What is Injective (INJ)?
Injective (INJ) is a Cosmos-based Layer 1 blockchain and native token designed for financial apps such as exchanges and derivatives.
Injective was founded in 2018 by Eric Chen and Albert Chon according to project materials, and its mainnet launched in November 2021. Injective was built from the start to offer trading, lending and derivatives functions as chain-level modules.
Injective positions itself as a chain optimized for finance rather than a general-purpose platform for any kind of app. That finance-first focus is the main feature separating Injective from other Layer 1 networks.
How does Injective's on-chain orderbook work?
Injective implements an orderbook, similar to those on centralized exchanges, directly as a blockchain module, whereas most decentralized exchanges rely on AMMs (automated liquidity pools). On Injective, limit orders and derivatives such as perpetual futures can be processed on-chain.
Injective's orderbook module is designed so that multiple apps share the same liquidity, meaning a new trading app does not have to build liquidity from zero. That design is what positions Injective as on-chain financial infrastructure for professional-style trading.
How does the INJ burn work?
Injective uses part of the fees generated by ecosystem apps to buy back INJ and burn it permanently. According to the Injective blog, the original design pooled 60% of dApp fees into a weekly Burn Auction, and the INJ used to win each auction was burned.
Injective reworked the mechanism in 2025 into a monthly Community BuyBack, where participants commit INJ and share in the revenue, and adopted the 'INJ Supply Squeeze' framework via governance proposal IIP-617, which bundles several burn mechanisms, as described on the Injective blog.
INJ had a genesis total supply of 100 million tokens according to project documentation, and burning is designed to reduce total supply below that figure over time. The size of INJ burns still depends on actual network usage and fee revenue.
How does Injective connect to other chains and real-world assets?
Injective connects to other Cosmos chains through IBC and can move assets to and from Ethereum, Solana and other networks through bridges.
Injective has expanded into products that trade or track real-world assets (RWA) such as US stocks, Treasuries and commodities on-chain. Injective's stated direction is to become a financial hub linking many chains and real-world assets.
What is Injective's native EVM and what comes next?
Injective launched its native EVM mainnet in November 2025, letting Ethereum apps move over without code changes, as reported by CoinDesk. Injective aims for a multi-VM setup that runs its existing Cosmos-based WASM environment alongside the EVM.
Injective's roadmap focuses on attracting EVM developers, broadening financial products such as real-world assets and derivatives, and refining its burn mechanism and interoperability. Injective's stated goal is to become core infrastructure for on-chain finance.
What are the risks of Injective?
Injective's finance-specialized strategy gives it a clear direction, but the strength is hard to realize without enough real trading volume and liquidity. Injective also competes for on-chain trading demand with Solana, Ethereum Layer 2 networks and Hyperliquid.
The supply-reducing effect of INJ burns ultimately depends on ecosystem usage and fee revenue, and derivatives and tokenized real-world assets may be affected by regulatory changes in different countries. This article is for information only and is not investment advice; make any investment decision at your own responsibility.
