Gateway to Cosmos 2023
Connecting, Inspiring, and Sharing Insights with the Community
Last weekend, the BlockHunters team embarked on an extraordinary journey as we attended the Gateway to Cosmos event. The experience was nothing short of remarkable, as we found ourselves immersed in a unique and vibrant atmosphere. Surrounded by like-minded individuals, we connected with fascinating builders and enthusiastic users within the Cosmos ecosystem. The event left us in awe, and we are already eagerly anticipating the next gathering.
As we explored the panels and discussions, we were amazed by the wide range of topics and the depth of insights shared. The event showcased the incredible potential of Cosmos and the numerous possibilities it offers to builders and users alike.
We understand that not everyone could attend the event or find the time to watch live streams. With that in mind, we feel compelled to share some of the exciting insights we gained during the event. While every panel held valuable insights, there were a few that particularly captivated our attention. In this article, we will provide a concise overview of the panels we found most inspiring, offering a brief glimpse into the thought-provoking discussions that took center stage. Our goal is to contribute to the growth and understanding of the Cosmos ecosystem, ensuring that the knowledge gained at such events reaches a wider audience.
Note: By clicking on any title featuring a respective panel, you will be directed to the full YouTube video. If you are curious and seeking more information on a specific subject, feel free to delve into it without hesitation.
Samantha Bohbot (RockawayX) — Hello Cosmonauts!
Samantha Bohbot, Chief Growth Officer at RockawayX and conference co-organizer, emphasized the event’s goal: fostering connections, friendships, and collaborations. RockawayX functions as both an investor and operator in the crypto space, supporting early-stage web3, crypto, and digital asset projects through their investment arm. They fill infrastructure, commercial, and ecosystem gaps within the industry and have been early backers of several Cosmos projects. RockawayX acknowledges the insufficient decentralization of app chains in the blockchain industry, which hinders their resilience and effectiveness. To address this, their Labs team developed Observatory, a platform offering insights to assess and enhance decentralization and infrastructure performance.
Yaz Khouri (Celestia) — Rollups Developers are the Future
Yaz Khouri, Head of Developer Relations at Celestia, emphasized the significance of roll-up developers in shaping the future. These developers, akin to powerful characters in video games, combine qualities from different classes and bring unique skills to the table. Yaz discussed the limitations of monolithic blockchains, where scalability challenges arise from the fusion of consensus and execution layers, leading to a disconnect between application and core developers. In contrast, Celestia, as a modular blockchain, separates these layers, providing improved scalability and customization options. By combining the roll-up-centric view of Ethereum with the sovereignty benefits of Cosmos, Celestia enables Cosmos developers to deploy roll-ups using the Cosmos SDK, paving the way for a roll-up-centric future. Highlighting Celestia’s integrations, such as the quantum Gravity Bridge and OpStack, Yaz emphasized the versatile tooling options available for developers. Collaborative efforts and future developments between Celestia and Cosmos will further empower developers to build scalable and modular applications.
Dean Tribble (Agoric) — Agoric, IST and whats next?
Dean Tribble highlights Agoric’s significant progress and roadmap in the industry. They aim to scale blockchain by addressing challenges like transaction rate, developers, apps, and end users. They envision more blockchain developers integrating technology into the broader economy. Agoric emphasizes the need for a stable token to connect businesses and establish long-term agreements. They see potential in fintech, freight, gaming, and comics. Their expertise in secure JavaScript execution enables solutions in various applications. Agoric’s vision is a permissionless platform where developers solve problems and collaborate in a safer economy. They partner with Simply Staking for the Oracle Network. They’ve integrated Cosmos SDKs’ statesync, and explore decentralized stable token models. Agoric collaborates with projects like Akash and Omniflex, enables NFT lending, and offers Snaps for signed transactions.
Sunny Aggarwal (Osmosis) — The Terra Supernova: A 1 Year Retrospective
Sunny Aggarwal, co-founder of Osmosis, discussed the Terra supernova and its significance for Cosmos. Terra’s relationship with Cosmos was complex, but UST brought liquidity and boosted Cosmos’ ecosystem. Many projects and users migrated from Terra to Cosmos. Stablecoin experiments like IST, COMDEX, and USK were mentioned, along with the integration of Bitcoin into Cosmos. Sunny urged caution in relying too much on centralized stablecoins and highlighted the importance of a diverse monetary system. Terra continues to enhance its stability and resilience, and there are lessons to learn from its journey.
Federico Kunze Küllmer — The next frontier of Evmos
Federico discussed important topics for expanding Evmos, focusing on the token model. Lessons learned from the current model were highlighted, including the need for a more adaptable emission schedule to accommodate macroeconomic changes. Future plans involve shifting to a daily emission schedule for smoother transitions. The distribution of tokens in the Cosmos ecosystem was also addressed, aiming for a more uniform distribution to prevent concentration among a few holders. Evmos aims to enable new use cases and improve usability through EVM extensions, facilitating interchange composability and access to deep liquidity. Solutions were proposed for the current problems, such as redesigning the staking and distribution architecture for better capital efficiency and disincentivizing voting power concentration. By implementing these changes, Evmos aims to create a robust token model that fosters growth and participation while enabling the development of new use cases in Cosmos.
Bo Du (Polymer Labs) — Building the Future of IBC
Bo Du of Polymer Labs discussed important subjects related to Inter-Blockchain Communication, future plans, and challenges. Polymer Labs aims to address scalability, slow integration, and coordination issues in the adoption of IBC. They introduced multi-hop IBC to enhance network efficiency and flexibility. To simplify integration, they introduced the IBC SDK to improve developer user experience. Framework integrations and the establishment of Open IBC were emphasized to foster interoperability. Polymer Labs also highlighted the need for incentivizing relayers in the IBC ecosystem. Their solutions include ZK mint for state verification, dynamic relayers, and incentivizing packets and client update. With these efforts, Polymer Labs envisions a future where IBC is widely adopted, enabling seamless communication and collaboration across different chains.
Yair Cleper (Lava Network) — Decentralized Access to the Interchain
Yair Cleper, CEO of Lava Network, emphasized decentralized access to blockchain data. He introduced the “lavalier,” facilitating data flow in blockchain apps. RPC (Remote Procedure Call) is crucial for data retrieval and transaction execution. Current access methods — running nodes, public RPC, centralized providers — pose challenges. To address them, Lava Network connects apps directly to geolocation-based RPC providers, ensuring speed, accuracy, and decentralization. Lava supports Cosmos dApps, extends to 23 chains, and plans further expansion. Key actors include dApps, providers, and validators. Lava incentivizes node runners through decentralized public RPC (dPRPC), fostering a vibrant community. The goal is to revolutionize blockchain data access for resilience, transparency, and scalability.
Jake Hartnell (Juno) — Interchain DAOs
During the talk, Jake emphasized the importance of expanding on interchain DAOs and introduced DAO Dao. He highlighted the growing interest from other chains wanting to join the interchain narrative, emphasizing the benefits of cross-chain collaboration. Pros such as increased opportunities and community synergy were mentioned, but Jake acknowledged the challenges and limitations, including negativity and competition. He discussed the advanced features of DAO Dao, a tool for managing decentralized autonomous organizations across multiple chains. Looking ahead, Jake expressed excitement about Juno’s future, aiming to be an incubator for the interchain and offering cutting-edge IBC and SDK features. He mentioned the launch of an interchain incubator and the collaborative Analog Interchain fund.
Panel: Stablecoin Tete-a-Tete
During the “Stablecoin Tete-a-Tete” panel, speakers highlighted the importance of expanding stablecoins in Cosmos. The panelists included Zaki from DSF, Elena from Noble, and Kirilo from Binance. Noble focuses on generic asset issuance, such as launching USDC on Cosmos, leveraging the ecosystem’s interoperability. DSF plans to launch Vaults for minting IST with ATOM, aiming to offer composable ways of engaging various communities. Kirilo mentioned challenges faced by stablecoins, like BUSD halting minting, but expressed support for new players entering the market. Noble aims to satisfy the demand for USDC and promote interoperability. DSF’s Vaults will enhance engagement in Cosmos, and Binance plans to welcome stablecoin projects, considering users’ interests and infrastructure needs. Challenges discussed included regulation, liquidity, and privacy. Overcoming these hurdles necessitates collaboration with regulators and industry stakeholders, enabling a stable and vibrant ecosystem for stablecoins.
Avril Dutheil (Neutron) — What’s Next For Neutron
In his speech, Avril Dutheil, the General Manager at Neutron, emphasized expanding the ecosystem’s functionality. Neutron, the first replicated security chain on the Cosmos Hub, has achieved significant progress since its proposal (Prop 72). With protocols like Astroport and Cosmoswap, Neutron offers trading and liquidity solutions. A robust governance system empowers token holders to control the blockchain and treasury. Tokenomics include the Reserve System, adjusting token release based on on-chain activity. The Grand SubDAO provides transparent and efficient funding mechanisms. Neutron is also developing an accelerator program for the Atom Economic Zone, supporting startups within the Cosmos Hub and associated chains.
Adi Seredinschi — When Comets Align
In this presentation, Adi discussed Comet BFT, a fork of Tendermint Core, and its significance within the Cosmos Network infrastructure. It was highlighted the team’s optimism and early vision for Comet BFT, emphasizing its role in steadily improving the ecosystem. The origins of Comet BFT were traced back to the proposal of ABCI plus plus, aiming to enhance the power of applications built on Tendermint Core. Despite facing challenges such as organizational changes and funding issues during the development of Tendermint Core, the team successfully announced Comet BFT as a fork and achieved milestones like ABCI v1 and v2. The speaker recognized the importance of Forks in the open-source ecosystem, showcasing the utilization of Comet BFT by various teams (Dymension, Skip, Celestia, Sei) to push performance boundaries and create innovative designs. They concluded by emphasizing that Forks are tuning tools, allowing Comet BFT to evolve and adapt to user needs, and invited community engagement for its future development.
In the wake of the Gateway to Cosmos event, the BlockHunters team has returned from an extraordinary journey filled with inspiration and profound insights.
As we bid farewell to the event, our team eagerly anticipates future gatherings where we can continue to immerse ourselves in the dynamic and evolving world of Cosmos. The event was an awe-inspiring experience that reminded us of the immense potential and limitless possibilities that lie ahead. We remain committed to exploring and sharing the latest developments within the Cosmos ecosystem, empowering builders, users, and enthusiasts to shape a decentralized future that holds endless promise.
About BlockHunters
BlockHunters is a non-custodial staking service provider currently supporting the most promising projects in the cryptocurrency ecosystem with active nodes and different model infrastructure key components.
Based on the vision of driving technology forward and helping with security, connectivity solutions, governance insights, and community support, BlockHunters is dedicated to offering competitive and practical prowess.
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