Cosmoverse 2022 Recap

Last week, a couple members of the Frontrunner team went to Medellin, Colombia to attend the Cosmoverse conference. We went to support our fellow founders and builders, learn more about the current state of the greater Cosmos ecosystem, and see what future plans the community had for Cosmos and Atom. Right from the start, it was clear that the conference meant more for builders and community members rather than investors; this was a refreshing change of pace relative to other crypto conferences we had been to throughout the year thus far. The conference was buzzing with positive energy and the exchange of new ideas. Everyone was very friendly and eager to share their passion for the Cosmos ecosystem so we figured it’d be good to share some of what we saw in our three days at the conference.

Here are some highlights and observations from our time in Medellin:

Atom 2.0 and the Cosmos Hub

• At the start of the conference, prominent members of the Cosmos community presented the whitepaper for Atom 2.0. This whitepaper detailed changes and updates to Atom’s tokenomics and the Cosmos Hub. Atom 2.0 changes Atom’s monetary policy over time, leading to a significant reduction in Atom’s inflation rate over the next three years. In this new model, validators are rewarded with the revenue generated by Interchain Security, a mechanism that allows the Cosmos hub to produce blocks for other blockchains in the Cosmos ecosystem. The goal of these changes is to make the process of creating a new Cosmos blockchain faster, cheaper, and easier while also enabling new scaling solutions and increasing overall IBC connectivity. More information on Atom 2.0 and the new features of the Cosmos Hub can be found HERE
• Relevant Projects: Atom 2.0, Cosmos Hub

Cosmos Stable Coins

• Stablecoins remain an important part of pretty much every Web3 ecosystem and at this time, many Cosmos projects are still looking to fill the stablecoin void left by the collapse of the Terra/Luna ecosystem. Currently, various types of wrapped USDC or USDT are commonly used on exchanges like Osmosis, but these wrapped, collateral-backed stablecoins are reliant on bridges from other chains; a fact that presents issues when you consider how many cryptocurrency bridges have been recently hacked or otherwise compromised. Ultimately, Cosmos-native stablecoins would be more secure and sustainable in the long run by removing the need to bridge currency from one chain to another. Because of all this (and because we plan to use stablecoins on Frontrunner’s mainnet), Circle announcing their plans to release Cosmos native USDC was one of the most exciting announcements at this year’s Cosmoverse and should hopefully lead to more adoption of Cosmos blockchains in general.
• Relevant Projects: Circle/USDC

Liquid Staking

• Liquid Staking was another major topic at this year’s Cosmoverse. Liquid staking allows users to tokenize their staking positions, providing users with an additional type of liquid asset that they can use across DeFi applications. These tokens can be freely moved and traded or be used to redeem the underlying staked assets at any time. The goal here is to give token stakers the optionality to earn additional yields without compromising their core staking positions. It’ll be fascinating to see how this space develops as more developers explore novel applications of the tokenized positions while trying to avoid liquidity fragmentation.
• Relevant Projects: Stride, Persistence

Despite current macroeconomic conditions, it remains clear that Cosmos has a dedicated and passionate community behind it that continues to build and experiment regardless of the markets. We met tons of great people and learned about many promising projects and we’re definitely excited go back next year and see how much the Cosmos community and ecosystem has grown.

About Frontrunner

Frontrunner is a decentralized sports prediction market where users can buy shares of sports propositions and trade them like they would stocks. Unlike traditional sportsbooks where users place a bet and wait, Frontrunner gives users full control over their portfolios, allowing them to dynamically buy and sell positions as the odds change. By leveraging the power of free markets and the blockchain, we create transparent markets and liquid positions to reduce counterparty risk and fundamentally change the way that people invest in their sports knowledge and beliefs.

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