Cosmos

Powered by a Byzantine Fault-Tolerant consensus algorithm such as Tendermint BFT.. Cosmos is an ecosystem of independent inter-connected blockchains built using developer-friendly application components and connected with Inter-Blockchain Communication protocol.

Built by software engineers and entrepreneurs Ethan Buchman and Jae Kwon.. Cosmos is the gateway to a rapidly expanding ecosystem of independent interconnected blockchains built using developer-friendly application components and connected with IBC- Inter-Blockchain Communication protocol.

There are currently more than 248  Interchain apps and services in the Cosmos network including Binance Chain- Terra- Crypto.org and Cosmos Hub with over $42 billion of digital assets under management. The team believes in interoperability and autonomy over siloes and monopolies.. collaboration and innovation over competition and status quo. They believe that value must be exchanged- stored- and secured between parties without relying on centralised servers. 

"Cosmos is about creating a network of distributed computers or blockchains and enabling [them] to interconnect and communicate to create a foundation for a scalable token economy" co-founder Jae Kwon told Decrypt. 

What is the ethos of Cosmos? The Cosmos Hub is designed to be a decentralized marketplace that provides invaluable services shared security- a decentralized interchain exchange- bridges to Ethereum and Bitcoin- and secure custodianship of digital assets. Developers can build autonomous application-specific interconnected blockchains. They can also opt-out of high transaction fees and network congestion- make their own rules- and scale for mainstream adoption. This has massive implications for the future of decentralized finance- NFTs- gaming-autonomous organizations- social networks- marketplaces. And sustainable growth of blockchain technology- internet of value- and ownership economy in which everyone has a stake. 

The benefits are multi-fold. Interchain apps and services give its community the power to organise and allocate resources to its members i.e. individuals can use tokens to vote on impactful decisions that govern their own community. Free flow of information and freedom of expression have often been hindered by centralised platforms. Interestingly- though- the Interchain empowers communities to build autonomous social networks in which every user has a voice- creates value- and benefits from the value creation of others. Interchain also allows game developers to create collectibles and character upgrades that they can monetise without third-party approval or app store fees. Through NFTs- these digital assets live forever- providing lasting value for gamers.

On the Interchain- developers can create exchanges and marketplaces allowing for permission-less global trade. They can create autonomous application-specific blockchains rather than smart contracts on someone else's chain. This frees users from high transaction fees and network congestion in addition to making Decentralised Finance accessible to all. 

At the heart of Cosmos is the ATOM token - the native token of the Cosmos Hub. In return for securing the Hub's services by staking ATOM- transaction fees and staking rewards are distributed to the Cosmos Hub. These rewards are set to exponentially increase with the introduction of additional services such as the interchain decentralized exchange and Interchain Staking which will allow staked ATOM to secure other blockchains in the ecosystem.

Ethan Buchman and Jae Kwon founded Cosmos with the vision of creating a decentralized network of independent interoperable blockchains which allows different blockchains to communicate and exchange data with each other in a decentralized trust-less manner. This interoperability enables different blockchains to work together and share resources, making it easier for developers to build decentralized applications and for users to access them.