As we enter 2023, we’d like to take a moment to reflect on some of the key moments in the launch and development of Canto.

Canto’s journey dates back to March of last year when several contributors got together and discussed the vision for Canto: a DeFi focused L1 powered by Free Public Infrastructure (FPI). Contributors saw issues with the existing incentives for liquidity providers, and realized that core DeFi infrastructure is optimal when operating as FPI funded by the network.

At the time, there was no other blockchain that operated in this way, and contributors saw an opportunity to create something new and innovative. So, along with other contributors, we decided to turn our thoughts into actions and began building the initial version of Canto.

Fast forward to July, contributors unveiled Canto to the public and announced the first major community event: Settlers of Canto. This was Canto’s testnet event, and while it only ran for a single weekend, it was exciting to see tens of thousands of users interacting with Canto’s FPI. Importantly, we received valuable user feedback throughout the event and saw first hand the broader community join in on the discussion surrounding sustainable infrastructure and incentives.

Canto mainnet was launched 1 month later, and it began to quickly gain traction.

In less than 1 month, Canto’s TVL grew to over $100M. 2 month’s later, Canto’s TVL reached $150M+.

However, while TVL growth is amazing, what’s been more meaningful to us is the growth of the Canto Ecosystem.

Canto Ecosystem

Since the launch of Canto, a primary focus of contributors has been growing the ecosystem. A blockchain cannot thrive without a strong community of builders. We’ve seen strong growth in the number of teams developing projects on Canto, and this number is increasing month over month.

NFTs have started to grow on Canto – projects such as Canto Longnecks and CanToes have been picking up traction. Canto Longnecks have already minted out and experienced over 1.3M $CANTO of trading volume on secondary markets such as provenant.art and Alto.

We have also seen several projects being developed across DeFi, Gaming, Infrastructure, and other sectors. These projects include an auto-harvesting protocol, a decentralized naming service, and even an on-chain game of roulette.

The Canto Online Hackathon, which runs on a monthly basis, has also played a major role in growing the Canto ecosystem. It's been amazing to watch 35+ projects actively developed through the Hackathon, and we are excited to see the many more to come in 2023.

Free Public Infrastructure

In the 5 months since launch, it has been exciting to see significant usage of Canto’s FPI.

The total trading volume across the Canto DEX’s 5 LP pairs has been over $650M. The best part is, this has saved users a significant amount of money because the Canto DEX has zero swap fees.

Assuming a fee of 0.3% for volatile pairs on most DEXs, and 0.05% for stable pairs, over $1M has been saved due to no swap fees over this period.

$NOTE, Canto’s unit of account, has also seen significant traction. In order to introduce Note into circulation, users must borrow it from the Canto Lending Market, and provide a stablecoin asset as collateral. Over the past 5 months, there has consistently been over $15M Note in circulation, and as of today, there is over $18M Note in circulation.

Key Canto Upgrades

Since Canto’s launch, contributors have not lost sight of Canto’s vision, and have continued to improve Canto’s FPI. One of our key focuses has been engaging with users to understand their pain points. We have spoken with hundreds of users through platforms such as Twitter and Discord.

One of the most common issues users have brought up is that they have found it difficult to bridge assets onto the Canto network. To help users improve their bridging experience, contributors reached out to the team at Synapse Protocol, and Canto was successfully integrated with the protocol last month.

Additionally, after compiling specific feedback on the Canto FPI experience, we started working alongside other contributors to develop a second version of the interface for Canto’s FPI. We rolled V2 out in December, and included features such as an interactive walkthrough on the bridging flow.

Another initiative we began with several contributors in 2022 is the development of CIP-1: Contract Secured Revenue (CSR). Ultimately, a network’s ability to attract developers is only as strong as the incentives it provides to them. We are excited by the possibilities of how CSR will change the way smart contract developers earn from their work, and provide incentives in a manner that aligns with Canto’s vision for Free Public Infrastructure. CSR is planning to launch very soon, stay tuned!

As a team, building Canto has been a transformative experience for us. We are thankful for the opportunity to work with amazing contributors who believe in the vision of Canto. 2022 has been a strong year for Canto, and we look forward to an even more prosperous year in 2023.

About Plex

Plex is a group of builders with backgrounds in HFT, mechanism design, and software development. We are currently exploring the intersection of decentralized finance and social coordination. If interested in collaboration, please reach out at twitter.com/Plex_Official.