KeyPoints
●TheCosmosTeamisstablenowafteralongtimeofturmoil.OriginalfounderJaeKwon,founderofTendermint,hasagainbecometheleader.●CosmosHub,theinformationcenteroftheCosmospublicchain,willtakeonamoresignificantroleafterATOM2.0,targetingsecuritybetweenchains,liquiditystakinginfrastructure,andMEVredistribution.●ThetechnicalcharacteristicofCosmosofeasydeploymentandqualityIBCcross-chainprotocolmakesapplicationscoexistnicelywitheachother,withoutresourcecompetition.●TheCosmosecosystemreliesonlowdevelopmentcostsandeaseofdeployment.However,thegapwithEthereum,BNB,andothertopecosystemsisstillevident.ItisclearthattheOneChianecosystemstilldominatesthemarket.●Cosmosecosystemsufferedduringthe2022TerraLUNAcollapseoveritsvalue,butitsecosystemisnotlargelyaffected,therearestillqualityapplicationsrunning.
1.Intro
Cosmos,themultichainnetwork,isoneofthehottopicsinthecryptonewsin2022.Thisuniquenetworkisofficiallydescribedas"anever-expandingecosystemofinterconnectedappsandservices".CosmoshasbeenprovidingarobustblockchainserviceformanyDAppssinceitsinception.ButwillCosmosbecomethecradleofDAppsandeventhe"Ethereumkiller"?Wehopeouranalysiswillofferyousomeinsightintothisinterestingnetwork.Ithasbeen6yearssincethelaunchoftheCosmosmainnet.Cosmoshubwasbuiltduringthelast6yearsfromscratch.2022sofarisamixedyearforCosmos.ThecollapseofTerraisdefinitelyaheavyblowtotheecosystem.ButwiththeannouncementofCosmoshub2.0,theCosmosecosystemhasofficiallyendeditsfirststage-Initiation,andentereditssecondstage-Integration.Attheturningpointoftheproject,wewouldliketorevisitthehistoryoftheprojectandhopetogainsomeinsights.
1.1.TeamHistory
Agoodteamalwayshasagreatleader,justlikeEthereumhasVitalikandBinancehasCZ.JaeKwonisthecaptainofCosmos.JaeKwonandEthanBuchmanfoundedTendermint.AndtheCosmoswhitepapercameintobeingtwoyearslater.Thecosmosprojectraised17millionUSDin2012throughICOwiththeassistanceofTheInterchainFoundationfromSwitzerland.However,threeyearslater,theCosmosteamhadafallout.JaeKownlefttheTendermintteamandfocusedonprojects,VirgoandGno.land.FormerCDO,PengZhong,tookthespotofCEOofTendermint,andtheboardmemberofTendermintincreasedtofive.Surprisingly,Tendermintseparatedintotwoentitiesinthemiddleof2022,IgniteInc.andNewTendermintInc.JaeKwon,founderorformerCEOoftheoriginalTendermint,willbetheCEOofNewTendermint.NewTendermintwillbefocusingonthecoretechnologyofCosmosandKwon’sotherprojects,Gno.Land,Tendermint,andCosmosSDK.PengZhongwillbetheCEOofIgniteInc.IgniteCLIandEmeriswillbetheirflagshipproducts.
1.2.Tokenocomics
ATOMistheonlytokenissuedbyCosmosovertheCosmoshub,however,ATOMdoesnotcapturethevalueoftheCosmoschainverywell.ThatisthereasonwhyCosmosisaprojectthatisvaluedforitslong-termecosystemgrowthbutthepriceofATOMisactingweak.Let’sreviewthetokencomicsoftheoriginalATOMtoken.
1.2.1.ATOM1.0
ThemainfunctionsofATOM1.0token:1.ParticipatinginPoSthroughstaking2.ATOMholderscanhelpwithCosmoshubgovernanceandreserveforputtingproposals3.Systemreward4.TradingfeesforCosmoshubtransactionvalidators.ApointworthnotingisthatyoucanpayfeesinothertokensandthisisoneofthereasonswhyATOMcannotcapturethevalueofthechainwell.ItisclearthatATOM,initsoriginalform,cannotcapturethevalueoftheCosmoschainverywell.ThevalueofATOM1.0mostlyreliesontheCosmosHubratherthantheentirenetwork.AndthedatatransferredonCosmosHubonlycountsforaverysmallportionoftheentirenetwork,whichdepreciatesthevalueofATOM.AccordingtothedataofMapofZones:Untilthetimeofwriting,30days(2022/11/08to2022/12/08)totalIBCtransfersis7,129,600:445,890timesofCosmosHub,ranked4ofallCosmoszones;turntoIBCvolumepart,30daystotalIBCvolumeis$2.72B,CosmosHubstillranks4andtransfer$318.75M,whichis17.52%ofthetotal.
1.2.2.ATOM2.0
OnSept.27,2022,SamHart,whowasresponsibleforCosmosstrategybefore,publishedanarticlenamed“ATOM2.0:AnewvisionforCosmosHub”inthecommunitywiththenewwhitepaperforCosmosHub.Althoughtheproposaldidnotpassthecommunityvote,theintentionforchangeforCosmosHunandATOMisclear.TherearefourkeywordsonATOM2.0:1.InterchainScheduler2.InterchainAllocatorTheinterchainschedulerandinterchainallocatoraretwopartsofthenewCosmosMEVmarket.Itallowsuserstocompeteinthepriceofonchainspace.3.LiquidStakingOriginalliquidityproviderswillhavethechancetoearnthroughstakingandotheropportunities.Cosmoswillprovideliquidity-stakinginfrastructureinthefuture,4.InterchainSecurityThezonewillbeabletorentvalidatorsfromCosmosHubtoprovideinterchainsecurity.CosmosHubalsomadechangesinATOMtokenreleasemechanismtocounterhighinflation.Thecomingtenreleaseswillbevotedbytokenholdersandthisshouldbeabletomanagetheconcernsoftokenholders.Ingeneral,thenewwhitepaperwillredistributetheMEVandguidesomeoftheincomestotheCosmosofficialvault,whichwouldallowtheteamtogainfromthenetworkdevelopment.CosmosHubwilltakeonabiggerroleinfinanceandtechnology,toallowATOMtocapturethenetworkvaluebetter.Finally,ATOM’sinflationproblemwillbeaddressedbygovernancevotingandabetterATOMwithhigherliquidityandbettervaluecaptureiscominginthenearfuture.
2.TechnicalCharacteristics
Cosmosisadecentralizednetworkwithindependentparallelblockchains.EveryblockchainisconstructedwiththeBFTconsensusmechanism,thesamewithTendermint.Unlikemostpublicchainsonthemarketthatuseasinglechainstructure,applicationsonCosmosarealldeployedondifferentblockchains,allofwhichcommunicatewiththemainCosmossystemthroughcross-chaincommunicationtechnology.TheCosmosnetworkhasbeenthroughmultipleinteractionsandthefollowingdiscussionisbasedonCosmosHubv1.2.BlockchainTrilemmaisawell-knownissueintheblockchaindevelopmentcommunity.Everydeveloperwillhavetofacethetradeoffsbetweendecentralization,scalability,andsecurity.Cosmos’ssolutionisamultichainstructureframework.ThisstructureandunderlyingtechnologyoftheTendermintconsensusmechanism,CosmosSDK,andIBCinterchainprotocolmadeCosmosaflexibleandefficientnetwork.
2.1.ZoneandHub
Cosmosnetworkconsistsofmultiplechainsandthemanagementandcommunicationofdifferentchainsisaquestionthatcannotbeavoided.Inshort,Cosmosassignsdifferenttasksfordifferentchains.Thechains,whereapplicationsarerunarecalledZone.Andthechains,wheredataiscommunicatedarecalledHub.
ZonesrelyonIBCtocommunicatewithHubfordatatransportation.ComparedtootherpublicchainswhereDAppsaredeployedonthesameblockchain,Zonecanofferalltheresourcesonthechaintoasingleapplication,avoidingthenetworkblockageproblemwhenmultipleapplicationsareactiveandneedtocommunicatewiththemainchain.Thecomputingpoweronasinglechainislimited,andgoodapplicationswillbecompetingforcomputingpowerovertime.Thiswillbeahugelimitationforthesingle-chainecosystem.Blockchaintrilemmawouldalsocomeintoplaywhereblockchainscalabilityisahugeliabilityifdecentralizationorsecurityarenotsacrificed,allofwhichwillcompoundthecomputingpowerissue.ZonesintheCosmosecosystemdonotcompetewitheachotherforcomputingpowerwhichgivestheecosystemahigherceiling.ZonesareoperatedunderthesupportoftheTendermintBFTsecurityconsensusengine,whichallowstheZonestofunctionevenwithintentionaltampering.Tendermintallowsdifferentprogramminglanguagesandconsensusmechanismstooperatewithinthesystem.ThisallowstheCosmosecosystemtoincludeZoneswithdifferentconsensusmechanisms,whichgivesdevelopersgreatflexibility.HubisverysimilartoZoneindesignbutitwouldtakemoreresponsibilityfordatatransportationandconnectZones,actingasthecenterformultipleZones.ThefirstHubintheCosmosnetworkwasreleasedbyCosmosofficialsandithasbeenagreatmediumfordata.InthelatestCosmoswhitepaperHubsaregivenmorerolesininterchainsecurityandliquidstaking.
2.2.Tendermint
TendermintisaconsensusmechanismdevelopedbyTendermintIncanditisthefirstprotocoltosupportBFT.IntheTendermintconsensus,everynodehasdifferentvotingrights,andnodeswithacertainamountofvotingrightswillbevalidators.Thesystemwillmakedecisionsbasedontheproportionsofvotingcountsnotnodecounts.Andvotingrightsarebasedonthenumberoftokensstaked.ThisdesignwillleadvalidatorstoownmoretokensandkeeptheeconomicinterestofmodenodesinlinewiththeCosmosnetwork.Tenderminthasaspecialdataport–ApplicationBlockChainInterface(ABCI),forconnectingtothedifferentblockchainswithdifferenttechnologicaldesigns.ABCIisresponsibleforconvertingblockchainswithdifferentprogramminglanguagesandconsensusmechanismstotheTendermintstandard,whichwillbetransferredandexecutedintheTendermintBFTprogramwheretheTendermintprotocollies.DuetotheversatilityofABCI,theCosmosecosystemcanbelinkedwithavarietyofblockchains.ABCIdividestransactionsintothreecategories:DeliverTX,CheckTX,andCommitTX.DeliverTXisresponsiblefortransportingtransactioninformationintheblockchain.CheckTXissimilartoDeliverTXbutismoreclosetotransactionvalidation.CommitTXisresponsibleforcalculatingencryptionpermissionforcurrentsoftwareandputtingitintothenextblock.Thegeneralmechanismisasfollows:Source：https://docs.tendermint.com/v0.34/introduction/what-is-tendermint.html#abci-overviewAlthoughTendermintisveryoutstandingincompatibility,thereisasignificantlimitation:validationspeedwillbeslowedwiththeincreaseofvalidators.ThisisthereasonthatCosmosputsalimittothemaxvalidatornumber.Thestartingnumberis100andwillgrowlinearlyto300in10years.Source：https://v1.cosmos.network/resources/whitepaper
2.3.CosmosSDK
SDKreferstoasoftwaredevelopmentkit,acombinationofspecialapplicationsusedindevelopmentforsoftwareengineers,whichusuallycontainsAPIandDLL.TheCosmosSDKisaspeciallydevelopedopen-sourceframeworkforblockchainprojectdevelopmentontheCosmosnetwork.ManyfamousblockchainprojectsarebuiltusingCosmosSDK,thisisthereasonwhyCosmosSDKiscalledthemostwidelyusedblockchaindevelopmentframework.NotableprojectsbuiltusingCosmosSDKareBNBChain,Terra,CosmosHub,Cronons,Osmosis,andEvmos.ThroughCosmosSDK,developerscaneasilycreateacustomizedblockchainanddecideiftheblockchaincanlinktotheCosmosnetwork.Therefore,itisverysimplefordeveloperstocreateaZonefortheirapplicationandoptimizetheapplicationonitsownchainwithouttheworriesofcompetingwithotherapplications,whichisveryimportantforapplicationsecurityandfunction.
2.4.IBC
Usually,cross-chaindatatransportationusesBrightprotocols,agroupofprotocolsdedicatedtocross-chaindatatransportation.Butduetothedifferenceintechnicalspecificationsandparametersfordifferentchains,theefficiencyandsecurityforcross-chainprotocolsareverylowandvulnerable,whichisalwaysaheavysecurityconcern.Cosmos,ablockchainwithamulti-chainstructure,usestheIBCprotocoltocombattheproblemsmentionedabove.InterBlockchainCommunicationProtocol(IBC)isareliableandsecureprotocolforinter-modulecommunication.IBCcanbeusedbyanyapplicationbuiltonareliableandsecuremodule.
Source：https://www.panewslab.com/zh/articledetails/6sznqfc7.htmlItisworthnotingthattheIBCprotocolisnotanormalprotocol,theIBCorganizationdefinitionisasfollows:1.IBCisnotanapplication-layerprotocol:ithandlesdatatransport,authentication,andreliabilityonly;2.IBCisnotanatomic-swapprotocol:arbitrarycross-chaindatatransferandcomputationaresupported;3.IBCisnotashardingprotocol:thereisnosinglestatemachinebeingsplitacrosschains,butratheradiversesetofdifferentstatemachinesondifferentchainswhichsharesomecommoninterfaces;4.IBCisnotalayer2protocol:allchainsimplementingIBCexistonthesame"layer",althoughtheymayoccupydifferentpointsinthenetworktopology,andthereisnotnecessarilyasinglerootchainorsinglevalidatorset.Traditionalcross-chainbridgeprotocolswilllockAtokenontheAchainandinformthesmartcontractontheBchainthroughanoracleandawaittheminersontheBchaintomintnewBtokensfortransfer.AndwhentheuserwantstomovebacktotheAchain,theBtokenontheBchainwillbeburntandreleasethelockedAtokenfortheuser.Cosmoscross-chaintransportationandtraditionalbridgeprotocolsasimilarinsomeways,butIBCusesHubastransportationmediaforvalidation.Asthefollowinggraphshows,Zone1willfirstvalidatethetransactioninformationonitschainandthentransporttheinformationtoHub.ThentheHubwillvalidatetheinformationthroughSPVandpasstheinformationontoZone3.Zone3willfirstvalidateifZone1proposedthetransferandaskHubtotransferassetsfromZone1oncetheproposedtransferisvalidated.WhentheHubreceivestheaskfromZone3,theassetwillbesenttoZone3fromtheHub.
Source：https://www.panewslab.com/zh/articledetails/6sznqfc7.htmlTherearetwoimportantpremisestousingIBC:1.TheblockchainisdevelopedusingCosmosSDK2.LinkedtotheIBCprotocolmoduleAllthepremisesmustbemet.Anon-CosmosSDKblockchaincannotbeeasilylinkedtotheecosystem.AblockchaindevelopedwithCosmosSDK,butchoosenottobelinkedtotheCosmosnetwork,cannotbeeasilylinkedtotheecosystemaswell,likeBSC.3.Ecosystem
3.1.Majormodules
Cosmosisthelargestcross-chainecosystemwithamarketcapofaround59.56billionUSD.ThetotalassettransferredonitsIBCprotocolisaround8.79billionUSD.Thereare51ZonesintheIBCnetwork.Althoughthemacroeconomicenvironmentisnotoptimalin2022,theCosmosnetworkisnotquiteaffected.
3.1.1.CosmosHub
CosmosHubisthefirstofficialCosmosecosystemwithATOMasitstoken.ThemainfunctionofCosmosHubistoprovidedatatransportationforZonesconnected.BecauseCosmosHubisofficiallyoperated,thefollowingadjustmentsfortheCosmosnetworkstructurewillsoonbeapplied,andthenewtoken,ATOM2.0,maytransformCosmosHubintoacenterofcross-chainsecurityandliquidity.Weareveryexcitedabouttheupcomingchanges.
3.1.2.Osmosis
OsmosisisatthecenteroftheCosmosecosystembecausethetotalassettransferredismorethanthatoftheCosmosHub.ThemainapplicationthatrunsonOsmosisiscalledOsmosisDEX,whichutilizestheIBCtoachieveinterchaintransactionswithintheCosmosecosystem.TheliquidityonOsmosisreached$1.8billioninMarch2022.Atthetimethisarticleiscomposed,OsmosiscansupportIBCinterchaintransactionsfor45differentnetworks,whilethetotalnumberofnetworkslinkedtoIBCis51.
3.1.3.Evmos
Evmosisascalableandhigh-volumePoSblockchainthatiscompletelycompatiblewiththeEthereumnetwork.EvmosallowscertainapplicationsonCosmostorunontheEthereumnetworkwhichgivesthedevelopersaccesstotheEthereumnetwork.SinceEvmosisbuiltusingtheCosmosSDK,italsoofferstheabilitytotransactwiththeCosmosecosystemthroughIBC.AsthepublicchainthatiscompatiblewithEthereum,EvmosiscompatiblewithprojectsoperatedontheEthereumnetwork,includingfamousprojectslikeCMC,DeBank,andAutofarm,inatotalof25projectsaccordingtotheofficialwebsite.Currently,themonthlytradingvolumeonEvmosisranked6thintheCosmosecosystemanditwillbeagreatstartforCosmosinthefuture.
3.1.4.Terra
Terraisthemostcontroversialchainin2022,whichisthepublicchainknownforstablecoins.Thepopularchainstartedadownwardspiral,beginningwiththeUSTdepeginMay2022,whicheventuallyledtothetotalcollapseoftheprojectwithaTVLof$20.77billion.TerrausedtobeatapivotalpositionintheCosmosecosystem,itisthesinglechainwiththemostvaluestored.
3.2.EcosystemComparison
After6yearsofdevelopment,therearealargenumberofqualityprojectsonCosmos.However,themarketstillpreferssingle-chainecosystems.ThedirectcompetitionofCosmosisnotEthereumorAvalancheatthemoment,butPolkadotwhichsharesasimilarstructure.WewillcloselyexamineCosmosandPolkadotfirstandthenbrieflydiscussEthereuminthecontext.
3.2.1Polkadot
OftencalledLayer0,CosmosandPolkadotarethemostcomparedprojectsduetotheirsimilaritiesinconcept.ButCosmosandPolkadotarebuiltwithdifferentphilosophies.Wewillmainlydiscusstheframeworkandgovernancebetweenthetwo.FRAMEWORK
UnliketheHub-ZoneframeworkofCosmos,PolkadotisaRelaychain-Parachainsmode.1.TheRelayChainisthecoreofPolkadot.Itsroleistotransferdatabetweendifferentparachains,recordandvalidatetheresultofthetransaction,andthusensurethesafetransportationoftheentirePolkadot.2.TheparachainissimilartothezoneinCosmosandfocusesonapplicationscenarios.3.ThebridgechainisaspecialdesigntoconnectotherblockchainsthatdonotcomplywithPolkadot'sgovernanceprotocols.Forexample,whenPolkadotconnectstoEthereum,thedatafromEthereumisfirstprocessedthroughthebridgechaintostandardizethem.ThentheyaretransmittedtootherPolkadotparticipants.ComparedtoPolkadot,thehubintheCosmosnetworkisusedasthemainchaintoconnectdifferentzones,butitisnottheonlyhubintheCosmosnetwork.OtherchainssuchasOsmosisandEvmoscanalsoserveashubstoconnectzones,butinPolkadotthereisonlyoneofficialtransmissionmethod,therelaychain,andotherchainsthatwanttoaccesstherelaychainhavetoparticipateintheauctionslotsbasedontheirnativetokensDOTandcanonlyaccessafterwinningtheslot,whichisalsoabiggaptoCosmos'almostfreeflexibleaccessway.GOVERNANCEInthePolkadotecosystem,governancemustbediscussedbymultipledepartmentsbeforeanideabecomesarule,andvotingrightsaredeterminedbythenumberoftokensDOT.Soifparticipationinthepollislow,thefinalexecutionoftokenallocationandprizesmaybeskewed.Cosmosismoreflexibleatthispoint,primarilythroughtokenvoting,butsincenotallhubsareofficiallyrun,otherhubscanusetheirnativetokensasthebasisforvoteallocationwithouteveryonehavingtogothroughATOMtoexercisegovernance.
3.2.2.Ethereum
Ethereum,asthedominatoroftheBlockchain,hasalreadyperfecteditsownecologyandiscurrentlythemostsuccessfulecosystem.BycomparingCosmostoit,wecanassesshowfarthemulti-chainecologyisfromthecurrentmainstreammarketmodel.Technically,EthereumhasbeenexploringnewwaystoexpandEthereumitselfinrecentyears,suchasconvertingETH2.0toPoSandslicing,whichisessentiallyexploringabreakthroughintheimpossibletriangleofblockchaintechnology.ComparedtoDAppsonEthereum,Cosmoshasmoreaccesstoapplication-specificchains:suchasthecross-chainDeFiprotocolUmeeandthecross-chainliquidityOsmosis.Theapplication-specificchainapproachprovidesmoreflexibilityforDAppsandavoidsthesituationwheredifferentDAppscompeteforresourcesononechainIfwetakethecomparisonbacktothesinglechainlevelandcompareCosmosHubwithEthereum,thefollowingpictureemerges.
Accordingtothedata,itisobviousthatCosmosHubisasinglechain,itscurrentvaluationandvaluestoragearedifficulttocomparewithEthereum.ThisisalsorelatedtothecharacteristicsofCosmosHubitself:1.CosmosHubmainlyperformsthefunctionofdatatransferbetweenthezonesandisnotthemainchainoffirstchosenbyecologicallyrelevantapplications;2.ATOMtokenhasalowabilitytocapturevalueintheprotocolinthefirstversion.AlthoughtheCosmosnetworkitselfhasgreaterpotential,themarketdoesnottrustthetoken,whichindirectlyleadstothesubsequentadjustmentofthehubfunctioninthenetworkandthemodificationoftheATOMtokenbyCosmosofficials.
3.3.CurrentEcosystemSituation
Accordingtoofficialdata,thevalueoftheentireCosmosnetworkisaround$63.07billion,withmostofitfromBNB(~75.11%);thetopfiveprojectsaccountfor94.72%ofthetotalvalue.However,thetwochainswiththehighestvalue,BNB,andOKB,arenotlinkedtothenetworkthroughtheIBCprotocol.WewilluseMapofZone'sdataasareferencetomeasurethetotalvaluationoftheentireCosmosnetwork,$10,047,000,000,andthelargestcontributortothisfigureisCosmosHub'snativetoken:ATOM($2,820,592,754),suchamarketcapleveliscurrentlyonlyranked28thintheentiremarket.Asyoucansee,theCosmosNetworkhasanimaginativefuture,butcomparedtoothersingle-chainecosystems,it'snotthereyet.ItisfortunatethatCosmosandotherblockchainscanbealliesratherthancompetitors,butthisneedforCosmosNetworkcanfurtherimprovetheoverallvalue,andprovidemorefunctionalandpowerfulapplicationmodulestocomprehensivelyimprovethefinancialvaluecoveredbyIBC.WehopethatthefutureofCosmosisnotastoryfullofbattlefire,butapatternofuniting.
Disclaimer
*Thisarticlerepresentsonlytheviewsoftheobserversanddoesnotconstituteanyinvestmentsuggestions.*Gate.ioreservesallrightstothisarticle.RepostingofthearticlewillbepermittedprovidedGate.ioisreferenced.Inallothercases,legalactionwillbetakenduetocopyrightinfringement.
Reference
.TheCosmosHub,V1.2.https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/05/25/jae-kwon-returns-to-newtendermint-to-battle-for-the-soul-of-cosmos/.https://www.coindesk.com/business/2020/02/04/what-is-going-on-with-jae-kwon-and-cosmos/.https://mapofzones.com/.https://v1.cosmos.network/resources/whitepaper.https://ibcprotocol.org/.https://hub.cosmos.network/main/hub-overview.https://docs.cosmos.network/main.https://ibc.cosmos.network/.https://docs.evmos.org/.https://osmosis.zone/ecosystem
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