Beyond the Chain is an exploratory series on Twitter Spaces hosted by DIA, where they invite new and upcoming Layer 1 and Layer 2 blockchains to learn about their vision and technology. CrossFi CMO Leo Kahn was invited to speak to the DIA team about what distinguishes CrossFi from the rest of the Layer 1 blockchain ecosystem. 

This blog is an overview of what was covered in the episode. 

1. Tell us about CrossFi?

CrossFi is a Layer1 blockchain that aims to bridge the gap between traditional banking and crypto payments. There is a huge segment of users, especially crypto enthusiasts, who need the means to pay their everyday expenses with crypto. Then, another significant segment of unbanked users do not use traditional banks but want access to financial services like cross-border money transfer, currency exchange, etc. CrossFi’s mission is to create an ecosystem that enables Defi and traditional banking services to operate synchronously. That can mean instant payments through a non-custodial crypto wallet or trading and staking crypto, all from one app or dApp. 

2. How important is it to be EVM-compatible? 

To make our vision a reality, CrossFi started by building its own L1 blockchain to power 1 million transactions per second. Then, we added top-of-the-line building tools for developers to build more products on our blockchain. Because we are in the business of building bridges, cross-chain functionality is at the core of our platform. EVM compatibility gives us cross-chain access and tooling for our developers to create seamless dApps on our platform. Being EVM compatible makes our blockchain future-proof to the advances in the Web3 space. 

3. What does it mean to integrate with traditional banking for CrossFi? And what does it provide for the un-banked?

Today, no solution can provide instant and low-fee payments from a non-custodial crypto wallet using traditional payment methods. There have been companies in the past that have promised a crypto payment card to use on conventional POS and failed. CrossFi has made this possible with an end-to-end solution starting with our L1 blockchain, our native app and dApp, and our native coins MPX and XFI. Our financial solutions provide every service a user can need, like virtual payments, bank transfers (SWIFT, IBAN), currency exchange, and swaps, and provide liquidity, stake, yield farming, and much more. CrossFi will open doors for the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies at a scale we have never seen before. 

4. Tell us about the two token structures of CrossFi.

CrossFi has two native coins, Mint Power (MPX) and CrossFi (XFI), essential tools for interaction between the CrossFi Chain network and its users.

Mint Power (MPX):

• Governance coin
• A unit of computing power required to mine XFI coins through staking
• A tool for fee payment for using Cosmos-based services

CrossFi (XFI):

• A utility coin that provides access to all dApps, products and services launched on the CrossFi Chain
• Payment method in the Cross Finance mobile app
• A fee payment tool in the Cosmos part and EVM part

5. What will be the role of oracles in an L1 blockchain?

The decentralized and robust nature of the blockchain has its benefits and challenges. One challenge is having a decentralized connection to the off-chain world to execute on-chain smart contracts using information like the price of Bitcoin, Ethereum, stocks, and real-world currencies. Oracles offers an open-source, customizable, and transparent cross-chain link for Web3 to power such operations. The decentralized oracle has a built-in fail-safe so that if one source is compromised, other sources continue to offer consistent and reliable data for the blockchain. An oracle like DIA also offers developers no-code tools to autonomously create and manage oracles with complete transparency, customization and control. For the CrossFi ecosystem, an oracle is the building block of a robust and scalable network. 

6. How can developers participate in testing and building the CrossFi chain?

CrossFi successfully launched its EVM testnet on Coinlist on Feb 20, 2024, for Validators in stage 1 and then Developers and Users in the later stages. Joining the EVM testnet on Coinlist is the best way to participate in helping build a robust ecosystem on CrossFi. We are excited to kick off our testnet and can’t wait to see the fantastic things our builder community creates on this next-gen platform.