Toronto cryptocurrency company WonderFi has launched an innovation and development arm focused on building decentralized technologies and applications to expand its offerings beyond centralized trading platforms.
WonderFi Labs will internally develop products and look to support external projects that build on WonderFi L2.
Dubbed WonderFi Labs, the new arm will be led by WonderFi vice-president of engineering Kartik Bajaj and will develop, incubate, and invest in on-chain applications. The first projects under development are a Layer 2 blockchain built on Ethereum called WonderFi L2 and, an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible non-custodial wallet that will connect to WonderFi L2 and other EVM-compatible Layer 2 blockchains.
“By establishing WonderFi Labs, we are committing resources and a standalone division to the development and implementation of our new products and services,” WonderFi president and CEO Dean Skurka told BetaKit in an email statement. “This will allow us to strengthen the ecosystem while maintaining our existing strategic roadmap with the exchange business and our expansion plans in Australia.”
Skurka added WonderFi Labs will continue to internally develop other complementary products and look to support external projects that build on WonderFi L2.
Layer 2 refers to technologies built on top of existing blockchains, otherwise known as Layer 1, such as Ethereum. Layer 2 technologies are meant to extend the capabilities of a blockchain, while still utilizing the security protocols on the base layer. WonderFi did not provide additional details on its L2 project beyond that it will “enable low-cost and fast transactions for a global audience, while leveraging the security of Ethereum.”
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A non-custodial wallet, as opposed to a custodial wallet, gives owners full control and responsibility over their blockchain-based assets rather than entrusting them to a third party, such as an exchange. Being EVM-compatible means the wallet can communicate with any of the multiple blockchains that use EVM to verify and execute transactions, such as withdrawing and depositing cryptocurrency.
The launch of WonderFi Labs comes on the heels of an interesting Q1 2024 for WonderFi, which trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange and operates multiple cryptocurrency platforms.
The firm reported a “record” quarter for revenue, which increased 43.4 percent quarter-over-quarter to $18.5 million CAD, and that its platforms handled a 58-percent surge in trading volumes. These results were reported just a few weeks after WonderFi shareholders claimed the company was underperforming amid a digital-asset bull run, and called for the company’s board to be replaced. WonderFi and the dissenting shareholders ultimately signed a co-operation agreement.
Feature image courtesy WonderFi.
