According to Cointelegraph, decentralized finance (DeFi) network Kujira and several of its major ecosystem projects have agreed to merge into a single entity called the 'Rujira Alliance' to build a new application layer for the cross-chain liquidity protocol THORChain.
The new application layer is envisioned as a significant DeFi project that could potentially rival Solana, according to THORChain founder John-Paul Thorbjornsen, also known as 'JP THOR.' Thorbjornsen stated in a Sept. 10 post that the project would feature a 'combined treasury' and that he would lead the project for the foreseeable future, allowing the Kujira team to focus on developing the Rujira app layer.
Thorbjornsen emphasized that the new app layer would offer a comprehensive suite of DeFi products, including order books, perpetual contracts, a token launchpad, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), lending, and money markets. These products will be integrated with eight different blockchain networks. He also noted that THORChain had addressed the issue of maximum extractable value (MEV) by splitting income between consensus and liquidity, resulting in a better user experience with no MEV on THORChain.
Kujira merged with three key ecosystem partners—Fusion, Unstake, and Wink—to create the Rujira Alliance. The new app layer will be powered by a new token called RUJI. The merge will not affect the functionality of Kujira’s existing KUJI token or its native blockchain network, as merging into RUJI will be entirely voluntary.
Kujira faced controversy on Aug. 2 when its founding team revealed liquidity issues stemming from exploits, socially engineered attacks, and ecosystem fallouts. This led to a 70% drop in the value of its native KUJI token within 24 hours. As of now, the KUJI token is trading at $0.38, down 13% on the day and over 91% from its all-time high of $5.56 recorded on Dec. 13 last year.
Following the announcement of the new app layer, THORChain’s native RUNE token rallied by as much as 8%, rising from $3.60 to $3.89. THORChain, a layer-1 blockchain and decentralized exchange (DEX), focuses on facilitating asset swaps across layer-1 blockchains. It was launched in June 2022 and is built on Cosmos-SDK and Tendermint.
