What is Juno Network? (JUNO)

Introduction

Cosmos is a novel blockchain ecosystem composed of networks and tools, designed to address the issue of blockchain interoperability, enabling cross-chain interaction between different blockchains. It provides a set of tools and frameworks, such as the Cosmos SDK, allowing developers to create their own dApps and customized blockchains.

With the support of the community, Juno Network (referred to as “Juno”), a Layer1 public chain established by Cosmos SDK, officially launched in 2021. It is the first smart contract platform-type public chain in the Cosmos ecosystem, enabling developers to freely develop dApps using smart contracts similar to Ethereum.

Overview

Juno is an interoperable smart contract network. It offers a blockchain network service scalable to 10,000 TPS, built on the Cosmos SDK, and achieves network consensus through the Tendermint consensus algorithm. The network combines POS proof-of-stake issuance, managed by delegates who vote on network changes through on-chain governance.

As one of the cross-chain smart contract hubs in the Cosmos ecosystem, Juno allows developers to create and use cross-chain applications using the Rust programming language. Moreover, Juno serves as a pioneer in CosmWasm development and adoption, enabling developers to deploy secure and powerful cross-chain smart contracts in Rust.

To learn more about Cosmos, please click on the link to read “What is Cosmos?”

Key Technologies

Tendermint Consensus Algorithm

In the Tendermint consensus mechanism, each node has a different voting power, and nodes with a certain voting threshold are validators. Since decisions are based on the number of votes rather than the number of nodes, validators with more tokens will maintain the integrity of the Cosmos network governance. Tendermint has a special data port called the Application Blockchain Interface (ABCI), which connects different blockchains by translating programming languages and consensus mechanisms into the Tendermint standard. The entire process is transmitted and executed within the Tendermint protocol, which is also the source of Cosmos interoperability. Juno follows this consensus model, currently maintaining a network with 150 nodes and being staked with 58.34 million (52.6% of the total) $JUNO.

CosmWasm

CosmWasm is a WebAssembly (WASM) virtual machine (VM) enabled in the Cosmos SDK. WASM is an intermediate language that allows developers to compile code from their chosen programming language into a universally compatible code for the Cosmos development environment. Adding WASM to the Cosmos SDK also enables developers to securely run dApps written in multiple languages on the Cosmos blockchain. These dApps can also be integrated into the Cosmos ecosystem by using Juno as an intermediary platform, connecting with other applications and smart contract platforms within the ecosystem.

Team and Supporters

Team Information

Juno Network went live on October 1, 2021. With over 150 validators and more than 20 developers consistently contributing to the network, they are dedicated to integrating various technologies to ensure a smooth launch and user experience. As the community contributor base continued to grow, as of December 2023, there were 64 contributors making efforts to keep the network running smoothly.

According to the official documentation, Juno’s development is driven by developers, validators, and delegators from the Cosmos ecosystem, organized in a relatively decentralized manner. As per the whitepaper, in addition to individual contributors, the core development team consists of Core-1 and Core-2. Currently, the community is primarily operated by the Core-1 team, and approximately 2.74% of the initial Token issuance is attributed to Core-1.

Investors

Juno has limited disclosed financing information. The only available information indicates that a venture capital firm named Interop has invested in Juno. In addition to Juno, Interop has also invested in Noble, an application chain built for the native asset issuance within the Cosmos and IBC ecosystems, and Quicksilver Protocol, a cross-chain liquidity staking protocol for the Cosmos ecosystem and other ecosystems.

Other Support

The Cosmos community has provided significant support and assistance to Juno Network. Some key contributors come from the Tendermint team, and developers, validators, and delegators from the Cosmos ecosystem have participated in the early development of Juno.

Development Milestone

The development of Juno can be summarized into 4 stages:

• Early 2021: The initial token supply of Juno Network was released in February 2021, with over 95% of the supply allocated to the community.
• October 2021: Juno Network was officially launched. This marked a significant event in the Cosmos ecosystem, signaling the birth of a new decentralized, public, and permissionless cross-chain smart contract network.
• Development Phase: Over time, Juno Network has developed various applications and contracts, including the native AMM DEX (Decentralized Exchange) — Junoswap, DAO Creator — DAODAO, and the upcoming play-2-earn game — Strange Clan.
• Continued Expansion: Juno Network continues to expand its ecosystem, including offerings such as decentralized trading platforms, smart contract deployment, game development, and an NFT marketplace.

Ecosystem Progress

According to incomplete statistics from DeFILlama, as of December 2023, both Total Value Locked (TVL) and the number of developers in the Juno ecosystem have experienced a rollercoaster-like decline.

Source: https://defillama.com/chain/Juno?currency=USD&developers=true

As indicated on the Juno official website, as of the time of writing, Juno has built a diverse product ecosystem comprising Tooling, NFT, DeFi, GameFi, DEX, and more. The ecosystem boasts an array of nearly a hundred dApps. Let’s explore a few interesting applications on Juno.

Wallet — Keplr

Keplr is a non-custodial blockchain wallet that currently supports access to the entire Cosmos ecosystem, with Juno being one of them. Users can download Keplr on mobile or desktop, or add it as a plugin to their browser, and it boasts over 900,000 users. In addition to a clear user asset panel and common asset storage and transfer functions, Keplr allows users to stake tokens within the Cosmos ecosystem and participate in governance votes across different chains.

Source: https://www.keplr.app/

Tool — (de)NS

(de)NS is the domain system for the Juno Network, a smart contract blockchain project in the Cosmos ecosystem. It went live on the mainnet on January 20, 2022. The operations are straightforward; users need only input their desired domain name during registration and complete the contract payment to acquire the domain. Domains can be linked to social media such as email, Twitter, YouTube, and more. Users can manage and edit them or transfer them by clicking on the management option.

Source: https://dens.sh/

DeFi — WYND

WYND is a well-known DEX on Juno, and according to DeFILlama data, as of December 18, it holds the top position in TVL. WYND not only provides the exchange of assets on the Juno chain but also offers liquidity staking ($JUNO), liquidity deployment, Cosmos ecosystem bridging, and governance voting functionalities.

Due to space constraints, many interesting projects deployed on Juno haven’t been introduced. Readers can click on the link to the dApp showcase page for more Juno dApps.

Tokenomics

Juno Network is a smart contract platform fully owned and operated by the community. The core token is $JUNO, which is commonly used for network governance, transaction fee payments, incentive mechanisms, and security for the network. The majority of the initial genesis supply (over 95%) of $JUNO is distributed to stakers through a mechanism known as Stake Drop. Stake Drop is a distribution strategy where holders can earn new tokens by locking their existing tokens.

• Initial Circulating Supply: 33,036,534 $JUNO
• Initial Total Supply: 64,903,242 $JUNO‌
• Maximum Supply (reached 12 years later in 2033): 185,562,268 $JUNO
• Current Circulating Supply: 79,509,430 $JUNO

During the initial allocation, the distribution ratio was as follows:

Source: Juno Network Doc

Two notable points are worth mentioning:

1. In the initial allocation, 47% of $JUNO was directly distributed to stakers in the Cosmos ecosystem, attracting support and users from the Cosmos community to Juno.

2. JunoHacks, a hackathon organized by Juno, had 50% of the initial allocation directly unlocked to support the event. This significantly contributed to the vibrancy of the Juno developer community.

The 12-year lockup period for the core software development reserve fund ensures the continuous development and construction of the Juno community.

Additionally, $JUNO adopts a model of inflation rate decay, with the following details:

• The inflation rate in the first year is 40%.
• The inflation rate in the second year is 20%.
• The inflation rate in the third year is 10%.
• Throughout the 4th to the 12th year, there is a yearly decrease of 1% starting from 9%, until it reaches 1% in the 12th year.

Currently, the yield of staking $JUNO is approximately APR 16.65%, which needs to be higher than the inflation rate of 10% in 2023.

Competitive Analysis

Evmos is another Layer1 platform on Cosmos, serving as a direct competitor to Juno. Both engage in direct competition for resources within the Cosmos ecosystem. Let’s make a basic comparison on several aspects:

Technical Architecture and Design

• Evmos: Evmos is a blockchain compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), focusing on bringing the Ethereum ecosystem and tools into the Cosmos ecosystem. This means Evmos can support smart contracts and DApps written on Ethereum while leveraging Cosmos’ interoperability and scalability.
• Juno: Juno, on the other hand, is dedicated to providing an efficient and secure smart contract platform. It does not directly support the EVM but offers an independent environment supporting smart contracts written in various programming languages, aiming to optimize contract performance and flexibility.

In comparison, Evmos primarily attracts users and developers from the EVM, while Juno leans more toward the Cosmos community.

Goals and Use Cases

• Evmos: The main goal of Evmos is to facilitate interoperability between the Ethereum and Cosmos ecosystems, bringing Ethereum users and developers into Cosmos to enrich its ecosystem.
• Juno: Juno aims to create a decentralized, scalable, and efficient smart contract platform, focusing on supporting innovative blockchain applications and services.

Evmos directly competes with foundational infrastructures like Layer2 in the EVM ecosystem, while Juno concentrates on the internal Cosmos ecosystem.

Consensus Mechanism and Governance

• Evmos: As part of the Cosmos ecosystem, Evmos may adopt a similar consensus mechanism (like Tendermint), but the implementation may differ, especially concerning EVM compatibility.
• Juno: Juno also uses a Tendermint-based consensus mechanism, emphasizing community-driven governance, allowing token holders to participate in crucial decision-making through voting.

In this aspect, there isn’t a significant difference between the two.

Ecosystem and Applications

• Evmos: Due to its EVM compatibility, Evmos’s ecosystem may lean towards existing Ethereum applications and developer communities, providing them with a new platform while enjoying the advantages of Cosmos.
• Juno: Juno is dedicated to building an independent ecosystem, attracting developers to create new and innovative DApps on its platform.

Both have developed a relatively complete application system, but none have yet achieved widespread adoption beyond their communities.

Performance and Scalability

• Evmos: As Evmos bridges Ethereum and Cosmos ecosystems, its performance and scalability are influenced by the characteristics of both ecosystems, but it’s generally expected to provide higher efficiency than the traditional Ethereum network.
• Juno: Juno focuses on providing high performance and scalability through its unique smart contract platform, aiming to handle a large number of transactions and complex applications.

Juno is more suitable for fast-paced trading products, while Evmos is more suitable for EVM products migrating to Cosmos with the support of the Cosmos community.

Despite being two major smart contract platforms within Cosmos, their focuses differ, and while their target users overlap to some extent, their sources are not the same. In the Cosmos community and in the realm of fast-trading applications, Juno has a competitive edge. In the era of multi-chain, Juno not only faces competition from Evmos but also from other Layer1 and Layer2 platforms. Whether it can capture more market share will depend on the collective efforts of the community and the team.

Conclusion

With the continuous development and maturation of blockchain technology, Juno Network’s position within the Cosmos ecosystem has become particularly significant. Through its advanced smart contract capabilities, efficient consensus mechanism, and robust community support, Juno not only provides developers with a diverse, high-performance platform but also brings new possibilities for innovation and applications to the blockchain space. Facing challenges from competitors like Evmos, Juno continues to demonstrate its unique competitive advantages, especially in fast transaction processing and community-driven governance.

In the future, Juno Network may continue to expand its ecosystem, attracting more developers and users. It may also encounter new challenges and competition. However, it is precisely these challenges and competition that will motivate Juno to evolve and improve continuously, further solidifying its position within the Cosmos ecosystem and the broader blockchain world. For observers and participants interested in the blockchain space, the future development of Juno undoubtedly deserves ongoing attention.