What is Cosmos?

The Cosmos ecosystem is a decentralised network of independent blockchains powered by the ATOM cryptocurrency. Cosmos seeks to solve existing problems in the blockchain industry by building an ecosystem of blockchains connected through an Interblockchain Communication protocol. Tendermint, a core contributor to the Cosmos network, is instrumental to Cosmos’ progress.

A brief history of Cosmos

Cosmos was introduced through the publication of its white paper written by Tendermint co-founders Jae Kwon and Ethan Buchman and published in 2016. Its native token ATOMwas initially offered through two private sales in January 2017 and a public sale in April 2017. Kwon, who is recognised as the project’s principal architect, stepped down as CEO in 2020 and was replaced by Peng Zhong. Cosmos then launched the inter-blockchain communications (IBC) protocol, the platform’s standard for blockchain interoperability, in April 2021.

How Cosmos works

The Cosmos network is composed of zones, or independent, parallel blockchains. Each zone is powered by classical Byzantine fault-tolerant (BFT) consensus protocols like Tendermint. Cosmos uses a proof of stake (PoS) consensus algorithm to secure its work of connecting different blockchains. This translates to a higher likelihood of rewards distribution and transaction verification to validator nodes with higher amounts of ATOM staked.

What is Cosmos used for?

Aside from staking in Cosmos validators, ATOM is also used to pay fees within the network. These fees are proportional to the corresponding computational consumption of a transaction, similar to how gas fees work on Ethereum.