🗺️Cronos roadmap
Last updated
Last updated
Updated as of: Nov 2024
2024 has been a momentous year for the Cronos ecosystem! As we are well into the last quarter of the year, and prepare for 2025, it is time for a Cronos roadmap update.
One of the key developments of 2024 has been the launch of the Cronos zkEVM network, representing a new milestone in Cronos' journey towards scalability, interoperability, and lower transaction costs.
The Cronos ecosystem now encompasses 3 chains:
Cronos zkEVM is the new high-performance zero-knowledge (ZK) layer 2 network secured by Ethereum built on ZKsync technology, featuring a scalable zero-knowledge proof system, gasless transactions via native account abstraction, and native zkCRO, a yield-bearing token accruing CRO validator yield, as gas token. Cronos zkEVM already holds around USD $50M of Ethereum bridged funds.
Cronos EVM is the Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible, permissionless, programmable layer-1 built on Cosmos SDK, home to more than 500 project teams who have created decentralized applications powered by smart contracts. Cronos EVM uses CRO as the gas token. The Cronos EVM chain has securely delivered more than 120M transactions for more than 1.4M users to date, and secures around USD $500M of DeFi Total Value Locked and several billions of USD of total assets.
Cronos POS is the layer-zero network that guarantees the security of the Cronos ecosystem. It is the native protocol of the CRO utility token, secured by a vast network of more than 100 validators, representing around USD $1B in staked value. Since its inception, Cronos POS chain has securely validated around 37M transactions, with an average transaction fee of USD $0.00001.
All three chains leverage the ecosystem's utility token CRO, which is controlled by the decentralized governance of the Cronos POS chain. The CRO token serves different utility purposes across the chains, specifically:
For Cronos zkEVM: The CRO token serves as the underlying token for zkCRO, a yield bearing version of CRO token accruing CRO validator yield powered by Veno Finance staking protocols. zkCRO serves as the native gas token of the Cronos zkEVM layer-2 chain.
For Cronos EVM: The CRO token is used to pay for transaction fees (gas), which are collected by validators who play a crucial role in maintaining the security and integrity of the network. Transaction fees incentivize validators to participate in the network, ensuring that transactions are processed efficiently and securely.
For Cronos POS: The CRO is used to pay for transaction fees (gas), which are collected by validators. Additionally, CRO holders can participate in the network's governance by staking their tokens with validators, which enables them to vote on proposals and contribute to the decision-making process. In return, they earn rewards for maintaining the network, creating a sustainable and decentralized governance model.
The launch of a new network (Cronos zkEVM) has not been the only area of progress in 2024, far from it. Key developments include:
Cronos zkEVM
Launched the Layer 2 scaling solution Cronos zkEVM mainnet in alpha.
Launched zkCRO, vETH and vUSD, natively yield-bearing tokens supported by the entire Cronos zkEVM DeFi application ecosystem.
Conducted the Cronos zkEVM Pioneer Program, a groundbreaking loyalty program rewarding users who contribute to the growth of the ecosystem.
Established the underlying infrastructure and connected with ZKsync Elastic Chains to enable shared liquidity.
Integrated with liquid staking protocols and developed the foundational elements for Native Account Abstraction.
Onboarded key DeFi protocols that offer essential services like money markets and decentralized exchanges.
Improved Cronos Explorer to deliver blockchain explorer features in line with market best practices.
Participated in the broader ZKsync ecosystem's roadmap towards implementation of coordinated upgrades, layer-2 to layer-2 cross-chain messaging, optimization of proof batching.
Cronos EVM
Improved Cronos Explorer to deliver blockchain explorer features in line with market best practices.
Integrated IBC RPC data Into the Blockchain Explorer.
Improved transaction execution performance by 30% through address cache optimization and migration of parameters from JSON to protobuf.
Completed major node and RPC performance improvement thanks to MemIAVL, VersionDB. Notably, node improvements resulted in 10x faster block execution, 80% response time reduction and 65% reduction in storage size.
Incorporated the latest Cosmos SDK V0.47 and IBC Upgrades.
Published CRC21 Standard for IBC compatibility.
Explored parallel and optimistic execution of transactions.
Cronos POS
Surpassed initial CRO staking ratio target of 30%, and introduced new target at 60%. As the decentralized governance increased the staking ration target and the network's CRO emissions, nearly 40% of the total CRO supply is now being staked and further strengthening the network's security.
Explored the liquid staking module, and potential conditions that may allow the distribution of liquid staked CRO across multiple nodes.
Cronos is committed to building a financial ecosystem where fairness, openness, and community empowerment are at the core. We envision a future where decentralized finance is accessible to all, giving everyone the tools to take control of their financial destiny.
We envision that AI agents will be the main enabler of this future.
AI agents built on top of blockchain infrastructure will provide limitless opportunities.
Artificial intelligence (AI) stands poised to transform digital experiences in several ways. Initially, end-users will come to expect natural language interfaces for a wide array of services. Subsequently, they will be able to deploy agents capable of acting on their behalf, executing a spectrum of actions geared toward fulfilling specific objectives, whether financial or otherwise. These capabilities can serve as potent vectors for mainstream adoption. Concurrently, it is anticipated that a growing number of AI developers, who may not possess a profound understanding of blockchain technology, will nevertheless seek to harness its potential to empower their users to make or receive instantaneous payments or to monetize their own applications.
It is imperative that Cronos assumes a pivotal role in these evolutions.
Every day, users and developers will be able to create semi-autonomous AI agents powered by Cronos, assign goals to them, and delegate frequent and repetitive tasks to them.
For example, networks of AI agents will be able to:
Scan through the social media trends and identify cultural shifts. Use those insights to launch billion dollar memecoin concepts, complete with token economics and marketing.
Build a network of 1,000 AI content producers to promote a business venture, and collect the ad revenue collected by these AI influencers.
Combine real-time game data and social media discussions to improve risk pricing in decentralized sports wagering and create high-return strategies.
Organize events in 100 cities, recruit staff and compensate them in stable coins.
The proliferation of AI agents will create a powerful flywheel that will benefit the Cronos ecosystem and its users.
Cronos can already leverage a strong foundation and ecosystem to deliver on its vision:
Reliable, robust decentralized protocols.
Powerful community of creators, builders and 100 M users.
Bridge connectivity to all other major blockchain protocols (ZK gateway, IBC, third party bridge providers).
Rich dapp ecosystem.
The Cronos roadmap aims to overcome several challenges associated with fully powering a billion AI agent world:
Chain scalability.
Integration of LLM with Web3 developer tooling (LLM agnostic).
End to end dapp deployment and servicing.
Enhanced token economics to ensure the ecosystem's sustainability.
The Cronos roadmap can be summarized as follows:
First, all three Cronos chains will engage in a collaborative effort to develop a unified suite of Cronos AI capabilities. This strategic initiative encompasses the creation of end-user interfaces facilitated by AI (bots, "CRONOS ONE" portal), the introduction of developer infrastructure to empower AI-enabled applications, and ongoing collaboration with Crypto.com's AI Agent SDK as a strategic partner.
Additionally, extensive research and development endeavors will be initiated with the purpose of improving the fundamental operational efficiency of each blockchain network.
In the context of Cronos zkEVM, this entails active participation in the ZK Nation governance and development roadmap, and the evolution to at least Stage 0 Layer 2, and possibly Stage 1 status. For Cronos EVM, it involves harnessing the potential of parallel execution to its maximum capacity. In the latest benchmarking tests, parallel execution delivered up to 30,000 TPS when applied to Cronos EVM technology. In the case of Cronos POS, it entails ongoing involvement in the roadmap of Cosmos SDK, which is recognized as one of the fastest and most robust platforms in the blockchain industry.
Concurrently, the Cronos project will identify and implement stronger synergies between the three chains.
Using Cosmos SDK’s most recent modules, such as interchain accounts and liquid staking, cross-chain protocols like Veno Finance can be bolstered to enhance their security and decentralization. Interchain security, another Cosmos SDK module, could potentially reinforce the security of Cronos EVM through the extensive validator network of Cronos POS. Furthermore, simplifying cross-chain transactions between Cronos zkEVM and Cronos EVM is another significant priority for the upcoming year.
The token economics roadmap will combine a comprehensive set of mechanisms that will increase demand for Cronos blockchain networks while ensuring that supply is right-sized.
It is too early to describe precisely how token economics will evolve. We look forward to seeing community input and Cronos POS governance proposals on this topic.
App creators are the life and blood of blockchain ecosystems and, as the industry’s momentum accelerates, Cronos must compete to attract the most skilled and committed teams among them.
The brand new cronos.org/build page consolidates all the critical resources to help builders to get started.
Cronos’ renewed commitment to developers will involve the following key support areas in 2025.
World-Class Infrastructure Partners. The Cronos ecosystem encompasses network partners with stellar reputations such as Crypto.com, Google Cloud, AWS, Ubisoft, Exaion, Blockdaemon and Matter Labs. Moreover, it boasts a network of more than 100 validators that can be considered an industry benchmark, thanks to its many years of experience. More announcements are planned in 2024/25 that will instill further confidence in the network's ability to be here to stay and to perform under pressure.
Investments In Dev Tooling And Cross-Chain Bridging. 2024 has been a transition year as far as developer tools are concerned, with the gradual migration to homegrown solutions for the blockchain explorer (Cronos Explorer for zkEVM and EVM) and the developer portal (Cronos Developer Portal for zkEVM and EVM). The development team is committed to incorporating feedback and accelerating the speed of new feature launches in 2025.
Another pain point for developers in 2024, has been the relative lack of cross-chain bridges and communication protocols aside from IBC (between Cosmos chains) and the exchanges (Crypto.com). In addition to the native bridge between Ethereum and Cronos zkEVM, several independent bridges have been introduced or scaled up in 2024. Additional announcements are planned, and user navigation will be enhanced by the consolidation of all bridge connections on the primary bridge interfaces for zkEVM and EVM. Please refer to sections below for details.
Builders program. The builders program is a directory of curated solutions and discounted tools which are made available exclusively to Cronos ecosystem developers. The program was introduced in 2023, and will be revamped in 2025 with a new, more relevant and more exciting set of partners.
Grant program. Cronos ecosystem grants consist of milestone-based financial incentives, typically ranging from 5,000 to 20,000 USD, which encourage app creators to invest in Cronos and scale up their user base. The ideal candidate is an end-user application that has organically demonstrated the ability to acquire several hundred daily active users and has the potential to scale up to several thousand or more daily users with support. To enhance the program's effectiveness, the grant program will be augmented in 2025 to introduce mechanisms whereby projects can be incentivized retroactively according to the transaction fees that they generate on the network.
Marketing partnerships. According to many app creators, marketing support is the greatest possible contribution that a blockchain ecosystem can provide to a developer. 2025 will see continued investments into the various channels that enable Cronos to increase the visibility of new and existing apps: Cronos Newsletter, Cronos Discover, Twitter/X Amplification, Conference Sponsorships, Swag Packs.
Business accelerator and advisory. A revamped business acceleration program will be inaugurated in 2025. This initiative will consist in a more bespoke range of partnership arrangements between Cronos Labs and projects exhibiting exceptional growth potential - a "menu of options" throughout the year, rather than a few standardized cohorts a few times a year..
Cronos is firmly dedicated to the success of ecosystem builders. In addition to the initiatives listed above, a comprehensive array of novel initiatives and services are under development that will further bolster the support provided to the community.
Each Cronos chain will play a distinctive role in achieving the ecosystem’s goals, with a particular but not exclusive focus on certain use cases:
Cronos zkEVM is particularly well suited for use cases that benefit from deep liquidity and integration with Ethereum, all powered by AI agents, such as DeFi, trading, and cross-chain decentralized applications.
Cronos EVM remains the preferred network for community-based use cases around Web3 games and NFTs, thanks to its established communities and the innovative crop of AI agents empowering them. Additionally, Cronos EVM is the preferred network for developers who prioritize connectivity with the Cosmos SDK ecosystem via IBC.
Cronos POS is the preferred chain for many Enterprise applications thanks to its low transaction fees. This includes custodial payments and custodial NFT trading as well as AI-to-AI communication.
Cronos zkEVM will continue to contribute and benefit from major developments of the ZK Stack in partnership with ZKsync and other ZK Chains.
While ZKsync Era and Cronos zkEVM were the first two chains to go live in mainnet, many other ZK chains are moving rapidly towards testnet and/or mainnet in verticals such as DeFi (GRVT), social (Lens), and gaming (PlayFi, Sophon).
Together with ZK chains, Cronos zkEVM will prioritize the following features for late 2024 and early 2025:
Timeframe
Priorities
Late 2024/H1 2025
Core protocol
Operationalize the ZKsync governance and implement an updated, decentralized process to review and deploy protocol upgrades.
Migrate to ZK Gateway, which enables fast and secure L2 to L2 communications for token transfer and cross-chain dapps.
Implement proof aggregation across several L2 chains to further reduce transaction costs.
Publish transaction data onto Ethereum or an external Data Availability Layer, to graduate as Stage 0 chain.
AI capabilities
Launch Cronos Assistant, a news digest, notification and Q&A service over Telegram.
Launch CRONOS ONE, a crypto super agent that radically simplifies user access to a broad range of crypto dapps and use cases.
Develop bespoke implementations of account abstraction and paymaster specifically designed to address the unique requirements of artificial intelligence applications, such as "agent wallets."
Collaborate with Crypto.com to broaden the capabilities of Crypto.com AI Agent SDK for developers.
H2 2025
Core protocol
Optimize proof generation at the server level to further reduce transaction costs.
Explore decentralized validator networks to enhance censorship resistance and graduate as Stage 1 chain.
Deployment of attester committee to walk towards decentralization of the network.
Achieve consensus on L2 blocks.
Progressively introduce the ability to transform external nodes into main nodes.
Expand the DeFi ecosystem with apps and use cases that leverage hyperchain connectivity and composability.
AI capabilities
Expand the autonomy of CRONOS ONE, moving gradually from natural language instructions to enhanced agent autonomy over hours or days to achieve goals assigned by the end-user.
Develop new smart contract standards enabling AI developers to implement advanced on-chain business logic such as limit order book and escrow for agent payment.
Introduce identity protocol for humans and human-directed agents (eg, proof of humanity).
Collaborate with Crypto.com to broaden the capabilities of Crypto.com AI Agent SDK for developers.
Bridge connectivity will remain an important priority area:
Existing bridges
Native Ethereum <> Cronos zkEVM bridge, shared with all other ZK chains, secured by Ethereum.
Custodial cross-chain transfers via exchanges, such as Crypto.com
XY Finance third party bridge)
Rhino Finance (third party bridge)
Upcoming bridges
1 additional third party bridge to improve Cronos zkEVM's connection to Solana and other top chains
2 additional third party bridges connecting Cronos zkEVM to multiple EVM chains including Cronos EVM
Cronos EVM will continue to contribute and benefit from major innovations pioneered by the Cosmos SDK community.
Cronos EVM will prioritize the following features for late 2024 and early 2025:
Timeframe
Priorities
Late 2024/H1 2025
Core protocol
Introduce parallel execution of transactions, to increase transaction throughput and efficiency. Performance benchmarks have shown that parallel execution can increase Cronos EVM's TPS up to 30,000 transactions per second.
Optimize the virtual machine (VM).
AI capabilities
Similar to Cronos zkEVM, with more focus on Web3 gaming and NFT use cases.
H2 2025
Core protocol
Unlock broad availability of Cosmos SDK interchain accounts and interchain security.
Explore deeper synergies between Cronos EVM and Cronos POS.
Explore MEV optimization to improve gas fee mechanisms.
AI capabilities
Similar to Cronos zkEVM, with more focus on Web3 gaming and NFT use cases.
Bridge connectivity will remain an important priority area:
Existing bridges
Native IBC bridges, connecting Cronos EVM to Cronos POS and other Cosmos SDK chains
XY Finance (third party bridge)
Symbiosis (third party bridge)
Upcoming bridges
2 additional third party bridges connecting Cronos EVM to multiple EVM chains including Cronos zkEVM
Cronos POS will also continue to contribute and benefit from major innovations pioneered by the Cosmos SDK community.
Cronos POS will prioritize the following features for late 2024 and early 2025:
Timeframe
Priorities
Late 2024/H1 2025
Core protocol
Enable distribution of Cronos zkEVM's zkCRO staking among multiple validator nodes.
AI capabilities
Identify Cosmos SDK primitives / modules needed to support Agent to Agent transactions.
H2 2025
Core protocol
Unlock broad availability of Cosmos SDK interchain accounts and interchain security.
Explore deeper synergies between Cronos EVM and Cronos POS.
AI capabilities
Introduce Agent to Agent on-chain commerce protocol, a suite of tools that can be used when independent AI agents collaborate with each other (immutable on-chain communication records, escrow/staking).
Expand Agent to Agent on-chain commerce functionalities to position Cronos POS as a B2B platform for agent collaboration and task outsourcing.
The global crypto industry has made tremendous progress in 2023 and 2024, overcoming significant economic and regulatory headwinds. Several new use cases have found product/market fit in DeFi (eg, liquid staking, restaking, perpetuals) and outside DeFi (social, meme coins, inscriptions).
There are currently more than 600 million crypto holders worldwide, many of them frequent users of centralized crypto exchanges and now ready to explore self-custody and Web3 apps.
AI agents will unlock the next phase of mainstream adoption.
Picture a world soon where AI agents act as your personal guides, experts, and collaborators, effortlessly responding to your needs —all accessible through simple natural language. Couple this with the transparency and trust nature of blockchain, the possibilities for innovation and empowerment are limitless.
With the strong foundation and three-layer architecture, the Cronos ecosystem is poised to take the leap into this brave new world.
