTX brought the industry into its darkest hour. Centralized exchanges, while providing users with a convenient experience, also face centralized human risks. It seemed like a joke that in a decentralized technology-driven industry, more assets were being entrusted to centralized organizations. Reflecting on these two major events, we realized that if we could achieve flexible and seamless interoperability of assets across multiple chains within a completely decentralized network, users wouldn’t have to constantly switch between chains, create numerous different wallet addresses, and struggle with management. And that’s why Cycle was established.

This vision has garnered tremendous support from many good friends, including the lead investor in the previous round, Vertex, and our current partners. We are grateful for their support during the bear market. We have also encountered more like-minded friends and investors along the way, such as Summer Capital, who has a strong focus on fintech, and Dr. Liu, a pioneer in cross-chain communication research who was the first to propose using ZK to protect inter-chain communication. Now, they are all leveraging their expertise to help Cycle go further, paving the way for Cycle’s present success.

Host: What’s chain abstraction, and why Cycle is currently the leader in this track?

Robbie: As more and more ly1 and Ly2 solutions emerge, the current Web3 experience is highly fragmented. Chain abstraction aims to design a more user-friendly experience by integrating liquidity, on-chain accounts, and application interface processes. The ultimate goal is to allow users to focus on valuable DApps without having to leave the interface due to gas fees, cross-chain issues, and maximize user experience and business value. Users can interact with DApps using any supported token from any supported chain without needing to worry about the underlying blockchain. It’s similar to how we use Facebook, ChatGPT, Google without needing to know where their servers are located.

Cycle’s chain abstraction solution, based on the Roll-up + Data Availability architecture, is at the forefront of the industry. cycle can effectively solve the problem of liquidity fragmentation across protocols and empower easy-to-use omni-chain dApp deployment across different Ly1 and Ly2 ecosystems.

In summary:
[1] Cycle can Save users 60% extra fee associated with multi-chain asset on-chain trading/ interaction via our Trustless Bridgeless Technology;

[2] Breaks the barrier of blockchains for developers to empower dApp upgrades at a low cost and connect all Web3 users without additional development on different chains;

[3] Optimizes user experience with AA abstraction, keyless login, paymaster upgrade, and social recovery, allowing better access for Web2 users.

Host: Can you share the roadmap of Cycle?

Robbie: Cycle launched its initial testnet in February 2024, and as of now, we have successfully deployed two testnet versions, accumulating nearly 200,000 network interactions. We would like to express our gratitude to the supportive community. It is evident that our current testnet already supports five EVM-based ecological chains. Cycle’s technical architecture enables rapid integration with any EVM, whether ETH’s L2, BSC, Polygon, or even BTC’s L2. For Cycle, establishing interconnection between chains only takes 1–2 days.

We are preparing to launch a testnet that bridges the BTC ecosystem. Initially, it will support the interoperability of BRC20 assets and EVM. Additionally, it will integrate with established BTC L2 solutions such as EngineLayer’s AVS decentralized sequencer. This integration will enhance the security of data synchronization across multiple chains and ensure readiness for the arrival of our mainnet.

Cycle plans to release the mainnet in Q3 and simultaneously launch a groundbreaking product that will attract more projects and developers. Please stay tuned! As for exchanges, you won’t have to wait too long. After all, with the mainnet live, we aim to provide more freedom and options for obtaining Cycle tokens.

Host: Can you give me an overview of Cycle’s past activities, rewards, and future plans?

Robbie: Since the launch of Cycle’s testnet, we’ve held several events, including Piggy Bank V0.2-V3. We had thousands of participants and awarded prizes like whitelists, Piggy boxes, and points.

In version 0.2, we had over 3.6K participants, with more than 3.0K whitelist registrations.

In version 2, we had over 45K participants and over 138K mints, with a high TPS of 389.

In version 3, the limited 20K Piggy Genesis Boxes were minted by participating users within just 7 hours.

The prizes will be exchanged for Cycle points in the future. We plan to launch the mainnet this year, and at that time, points can be converted into Cycle tokens.

A new version of the points system will be released soon, serving as our main platform for organizing tasks and activities. This ensures that every action and interaction is valuable.

In a few days, we will also hold a new points campaign, connecting with more blockchains and introducing new gameplay options for users to manage and mint assets across different chains.