The Cosmos Network (ATOM), also known as the "Internet of Blockchains," is a decentralized network of interoperable blockchains. Through their ecosystem, different blockchains can communicate with each other, which provides new features, enhances communication between different companies, and contributes to the sector's development.  ATOM is the native token on top of the layer-1 ecosystem of Cosmos.

The project has 265+ apps and services running in the network with a total of 45B+ USD AuM (assets under management). Several projects and companies rely on this ecosystem to work, such as Gatechain DEX, Terra, and Cosmos Hub.

The actual differential lies in its customizability and interoperability focus. Projects launched on the Cosmos Network can operate on different blockchains and can be easily developed based on the engines provided by the ecosystem. It has several sets of tools so developers can work on their applications without starting from scratch.

CORE PRODUCTS

Cosmos Network focuses on the usability and scalability of blockchain solutions, and its core products are: 

1. Cosmos Hub

2. IBC Protocol 

3. Cosmos SDK

4. Tendermint Consensus.

Cosmos Hub

Cosmos Hub is the first of thousands of interconnected blockchains that will eventually comprise the Cosmos Network, and its primary token is the ATOM.

This hub connects other blockchains known as zones by keeping track of the state of each zone through the Interblockchain Communication Protocol (IBC). Through this protocol, information can easily travel between any Zone connected to Cosmos Hub.

IBC Protocol (Interblockchain Communication Protocol)

IBC is the interoperability protocol that allows blockchains to talk to each other. The interconnection between blockchains is allowed through a "hub-and-zone" model. In simple terms, Cosmos provides a "hub" where the "zones" of two other blockchains are connected. 

If a developer wants to connect Solana and Ethereum through Cosmos, both blockchains would need to connect to their own zones, and these two zones would be linked to a shared hub from Cosmos, and transfers between them would be allowed.

Cosmos SDK

An SDK is a software development kit. Cosmos SDK is an open-source framework for building Proof-of-Stake (PoS) and Proof-of-Authority (PoA) blockchain applications and connecting them through the IBC protocol. This kit expedites the building process for developers, making the blockchain creation process easier and faster.

Tendermint Consensus

Tendermint Core is Cosmos SDK's default consensus layer. It has a ready-to-use blockchain engine that allows developers to create their blockchains quickly, securely, and in a scalable way without the need for coding from zero.

For this, the company created the Tendermint Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT): a proof-of-stake (PoS) governance mechanism that keeps the distributed network of computers running Cosmos Hub in sync. Participants of the blockchain ("validator notes") can vote on changes and power the blockchain through staking. Those in the top 100 notes staking the ATOM token become validators and have voting power proportional to their ATOMs staked.

SECTOR: LAYER-1 BLOCKCHAINS

Cosmos (ATOM) is a layer-1 blockchain. Layer-1 refers to a base network, such as Bitcoin, BNB Chain, or Ethereum, and its underlying infrastructure. This type of blockchain can validate and finalize transactions without needing another network. When developed, it allows third-party integrations that can be used in conjunction with it.

They are the base blockchains that allow applications to be built upon their code. After the network's underlying technology is built, there is room for this kind of project to scale up and expand, permitting the construction of more secure and decentralized ecosystems. In terms of innovation, Layer-1 blockchain protocols are an excellent ground for:

• developing new programs in a safe, public and open space;

• allowing developers the freedom to create, learn and implement and 

• providing users an entire ecosystem for transactions.

TOKENOMICS

TOKEN SUPPLY DISTRIBUTION

• Seed tokens: 5.08%

• Strategic tokens: 7.03%

• Interchain Foundation: 10%

• Tendermint: 10.03%

• Public Fundraiser tokens: 67.86%

INITIAL TOKEN DISTRIBUTION

Private sale overview

• Seed Round (Jan 2017):

• 1 ATOM = 0.025 USD 

• 300,000 USD raised

• 5.08% of total token supply

• Strategic Round Jan 2017:

• 1 ATOM = 0.08 USD

• USD 1.32 M USD raised

• 7.03% of total token supply.

Public sale overview (April 2017)

• 1 ATOM = 0.01 USD

• ~$16 MM USD raised

• 67.86% of the total token supply.

TOKEN USE CASES

The ATOM token has three use cases: spam-prevention mechanism, staking tokens, and voting mechanism in governance.

1. As a spam prevention mechanism, ATOM is used to pay fees.

2. As staking tokens, ATOMs can be “bonded” to earn block rewards. The economic security of the Cosmos Hub is a function of the amount of ATOM staked, so the more ATOM that are collateralized, the more “skin” there is at stake and the higher the cost of attacking the network. Also, holders receive staking rewards (9.7% APY as of April 2022)

3. ATOM holders may govern the Cosmos Hub by voting on proposals with their staked ATOM.

The supply is infinite, and there isn't a token burning mechanism. Although, Cosmos adjusts the number of tokens created based on the number of ATOM being staked. Theoretically, if the inflation is 7%, the APY would be higher (i.e., 8%-10%).

TEAM

Cosmos is a Decentralized ecosystem, and Ignite (previously Tendermint) is a core contributor to the Cosmos Network. Basically, Cosmos is the blockchain, and Ignite is the company that helps develop the blockchain's underlying software and tools.

The original team was mainly composed of Jae Kwon, Ethan Buchman, and Zaki Manian. In January 2020, an infight made project members split into different projects within the startup. As officially stated by Tendermint:

"Tendermint has announced that 10 engineers and researchers working on Cosmos’s core technology are parting ways with the startup. They will continue to work independently on the platform and its forthcoming Inter Blockchain Protocol. Tendermint, meanwhile, will focus on the community, develop the Cosmos SDK and founder Jae Kwon’s new project Virgo".

The company has changed its name to Ignite, and Jae Kwon became the CEO. Despite the internal disagreements, the Ignite team keeps present on social media and comprises 100+ members, according to LinkedIn. 

ROADMAP & PROJECT UPDATES

Cosmos' roadmap and milestones are described on the project's website.

DEVELOPER ACTIVITY

An important metric to look out for is the developer activity in crypto projects since it gives investors insights on where the builders and coders are heading to. 

If a project has more active developers and more commits than another from the same sector, it might indicate that more work and more developments are occurring in this project. Meanwhile, if there is a decaying number of developers and commits over time, it might signal that fewer efforts are being made to build it.

• Commit activity: a commit is an individual change to a file. When work is saved, Git creates a unique ID that keeps a record of the specific changes committed, who made them, and when. The more commits over time; the more development is (theoretically) occurring in the project.

• Developer trend: it presents the evolution of forks, stars, and watchers over time.

• Fork count: number of people who were sufficiently interested in cloning or copying a repository on their local resource to work on coding;

• Stars count: users who have agreed to receive notifications about all repository activities;

• Watchers count: number of users who bookmarked a repository.

SOCIAL & COMMUNITY

Cosmos' communication & media strategies are focused not on reaching the average cryptocurrency investor, but actually on the community of developers, projects, and teams that are going to build apps under their Layer-1 ecosystem. Since the company should ideally attract upcoming devs, most of Cosmos' social media actions are driven in that direction. 

Social media channels:

Twitter

Reddit

Medium

Telegram

Youtube Channel

Cosmos Forum