Overview:
Cosmos is the self-proclaimed “most customizable, scalable, powerful, and interoperable ecosystem of connected blockchains. Cosmos is a decentralized network of independent blockchains powered by Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) Proof of Stake (POS) algorithms, that allows Cosmos to achieve consensus.
The Cosmos Hub (AKA Gaia) has been theorized to become the “Internet of Blockchains”, as it has the ability to “link” blockchains which makes token transferring quick and seamless.
History:
The idea to create Cosmos came from Jae Kwon and Ethen Buchman, and their idea was supported by a Swiss non-profit called “The Interchain Foundation” (ICF).
In the early stages, ICF contracted Tendermint Inc. to develop the Cosmos network and its accompanying ecosystem. The CEO’s of Tendermint at this time were Kwon and Buchman who were eager to work with ICF to build Cosmos.
RoadMap:
Just since the start of 2021, Cosmos has implemented 2 major changes to their network.
Firstly, in February of 2021, Cosmos integrated “Stargate” into their Cosmos hub, which essentially upgraded their Hub to Cosmos Hub 4 (from Cosmos Hub 3). Stargate introduced Cosmos’ Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol, which enables crypto transfers across their integrated blockchains. Stargate was also said to increase transaction throughput, lower gas fees, introduce a composability standard. Shorten sync times and increase the efficiency of network upgrades.
Also, in March of 2021, Cosmos’ Proposal 41 enabled asset transferring using the Interchain Standard 20 (ICS20) on Cosmos Hub. This allows IBC assets to be available in the Cosmos Hub, and ATOM to be listed on IBC connected zones.
These upgrades show that the Cosmos team is working hard to make their platform more simple, efficient, and useful.
Token Economics:
The ATOM Token:
Cosmos held their ICO (Initial Coin Offering) in April of 2017. Cosmos sold their tokens ATOM at a price of $0.098/token, and they managed to sell 168M tokens in 30 minutes, which helped them raise $17M for the project.
The ATOM token went live on March 15th, 2019, running up to a high of $8.31 in the next 2 days. However, in the next month the price stabilized at $7/token, and on April 22nd, the ATOM token was listed on the Binance Exchange. The total supply of ATOM tokens is 277M, and the price for an ATOM token is $17.51, which means that their fully diluted market cap is roughly $4.8B.
Initial Launch and Token Distribution:
Initially, 236M of the ATOM tokens were supplied through both crowd sales and private sales. Out of the 236M tokens, approximately 20% was given to the Founders & Project, and the other 80% of the supply was given to the Investors & Community.
This distribution is good for investors as it allows for the ATOM token to sustain their runs when they inevitably do. This is due to the fact that their team cannot sell as many coins when ATOM has runs, in comparison to a team who has 60% of the tokens who could “pull the rug” when their token reaches new highs.
Supply Schedule:
ATOM is an inflationary token, and their inflation rate is subject to change depending on the staking participation ratio.
If 66% or more of the ATOM holders are staking, then the inflation rate will gradually decrease until it hits a 7% floor for inflation.
If less than 66% of the ATOM tokens are being staked, then the inflation rate will gradually increase until it hits a ceiling at 20% inflation.
Technology:
There are 3 main pieces of technology that make up the Cosmos network, these 3 pieces are as follows:
· Tendermint Core: The Tendermint Core contains the Tendermint BFT (TBFT) algorithms and the Interblockchain Communication (IBC) protocol. The TBFT algorithms help the Cosmos network to achieve consensus (all the blocks are in agreement). The IBC protocol connects both the consensus and networking layers to facilitate communication between the hub (the first Cosmos Zone, which can interface with other zones) and all of the zones (Cosmos’ network of independent black chains).
· Application Blockchain Interface (ABCI): Cosmos’ ABCI allows for the replication of Decentralized Applications (dApps) in a variety of programming languages. The ABCI connects the Tendermint Core and the Cosmos SDK.
· Cosmos SDK: This is Cosmos’ application layer that provides developers with a basic blockchain framework. Cosmos’ SDK provides developers with common functions like governance, staking, tokens etc. developers can choose to build on this themselves if they would like additional features. This makes it easy for developers to build their blockchain and dApps on Cosmos, which should help them to grow their network quickly.
Cosmos in the News:
Band Protocol Integration:
On July 22nd, 2021, Cosmos announced their partnership with Band protocol.
Band Protocol is a cross-chain data oracle project has further integrated itself on the Cosmos network. This new integration will allow the Cosmos ecosystem to be able to exchange data via IBC to their network of blockchains. Together, Cosmos and Band Protocol are building an advanced infrastructure for blockchains to interact more powerfully.
This integration is fantastic for the Cosmos network, and it shows their desire to continue innovating their network to be the biggest player in the space.
Switcheo TradeHub Integration:
On August 9th, 2021, the Switcheo team announced that their layer-2 cross-chain protocol (Switcheo TradeHub) now supports Keplr wallet.
This is important for Cosmos as Keplr is an interchain wallet for blockchains in the Cosmos ecosystem. The Keplr wallet was built specifically for Cosmos to be flexible and versatile. Keplr’s partnership with Switcheo will provide a seamless login and secure connection from Keplr’s wallet to Switcheo’s TradeHub. This process of logging in through Keplr is very secure (even more secure than using encrypted keys).
This partnership/integration is important to the Cosmos ecosystem and will allow their users more options when it comes to buying and selling their crypto assets.
