Against the backdrop of soaring “gas” fees on the Ethereum network, blockchain platform Enjin is looking to tackle issues of scaling and interoperability.
According to a press release shared with CoinDesk on Wednesday, the platform will be releasing two new offerings it claims will redefine the non-fungible token (NFT) market.
Dubbed JumpNet and Efinity, the company says its two blockchain solutions will increase support for NFTs while removing Ethereum’s expensive gas fees from the equation altogether.
Gas refers to the Ethereum’s fee required to execute transactions on the network. The rising costs have prompted other networks to seek alternatives or create their own solutions. According to data from Glassnode, the average price of gas paid per transaction on the Ethereum network has risen roughly 16.5 times over a year from 10.6 in March 3, 2020, to around 175 today.
This has the potential to cause major headaches for a company like Enjin with developers building apps and games under a “freemium” monetization model.
Building bridges
JumpNet is an interoperable bridging network that will operate under a proof-of-authority (PoA) consensus mechanism. A PoA mechanism refers to a solely permissioned setting on a private blockchain where only invited parties can participate as nodes.
The bridging network will be rolled out in two phases, with the first enabling users to move their Enjin Coins (ENJ) from the Ethereum network to JumpNet. By transferring the tokens onto JumpNet’s bridging smart contracts, users will be able to lock up their tokens on Ethereum and then unlock a corresponding amount of tokens on the other side.
From there, users will be able to mint NFTs using the Enjin-developed ERC-1155 standard without the gas usually required. Users can then send and receive those tokens via Enjin’s native wallet or trade them on its NFT marketplace.
“Under phase two, we will enable seamless bridging between Ethereum and JumpNet for ENJ and all ERC-1155 tokens,” said Simon Kertonegoro, vice-president of Developer Success via Telegram. “This will allow our users to choose if they want free transactions on JumpNet or trustlessness on Ethereum and Efinity.”
To Efinity and beyond
Meanwhile, Efinity, which is still currently in development, is expected to become Enjin’s public blockchain.
Enjin says the move provides an opportunity for creators on Efinity to mint multi-chain tokens and move them to other compatible blockchains.
The project also aims to enable users of different blockchains to move their tokens on to Efinity using trustless bridging smart contracts.
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“These technologies will enable developers to reach mainstream users and provide modern experiences without worrying about unpredictable business overhead caused by gas fees,” said Enjin CTO Witek Radomski.
JumpNet will be rolled out on April 6, with Efinity expected sometime later this year, according to Enjin.