The Web3 world is always evolving, and it's becoming increasingly important for developers to adapt and optimize their projects to provide the best user experience possible. This is especially true for those building massive, consumer-facing crypto apps: games, social networks, rewards platforms, and more.
One of the greatest points of friction for new Web3 users is the concept of gas. To those who are used to Web2 applications, the idea of needing to buy a completely unrelated -- and possibly highly volatile -- token just to interact with applications is a completely foreign concept.
Given this, we built a feature to allow developers to choose which token is considered the native token for their chain, and it's poised to streamline the way users interact with decentralized applications.
The Status Quo
As it stands, most rollups use the native token of their settlement layer for gas fees. For instance, Optimism and Arbitrum both utilize Ethereum's native token (ETH) for this purpose. This approach, however, is not always ideal, especially when you consider the wide range of use cases that exist in the blockchain ecosystem.
Crypto-native users will have ETH or MATIC on-hand, but there are millions of potential Web3 users who find it too difficult, confusing, or costly to buy a separate token just to pay for actions within an app.
Custom Native Tokens: A Better Way Forward
Enter Caldera's customizable native tokens. With this feature, app-rollup developers can choose which token is considered the "native token" for their chain. This allows users to see their balance in their preferred token within Metamask, and pay for gas fees using the same token. This significantly improves the user experience, as they no longer need to hold a separate gas token just to interact with the network -- projects can allow their users to pay for gas using the governance or utility token that their users already hold.
By giving developers the flexibility to choose their native token, Caldera chains can breathe new life into existing tokens by adding tons of additional utility. For example, if a project has its own token, developers can now enable users to pay fees in that token. This makes the token more valuable and more integrated into the platform.
Custom Native Tokens in Action
The customizable native token feature is already live on Caldera rollups!
In one of our testnet rollups running on Polygon mainnet, we have successfully implemented USDC as the native currency. This means users can now pay for transactions using a stablecoin, improving usability and accessibility .
You can play around with the testnet by requesting funds at our testnet page.
Want to Launch Your Own Chain?
Caldera is already running several chains in production, on mainnet. To launch your project on a production rollup, please get in touch or check out our website at caldera.xyz
Join the Community
-
Twitter: https://twitter.com/calderaxyz
-
Discord: https://discord.gg/9KDXrWE48t