Monad Ecosystem: What You Need to Know
Kuru, aPriori, Kintsu, & More
Monad is a name that has garnered a lot of attention, though this attention has perhaps started leaning on the side of the angst as time goes on and the chain’s rollout continues to be some time in the future. But with the breadth of the early-stage ecosystem, even those who are skeptical need to keep their eyes on what is going on with this soon-to-launch chain. There’s a lot on the line in terms of investor backing in Monad itself, and now the protocols building on top of the infrastructure as well, meaning there are lots of incentives to draw mindshare to these apps. The reality is that attention and funding can create some interesting new use cases, with builders able to take cues from Blast and Solana specifically when it comes to emulating what has worked this cycle. Incentives are also sure to come into play and with elections and governments potentially pushing BTC as a reserve asset, the near future very well might be a great time to be deployed onchain, taking advantage of these sorts of opportunities and protocol launches.
Nobody needs to be reminded of how much participation in the Solana ecosystem last year paid dividends. Monad is of course unique in the sense that the chain does not have an established history like SOL at all. It definitely is not common for an ecosystem to have a fully-fledged ecosystem fleshed out before even launching. The main competitor (using this term loosely) that comes to mind is Berachain, which has also built an expansive network while still being in testnet. In today’s edition, we’ll give a brief rundown of several key apps in the Monad ecosystem that have recently raised.
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Background on Kuru
Kuru is a CLOB DEX on Monad, allowing users to trade a variety of assets upon launch. The project's base assumption is that Monad brings a level of scalability to the EVM that makes previously unviable endeavors now worthwhile, in this case regarding the implementation of a CLOB DEX. The protocol’s self-stated goal is to replace the need for AMMs, providing both major and long-tail alts for trading. Kuru doesn’t only want to beef up the backend but also provide a frontend and UX more akin to telegram trading bots, or aggregators such as BullX. The fully onchain orderbook solution will also come with both active and passive liquidity provisions to accommodate the wide variety of assets supported.
The project is utilizing the exclusivity approach to full effect, restricting access to the discord and encouraging those interested to closely follow the project's announcements. The website is also pretty bare bones at this stage, with the project just exiting ‘stealth mode’ after announcing their $2M raise a few days ago.
Background on aPriori
aPriori provides an MEV-powered liquid staking solution on Monad. aPriori takes after Jito, whose token is actually quietly up nearly 50% in the past fortnight. Seeing as to how impactful Jito has been for Solana, aPriori has raised $10M, led by Pantera Capital, with additional participation from the likes of Hashed, arrington Capital, CMS, OKX Ventures, Selini Capital, and more. aPriori has also only been active on socials for a couple of months, a young project. The protocol looks to reduce gas fees, optimize network traffic, and drive sustainable incentives for Monad validators.
aPriori works in the Miner Extractable Value Auction Infrastructure (MEVA) realm, taking inspiration from Flashbots on Ethereum, and more recently, JitoSOL on Solana. Developing this infrastructure on Monad is made more difficult due to the time constraints associated with such a performant blockchain, another step in the evolution of MEVA over time. The team is able to analyze Jito's actions, and craft a protocol architecture before the underlying chain even launches, rather than adapt to the unique circumstances that hyper-scalable blockchains enable not seen on the EVM before. The positive effect MEVA protocols can have on an ecosystem can be substantial, so while aPriori obviously isn’t as crucial to get right as the actual Monad chain itself, builders in the ecosystem are definitely incentivized to see the team’s product work as intended.
Background on Kintsu
Kintsu describes itself as a next-gen LST provider on Monad. Having a robust network of liquid staking with multiple providers that can compete with one another is important, especially considering that Monad is not a rollup but a distinct EVM chain, providing a new playground for onchain users to explore perhaps reminiscent of Solana in late 2023, and the ETH restaking saga which occurred shortly thereafter. According to their docs, Kintsu aims to boost Monad’s GDP by enabling additional use cases for token stakers. As the Monad ecosystem grows and becomes more clear, inking key partnerships will be crucial, much like LRTs benefited heavily from listings on Pendle, Gearbox, Blast protocols, and more.
Liquid stakers will be able to access features typical of LST providers, including delegated staking and automated yield. While users will likely be able to swap to the liquid native token, there is a delay of unspecified length for unstaking via the protocol. Kintsu is also available on Aleph Zero, a privacy-focused, EVM-compatible chain. So the protocol is already live, available to take deposits on the Alephz Zero testnet, providing some battle testing for the upcoming Monad deployment.
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