Neutron, a CosmWasm smart contract platform for the Cosmos network, has successfully raised $10 million in a funding round. Binance Labs led the round, with other participants including CoinFund, Delphi Ventures, LongHash, and Nomad.
Neutron is part of the Cosmos ecosystem, an "internet of blockchains," allowing any blockchain within its network to communicate, share data, and transact with any other. Neutron aims to introduce smart contracts, self-executing pieces of code designed to fulfill a set of instructions, to the Cosmos network of interconnected blockchains.
The funding will help drive a "major technological and narrative shift" in the expansion of the Neutron smart contract platform, according to Neutron core contributor Avril Dutheil. The funding will also be used to develop the Atom Economic Zone, a Cosmos platform ecosystem allowing secure transactions and collaboration across various blockchains.
"By spearheading these initiatives, we are forming a privileged trade zone for DeFi and inviting communities to build innovative products together," Dutheil explained.
In addition to the smart contract development, the expansion will integrate a new feature Cosmos calls “Replicated Security,” a shared security model that will protect new developer projects launched on the Cosmos Hub. Before a consumer chain is replicated, the entire validator set on a Cosmos Hub will need to certify it.
While the funding comes during a period of uncertainty for the crypto industry, Dutheil described the regulatory environment as "tricky". Despite this, Cosmos ensured that Neutron tokens were not available to U.S. investors on exchanges, operating within designated “safe harbors” to avoid clashes with regulators.
