Fuse

The protocol was founded by Mark Smargon in 2019, originally spun out of a project called Colu (a local-currency pilot that launched pre-Ethereum). Smargon and team recognized the limitations of both legacy fintech and early Ethereum tooling: high gas fees, no native abstraction for users or businesses, poor mobile experience, and a developer stack that was completely unfriendly to merchant integration.

Fuse was designed to be lean, EVM-compatible, and tightly coupled to real commerce — things like branded stablecoins, recurring billing, invoicing APIs, mobile payments, and loyalty programs. That’s where it planted its flag, and it’s stuck to that vision far longer than most L1s chasing vapor metrics.

Architecture: Built for Apps, Not Maxis

Fuse runs its own independent Layer 1, using a customized Ethereum-compatible VM and delegated proof-of-stake consensus with the AuRa protocol (used historically by xDAI/Gnosis). Block times are ~5 seconds, with a current theoretical throughput of ~180 TPS.

Where it differs from most L1s is the application stack:

• FuseBox: A set of wallet SDKs and backend APIs that allow developers to create wallets with gas abstraction, subsidized fees, recurring payments, and account abstraction (à la ERC‑4337 before it was cool).

• Fuse Studio: A GUI for launching smart contract wallets and business logic without writing Solidity.

• Charge: Fuse’s middleware layer for business and fintech teams — invoicing, branded token issuance, stablecoin rails, and webhook-based accounting.

• Fuse Network L1: The main chain that runs the base ledger.

• Ember (zkEVM Layer 2): Recently announced zk-rollup being built on Polygon CDK, meant to scale Fuse use cases without abandoning the EVM standard.

In short, Fuse isn’t an execution chain in isolation — it’s a full-stack fintech primitive with opinionated tooling and a focus on payment flows.

What's the Economic Model?

Fuse uses its native token, FUSE, to pay for gas on the Layer 1 chain. The staking model is open — validators require a minimum of 100,000 FUSE and operate with delegated voting.

The token is also used in governance, validator slashing, and as a utility asset within apps built on the network.

Where it gets interesting is how gas abstraction is handled. Apps using FuseBox can pay gas on behalf of users, or let users pay in stablecoins or ERC-20 tokens — Fuse's base layer doesn’t impose hard constraints here, and the tools are built around real-life UX, not ideological purity.

FX-wise, the chain has also been used for pilots involving fiat gateways, NGO disbursements, and branded rewards. That means less speculation, more applied payments — a rare position in the blockchain space.

zkEVM Expansion: Ember Rollup

In early 2024, Fuse announced Ember, a zkEVM rollup built using Polygon CDK. It’s currently in development with a projected launch in 2025. Ember will:

• Serve as a high-throughput L2 optimized for Fuse apps

• Use FUSE or wrapped stablecoins as gas

• Enable full EVM compatibility while inheriting Ethereum security

• Support real-time bridging between L1 and L2 for payments

This is Fuse admitting that while its L1 stack works, scale and settlement need to evolve. Ember is the answer — without abandoning the EVM, and without copying the OP/Arbitrum blueprint just for trend-chasing.

Ecosystem at a Glance

Fuse doesn’t have the flashiest dApp catalog, but its merchant tools are its strength:

• GoodDollar – A UBI protocol distributing basic income via Fuse wallets

• Seylan Pay – Real-world pilot with a Sri Lankan bank

• Bitazza – South East Asian fintech using Fuse infrastructure for stablecoin rails

• Voltage Finance – Native DEX and liquidity layer

• Elk Finance, ChainPort, Connext, Allbridge – Provide bridging and liquidity infrastructure

It's a smaller ecosystem by TVL standards, but one that’s coherent — not filled with mercenary capital or abandoned clones.