At 7 am on March 14th, with the launch of the first official Hub, the Cosmos mainnet was finally launched after a delay of two years.
Currently, network users will not be able to exchange tokens between blockchains or otherwise connect to the Cosmos Hub with an existing blockchain network until validators officially vote to activate the so-called Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol.
block heightblock heightIt has reached 4022.
The launch of the mainnet marks the end of Cosmos’ nearly three years of planning and development.
Before the emergence of cross-chain technology, the public chains in the blockchain were isolated islands, unable to communicate with each other, and could only process a small number of transactions per second. Cosmos, regarded by supporters as the blockchain version 3.0, is aimed at this, positioning itself as a heterogeneous network that supports cross-chain interaction, aiming to break the mutual closure and fragmentation of public chains and realize blockchain integration. The theme of "value interconnection" has always been regarded as a representative project of cross-chain technology.
After Cosmos launched the concept of a blockchain interoperability platform in the summer of 2016, its team Tendermint raised more than $16 million (250,000 ETH and 4,870 BTC) through an ICO in June 2017; Cosmos software was launched in February 2018 Development Kit (SDK); The latest appearance of Cosmos is that Binance Chain announced that it will be built on Cosmos’ Tendermint protocol, adopting DPoS and BFT consensus, and its decentralized exchange DEX will also be based on Cosmos cross-chain protocol.
datadata, Cosmos’s github updated its code 5,763 times this month, ranking second in the number of github updates among blockchain projects. Prior to this, project codes also maintained a relatively high update frequency.
secondary title
Why Blockchain 3.0?
Cosmos believes that a blockchain should have three levels: network, consensus and application.
Going back to the beginning of the blockchain story - Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto created this peer-to-peer digital currency in 2008 and used a new consensus mechanism called Proof of Work (PoW). This is the first decentralized application on the blockchain. Soon, people started to realize the potential of decentralized applications (DApps), and a desire to build new applications arose in the community.
At the time, there were two options for developing decentralized applications: fork the Bitcoin codebase or build on top of it. However, the Bitcoin code base is very single, including the three layers of network, consensus and application. In addition, the Bitcoin scripting language is limited and not friendly to developers.
Ethereum came into being. In 2014, Ethereum came up with a new proposition for building decentralized applications. Ethereum achieves this by turning the application layer into something called the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). This virtual machine is capable of calling smart contract handlers, and any developer can deploy custom logic. This new approach allows thousands of developers to start building decentralized applications. However, its limitations are also being highlighted. Much like Bitcoin, Go-Ethereum is still a monolithic technology stack that is difficult to fork and customize.
Limitation 1: Scalability
The first limitation is scalability, DApps built on top of Ethereum are limited by a sharing rate of 15 transactions per second. This is because Ethereum still uses POW, and Ethereum DApps compete for the limited resources of a single blockchain.
Limitation 2: Availability
The second limitation is the relatively low flexibility granted to developers. Since the EVM is a sandbox that needs to fit all use cases, it is optimized for the average use case. This means that developers have to make compromises in the design and efficiency of their applications (for example, requiring account models in payment platforms, where the UTXO model may be preferred). Besides that, they are limited to a few programming languages and cannot achieve automatic code execution.
Limit 3: Sovereignty
A third limitation is the limited sovereignty of each application since they all share the same underlying environment. Essentially, this creates two layers of governance: the application layer and the underlying environment layer. The former is limited by the latter. If there is a bug in the application, nothing can be done without approval from the governance of the Ethereum platform itself. If an application requires new functionality in the EVM, it must also rely entirely on the governance of the Ethereum platform to accept it.
These limitations are not specific to Ethereum, but all blockchains try to create a single platform that fits all use cases. This is where Cosmos comes into play.
secondary title
Tendermint Core, BCI, Cosmos SDK in Cosmos
As the key tools in the universe, it is necessary to know the purpose of each of these three tools.
Tendermint Core
Tendermint Core is a solution that packages the network and consensus layers of a blockchain into a common engine, allowing developers to focus on the application layer rather than complex underlying protocols.
The consensus layer is one of the characteristics of Cosmos. Tendermint Core uses Byzantine consensus algorithm + POS. This idea was proposed in 2014 by the founder Jae Kwon - who first studied Byzantine Fault Tolerance - in the article "Tendermint: Non-Mining Consensus".
In Tendermint, verification nodes can be changed dynamically, and the number of verification nodes at the time of creation is 100, and the selection criterion is the top 100 nodes that pledge ATOM, which increases at a rate of 13% every year, and stabilizes at 300 nodes after 10 years , to ensure performance optimization.
Cosmos believes that the advantages of Tendermint Core are: public or private chains can be deployed on Tendermint; Tendermint can process thousands of transactions per second; once a block is created, users can rest assured that the block has reached a final consensus , more than a third of the validators are honest (Byzantine), never create a fork; moreover, Tendermint's fork accountability allows us to clearly fork responsibility.
Cosmos SDK
The beauty of the Cosmos SDK is that its modularity allows developers to port essentially any existing blockchain codebase on Golang. For example, Ethermint is a project that ported the Ethereum Virtual Machine to an SDK module, Ethermint is exactly like Ethereum, but also benefits from all the properties of Tendermint Core. All existing Ethereum tools (Truffle, Metamask, etc.) are compatible with Ethermint.
The goal of the Cosmos SDK is to create an ecosystem of modules that allow developers, instead of writing every function of an application from scratch, to create new modules to customize their applications. These common modules cover most of the functions required by the application layer, such as: staking (mortgage mechanism), slashing (punishment mechanism), IBC (cross-chain function), accounts, governance, rewards & fees, etc.
The beauty of the Cosmos SDK is that its modularity allows developers to port essentially any existing blockchain codebase on Golang. For example, Ethermint is a project that ported the Ethereum Virtual Machine to an SDK module, Ethermint is exactly like Ethereum, but also benefits from all the properties of Tendermint Core. All existing Ethereum tools (Truffle, Metamask, etc.) are compatible with Ethermint.
IBC
The connection between blockchains is achieved through a protocol known as the Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol (IBC). IBC utilizes the instant finality of the Tendermint consensus to allow heterogeneous chains to transfer tokens or data to each other.
text
Then, forward the proof of 10 token locks from chain A to chain B.
The evidence is verified on chain B, and if valid, 10 tokens are created on chain B.
secondary title
How to create a blockchain network?
IBC is a protocol that allows two heterogeneous blockchains to transfer tokens to each other. So how do we create a blockchain network?
One idea is to connect each blockchain in the network to each other through direct IBC connections. The main problem with this approach is that the number of connections in the network grows quadratically with the number of blockchains. If there are 100 blockchains in the network, and each blockchain needs to maintain an IBC connection to each other, that's 2 to the power of 100, or 4950 connections, which can easily get out of control.
In order to solve this problem, Cosmos proposes a modular architecture: central network (Hub) and regional space network (Zone). The Hub is the center of cross-chain connections, and all cross-chain transactions are processed through the Hub; Zones are different sub-chains. The Zone is connected to the Hub through the IBC protocol, and different chains need to conduct cross-chain transactions with each other, which can be completed only through the Hub as an agent.
The first Hub launched in the Cosmos Network will be the Cosmos Hub. Cosmos Hub is a public POS blockchain whose native token is called Atom. The launch of the Hub will also mark the launch of the Cosmos network.
The above shows how the blockchains based on the Tendermint consensus engine are interconnected. But the universe is not limited to this. In fact, any type of blockchain can be connected to Cosmos.
Cosmos distinguishes two types of chains: chains with instant certainty (FAST-FINALITY CHAINS) and conceptual finality chains (PROBABILISTIC-FINALITY CHAINS)
The former can access the Cosmos network ecology as long as it adapts to IBC; the latter is represented by the chain of POW consensus, and the situation is relatively complicated. For its cross-chain needs, Cosmos launched a new component - Peg-Zone based on Zone. Peg-Zone is actually a proxy chain used to track the state of the original chain.
Peg-Zone needs to set a rule in advance, and use this rule to confirm the certainty of the block, that is, after adding 100 new blocks to the current block, then the current block is stable and can be regarded as certain Sex is guaranteed and will not fork.
Suppose you want to make a Peg-Zone for Ethereum, you need to deploy a smart contract on Ethereum first. If an Ethereum user wants to transfer 100 tokens to Cosmos, they will transfer the tokens into this smart contract. The smart contract will freeze the 100 tokens, and the certainty is guaranteed (that is, 100 new blocks have been added to the current block). After that, 100 proxy tokens will be released on the proxy chain on Peg-Zone.
SummarizePeggy。
Summarize
In general, Cosmos has three main points:
1. Cosmos uses the modular functions of Tendermint Core and Cosmos SDK to make the blockchain powerful and easy to develop.
2. Cosmos enables blockchains to transfer value to each other through IBC and Peg-Zones while allowing them to maintain sovereignty.
3. Cosmos allows blockchain applications to scale to millions of users through horizontal and vertical scalability solutions.
economic model
economic model
So far we have understood the characteristics and basic structure of the COSMOS project, now let us talk about the most critical token of Cosmos.
Compared with EOS mortgage tokens, which can only obtain blockchain resources (RAM, GPU, NET), holders of Cosmos tokens (Atoms) can generate additional income by staking Atoms. During the staking period, Atoms are locked and cannot The transaction time is about 3 weeks. Atoms will regain liquidity after unlocking.
Atom uses an inflation model. In the first year, an additional 7% is issued for nodes and other types of rewards. The additional issuance ratio will fluctuate according to the annual 2/3 mortgage equity rate: if the total mortgage equity is less than 2/3 of the total Atom supply, the inflation rate will rise to 20%; if the total stake is more than 2/3 of the total Atom supply, the inflation rate will decrease until it reaches 7%.
The top 100 pledged Atoms will become verification nodes and earn income, which is divided into holding income and transaction income.
Holding income: Atoms will continue to be issued and distributed according to the proportion of Atoms held and proxied by validators. In addition, the verification node can set a certain percentage as the agency fee, and distribute more Atoms from the total dividend income.
Transaction fees: All transfers on the Cosmos Hub come with transaction fees. These transaction fees can be paid in any currency on the governance-approved whitelist. Fees are distributed to Atom holders in proportion to staked stake. When the mainnet is launched, the first choice for the fee token whitelist is Atom and Photon (Cosmos plans to implement a dual token model. Photon is another functional token besides Atom).
In addition to Atom, each Cosmos space can issue its own tokens. The space node can also distribute token handling fees and dividend income according to the POS model.
References:
References:
1.《What is Cosmos?》
2. Cosmos mainnet launch trilogy
3.《A Blockchain to Connect All Blockchains, Cosmos Is Now Officially Live》
