What ATOM 2.0 means for Cosmos: Bullish & Bearish Takes
Deep dive on the biggest proposal for $ATOM
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To call Cosmos an “ecosystem” is at times controversial.
Yes, Cosmos is probably the most diverse ecosystem in crypto today, after Ethereum.
It was where the novel concept of liquid staking was first explored, where the largest exchange has chosen to build its chain, where one of the earliest DAO projects has decided to set foot, and also where the $60B disaster that was Terra Luna decided to build prior to its collapse.
But unlike on Ethereum, where applications deploy smart contracts onto the mainchain, most projects building “in Cosmos” are simply utilizing its open source “blockchain-in-a-box” SDK and consensus mechanism, Tendermint. As with most public goods, Cosmos Hub - the central hub where people can stake $ATOM tokens to earn block rewards - does not capture much value from the activity within this loosely organized universe of blockchains.
In other words, Cosmos has created a lot of value in crypto (~$13B, to be exact), but has to date captured little of it.
So, Cosmos announced its ATOM 2.0 plans to change that.
This week, we prepared a 30-page report for Blockcrunch VIPs to do a critical deep dive. We will cover:
Part 1: Cosmos Recap
“The Cosmos Stack”: Cosmos SDK, Tendermint, IBC
Cosmos Hub: What is it Good For?
ATOM: “Cursed Coin” or Untapped Value?
Part 2: ATOM 2.0
Part-by-part ATOM 2.0 Breakdown
Why liquid staking helps reduce issuance
Interchain security and the rise of minimum viable app chains
Cosmos’ unique MEV problems
Interchain Allocator
Part 3: The Bull & Bear Cases for ATOM 2.0
3 Bullish Developments
2 Bearish Trade offs