In this series of articles, we present different cryptocurrencies based on proof of stake . This mechanism uses the staking of cryptos to ensure the validation of network transactions. This allows the token holder to generate passive income, their reward for participating in the consensus. Today, focus on the famous Cosmos project and its token, the ATOM.
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Cosmos, the staking project that targets the moon
The genesis of Cosmos goes back several years. The programmer Jae Kwon developed it in 2014. Indeed, the former developer of Silicon Valley very quickly identifies the limits of existing blockchains, in particular Ethereum (which is however only embryonic). In 2015, he designed the Tendermint protocol and created the eponymous company.
But why is he going to all this trouble ? Well, quite simply to try to build a credible competitor to the emerging giant of smart contracts . And for that, he is ready to break the codes , literally.
The Tendermint protocol
We will not present here in an exhaustive way the technical details of Tendermint Core and the various components of Cosmos . They will be the subject of a separate article later. No, here it is more about giving the reader a general idea of the value proposition of Cosmos and its architecture .
Tendermint is a protocol derived from Hyperledger whose goal is to ensure interoperability between different blockchains . Cosmos is the name of its main blockchain, and ATOM the name of its native cryptocurrency . The goal is to participate in the creation of the famous Web 3.0 , with the help of interconnected blockchains , capable of supporting a strong increase in load… and of being very fast !
The architecture of Cosmos
Nicknamed “ the Internet of blockchains ”, Cosmos made noise in the cryptosphere in 2017 thanks to its successful ICO . Jae Kwon’s foundation (Interchain) then raised $ 16.8 million in half an hour .
Cosmos is an ecosystem that allows you to easily develop your own blockchains (public or private) and dApps . It has different layers.
The consensus protocol Tendermint is based on the evidence of delegated stake ( Delegated proof of stake ).
Cosmos sets up the solid infrastructure allowing different blockchains to exchange value or data with each other .
The native crypto of Cosmos, ATOM , is the key element of this interconnection, since it allows value to pass from one blockchain to another.
Cosmos is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine ( EVM ) thanks to Ethermint . This system ensures the portability of the most popular smart contracts in the ecosystem .