Moonriver Smart Contract Platform Completes Launch Sequence and is Live on Kusama

Balance Transfers and EVM Are Now Enabled for Collator Staking, Project Deployments, Token Transfers, and Crowdloan Reward Distribution

Singapore – August 26, 2021 – MoonbeamGo to page https://moonbeam.network/, the Ethereum-compatible smart contract platform on Polkadot, announced today the launch completion of MoonriverGo to page https://moonbeam.network/networks/moonriver/, its community-led sister network on Kusama. Moonriver is now live. In completing the final phase of the launch processGo to page https://moonbeam.network/, balance transfers and EVM functionality have been enabled and the network is fully functional. Moonriver is the first EVM-compatible parachainGo to page https://moonbeam.network/education/what-is-a-parachain/ on Kusama, and the only blockchain to deliver a seamless experience through full Ethereum compatibility. With this step, the 60+ project and integration teamsGo to page https://moonbeam.network/community/projects/ in the Moonbeam ecosystem can start deploying their smart contracts and DApps to the Moonriver network in a permissionless fashion.

Earlier today, two motions passed governance: the first, enabling a runtime upgrade to enable balance transfers and the EVMGo to page https://moonriver.subscan.io/referenda/18, and the second, distributing rewardsGo to page https://moonriver.subscan.io/referenda/21 to the crowdloan participants who helped bootstrap the network as a parachain on Kusama. All users and token holders now have access to Moonriver’s full functionality, including token transfers, nominating collators, receiving staking rewards, and voting on referenda.

Here’s a look at what was included as part of this upgrade.

Moonriver is the First Fully-Functioning EVM Deployment to Kusama

The Moonriver parachain now includes the first functional EVM deployed to the Kusama network, including its comprehensive Ethereum compatibility. This compatibility includes the Moonriver unified account structure (MOVR addresses are the same as ETH addresses), a Web3 RPC and precompiles (unbeatable compatibility with Ethereum-native tooling and integrations), and of course, the dozens of projects and DAppsGo to page https://moonbeam.network/community/projects/ that plan to expand to Moonriver in the coming weeks.

Balance Transfer Enablement

Now MOVR tokens can be freely moved between addresses. While the Moonriver experience should be quite similar to the experience on Ethereum, there are several new tools to help all token holders get set up:

• How to connect MetaMask to MoonriverGo to page https://docs.moonbeam.network/builders/get-started/networks/moonriver/ in order to use Moonriver ecosystem DApps
• How to nominate a collatorGo to page https://moonbeam.network/tutorial/stake-movr/ on Moonriver
• How to redeem MOVR rewardsGo to page https://moonbeam.network/tutorial/crowdloan-rewards/ that have vested from the crowdloan

There is also a new staking and rewards applicationGo to page https://apps.moonbeam.network/moonriver to help users interact with Moonriver. 

Crowdloan Reward Distribution

Moonriver’s launch was enabled by a community-focused crowdloan hosted by the Moonbeam Foundation, which received over 200,000 KSM from thousands of contributors across the globe. Contributors earned MOVR tokens for their support, which they can now use to engage with the network, and use built in functionality. 

From the beginning, the Moonriver crowdloan was designed to maximize rewards and allow early participation to the community that helped the network launch. This community-led approach was backed by a sizable rewards pool representing 30% of genesis network tokens. The second governance motion distributed the first 30% of the rewards pool (900,000 of the 3,000,000 MOVR pool) directly to contributors. Since the Moonriver lease began on June 29, 2021, there is also an additional ~12% of the rewards pool (~362,250 of the 3,000,000 MOVR pool) that is vested and available to claim via the Moonriver rewards applicationGo to page https://apps.moonbeam.network/moonriver. There’s a tutorial hereGo to page https://moonbeam.network/tutorial/crowdloan-rewards/.

Collator Staking & New Staking App

MOVR token holders can now nominate and stake directly with collators on Moonriver. The network’s custom parachain staking palletGo to page https://moonbeam.network/announcements/moonbeam-collators-announcement/ was designed to simplify the nomination process and reduce the risk of collators front-running transactions. Moonriver now has nearly 40 collators in the permissionless active set, with more joining every week. Token holders can earn MOVR rewards by staking with these collators using the Moonriver staking applicationGo to page https://apps.moonbeam.network/moonriver. There’s a tutorial hereGo to page https://moonbeam.network/tutorial/stake-movr/.

Governance & Voting

With balance transfers enabled, Moonriver will be governed by token holders using the on-chain governance system. Users can vote on referenda directly through the Polkadot.js web application, with additional interfaces on the way. For more information about governance and voting visit our documentation siteGo to page https://docs.moonbeam.network/governance/voting/.

Liquidity Programs to Come

The Moonbeam Foundation has allocated 10% of the total genesis supply of MOVR to incentivize liquidity programs on Moonriver in the first year. This allocation will help bootstrap activity in the Moonriver ecosystem and demonstrates the foundation’s dedication to the success of the teams building and deploying on the Moonriver Network.

The Moonbeam team will continue to monitor Moonriver’s launch closely to verify stability and security. Sign up for the newsletterGo to page https://moonbeam.network/newsletter/ or follow Moonriver on TwitterGo to page https://twitter.com/moonrivernw to get the latest updates and information on projects deploying to the Moonriver parachain.

About the Moonbeam Network

Moonbeam is an Ethereum-compatible smart contract platform on the Polkadot network that makes it easy to build natively interoperable applications. This Ethereum compatibility allows developers to deploy existing Solidity smart contracts and DApp frontends to Moonbeam with minimal changes. As a parachain on the Polkadot network, Moonbeam will benefit from the shared security of the Polkadot relay chain and integrations with other chains that are connected to Polkadot. Currently in active development by PureStake, Moonbeam is expected to reach MainNet by the second half of 2021. Learn more: https://moonbeam.network/Go to page https://moonbeam.network/.