COSMOS CRYPTO NEWS: ATOM, DYDX, SEI, AKT, SCRT & MORE!!

Hey there, cosmonauts! ⚛️
May is heating up faster than a rocket engine, and we’re here to guide you through the latest twists and turns in the crypto cosmos. From the launch of new decentralized applications to the latest developments in interoperability protocols, there’s never a dull moment in this celestial playground. Join us as we dive into the latest happenings and cosmic revelations from the Cosmos ecosystem!

COSMOS HUB AND CONSUMER CHAINS: Cosmos introduces Hydro, a bidding platform for deploying liquidity. Atom Accelerator DAO announces first venture grant to Elys Network. Picasso Network has deployed Solana IBC to the mainnet

NAMADA: The community sentiment to reinstate the Uptime mission strengthens

DYDX v4: dYdX Introduces Isolated Markets and Margin Trading while Anchorage Digital Adds Support for Native DYDX Staking

OSMOSIS: v25 upgrade introduces 1.3 million OSMO burning, Top-of-Block Auction system, and more

KUJIRA: Sonar Wallet adds seamless USDC transfers to Kujira

CELESTIA: LazyLedger celebrated 5-year anniversary of the modular movement and Celestia Delegation Program Cohort 2 is now open

SEI: Sei Pacific-1 is getting a v2 update with a three-phase rollout

PERSISTENCE: stkXPRT is now live on Persistence with 50K tokens up for grabs. Also, wBTC is debuting on Persistence One

SECRET NETWORK: Secret Network launches Confidential Computing Integrations with Lisk, Etherlink, and Metis

AKASH: Akash streamlines zero-cost Chat API and Console 2.0 for seamless cloud deployment. Do not miss the Akash Accelerate ’24 event

OTHER ECOSYSTEM NEWS: ATOM dVPN Development

All this and much more. Let’s dive in and unpack the biggest news within Cosmos.

Cosmos Hub and Consumer Chains (Neutron & Stride)

ATOM Wars: Introducing the Hydro Auction Platform
Cosmos introduces Hydro, a bidding and governance platform for the efficient deployment of liquidity across the Interchain. This addresses the biggest challenge in the Cosmos ecosystem: token liquidity. With Hydro, projects can bid for ATOM liquidity, benefiting all ATOM holders. It is also designed to allow other community pools to participate and contribute liquidity into buckets. Hydro v3 will include performance incentives for voters and the hATOM governance layer.
The Hydro smart contracts are awaiting a third-party audit. After the audit, a governance proposal will be submitted to Cosmos Hub’s on-chain governance.

Toki Finance ZK-IBC Update
Toki Finance is accelerating ZK-IBC development with zkVM approaches to reduce implementation costs. This enhances IBC protocol security through TEE and MPC in a multi-prover model. While the initial adoption will focus on Ethereum and Cosmos appchains, Toki plans to extend support to other blockchains like BNB Chain, Avalanche, and Polygon.

Picasso Network has successfully deployed Solana IBC to the mainnet. Users can now transfer various assets, including SOL, mSOL, wSOL, and USDT, between Solana and Cosmos via IBC.
Additionally, rewards for MANTIS Games Season 1 will be distributed soon.

Cosmos Hub ICA Controller
The Cosmos Hub has introduced the Inter-Chain Account (ICA) Controller, enabling DAOs to perform cross-chain actions such as buying inscriptions, creating collections or tokens, and more. It also enables independent blockchains to hold LP positions, remotely stake tokens, and manage other chains.
Secret Network created a forked version of ICA to administer crypto accounts privately. Timewave Labs also suggested employing ICAs to eliminate Cosmos Hub multi-signatures, demonstrating the ICA Controller’s adaptability and security.

Cosmos Hub’s First Venture Grant: Elys Network
Through the ATOM Accelerator DAO (AADAO), Cosmos Hub has announced its first Venture Grant to Elys Network. ATOM Accelerator DAO aims to invest in early-stage projects, driving value back to the Cosmos Hub Community Pool.
Elys Network will be the first all-in-one DeFi appchain using Interchain Security, leveraging the Cosmos Hub’s economic security and validator set. Through the grant, the Community Pool will receive a substantial amount of ELYS tokens, alongside potential airdrops for ATOM holders and stakers. Moreover, ATOM will be the default gas token for Elys’ DeFi app, ensuring the value accrual of the ATOM token.

Namada

Namada Community Calls for Reinstatement of Uptime Mission in Shielded Expedition Event
The community response, led by Cosmic Validator, Chainflow, and others, addresses the recent announcement on the Namada Forum dated May 16th regarding removing the uptime category from the Shielded Expedition event. High uptime ensures that the Namada network remains secure and resilient against attacks. Validators with low uptime can compromise the network’s security and overall performance. This is why Cosmic Validator pushes for the reinstatement of Uptime Mission.
The Namada Shielded Expedition is an incentivized testnet engaging validators (Pilots) and users (Crew Members) to test the Namada protocol before its mainnet launch rigorously.

dYdX v4

Anchorage Digital Adds Support for Native DYDX Staking
Institutional crypto platform Anchorage Digital has announced support for native DYDX staking. Institutions can now stake DYDX from secure custody at Anchorage Digital and earn rewards distributed in USDC.

dYdX Introduces Isolated Markets and Margin Trading for Enhanced Risk Management
dYdX has introduced Isolated Markets and Isolated Margin trading to its trading suite. This allows users to trade each market independently, maintaining separate collateral and margin requirements for each market. This feature also enhances risk management by isolating exposure, ensuring that losses in one market do not affect the user’s overall account or other positions. These updates aim to provide more flexibility and control over trading strategies.

Slinky Integration Coming to dYdX Chain
The upcoming v5.0.0 chain upgrade for dYdX will introduce Slinky, featuring block-by-block oracle updates with unprecedented low-latency prices. This upgrade will initially enable the rapid listing of over 800 new markets, with potential expansion to thousands more. Price updates will be directly retrieved by dYdX validators, ensuring secure and swift data integration. Slinky also projects a decentralized live-oracle management system to maintain data quality.
dYdX Ecosystem Development Program Announces New Grants
The dYdX Ecosystem Development Program has announced several new grants. These include funding for integrating Skip Protocol’s Slinky sidecar, which will support a new price oracle mechanism and a permissionless market listing system. Additionally, Xenophon Labs will research LP Vaults functionality, deploying capital to test delta-neutral market-making strategies. Two sets of grants will support dedicated Solana RPC nodes, enhancing price discovery.

Osmosis

Osmosis v25 Upgrade
The Osmosis v25 upgrade introduces several key features, including burning 1.3 million OSMO tokens, adding Smart Accounts for enhanced usability and security, consensus improvements with an EIP 1559-style gas market, and reducing the target block time to 2.5 seconds. The upgrade also includes a new Top-of-Block Auction system for efficient transaction prioritization. Over the past few months, Osmosis has seen a significant increase in trading volume, enhanced liquidity, and steady growth in user activity.

Kujira

Sonar Wallet Update: CCTP Integration
Sonar Wallet now supports Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) via Skip Protocol API, enabling seamless transfer of $USDC to Kujira from Solana and other supported Circle chains. This update eliminates the “confirm” step, simplifying the process for users and significantly improving the UX.

Entropic Labs Joins Unstake.fi
Entropic Labs has joined Unstake.fi as a core contributor and protocol steward, collaborating with the Kujira team. This partnership will enhance Unstake.fi with expanded asset support, comprehensive analytics dashboards, NSTK staking, and protocol efficiency upgrades. Entropic Labs also plans to launch Unstake DAO using DAODAO, fostering community-driven development.

New KUJI Listing: Onboard to Kujira with Kado
Kujira is now listed on Kado, allowing users to onboard in minutes using various payment methods, including Visa, Apple Pay, SEPA, and more. For a limited time, there are no processing or network fees. This provides a seamless and cost-effective way to access Kujira.

Celestia

Five Years of LazyLedger
The LazyLedger white paper was published five years ago, marking the birth of the modular movement in blockchain technology. LazyLedger introduces a novel approach by optimizing blockchains for transaction data availability, shifting execution and validation responsibilities to clients interested in specific transactions. This design enhances scalability and efficiency, focusing the core ledger system on ordering and ensuring data availability.

Celestia Foundation Delegation Program Cohort 2 Now Open
The Celestia Foundation has opened applications for its Delegation Program Cohort 2. Validators from Cohort 1 must reapply, especially those in third place. New applicants can also apply, undergoing a KYC process. Cohort 2 offers 15 seats for a 12-month delegation period, provided they adhere to Foundation Voting guidelines. The application process, previously set to open on June 1st, started early on May 21st, potentially affecting some validators’ eligibility.

Sei

Sei V2 Launch: Governance Approval Process Begins
Sei Pacific-1 is getting a v2 update and is ready for Mainnet adoption. Sei V2 introduces a parallelized EVM upgrade to the Sei blockchain through a three-phase rollout: Governance, Alpha Launch, and V2 Ready. This phased approach minimizes risk, sets expectations, and optimizes performance, ensuring a scalable network.

Persistence

stkXPRT: Enhancing Persistence One Ecosystem
pStake Finance and Dexter introduce stkXPRT, the liquid staked version of the XPRT token. stkXPRT enhances liquidity by allowing staked XPRT to be used in DeFi without unbonding. It expands pSTAKE’s Liquid Staked Token suite, boosts decentralization with fair validator distribution, and improves capital efficiency by maximizing yields and reducing the need for high inflation rates. The Persistence One ecosystem has introduced 50,000 stkXPRT incentives on Dexter to kickstart the liquidity influx.

wBTC Integration into the Persistence One Ecosystem
Persistence One is integrating wBTC, the wrapped version of Bitcoin, into its ecosystem, starting with a liquidity pool paired with XPRT on Dexter. This move aims to enhance liquidity, attract new users, and generate more on-chain activity. This integration aligns Persistence One closer to the Bitcoin community and is expected to significantly benefit the Persistence One ecosystem’s growth and functionality.

Secret Network

Secret Network Integrates Confidential Computing with Lisk
Secret Network has integrated its Confidential Computing Layer with Lisk, enhancing Lisk dApps with new capabilities such as private voting, encrypted storage, secure random number generation, and confidential data access control.

Secret Network Integrates Confidential Computing with Etherlink
Secret Network has integrated its Confidential Computing Layer with Etherlink, a Layer 2 EVM solution powered by Tezos Smart Rollups. Etherlink, a non-custodial and EVM-compatible blockchain, benefits from Secret’s decentralized confidential computing tools.

Secret Network Integrates Confidential Computing with Metis
Secret Network has integrated its Confidential Computing Layer with Metis, a Layer 2 Ethereum Rollup platform. This partnership brings new capabilities to Metis dApps, including private voting, encrypted storage, secure random number generation, and more.

Akash

Akash Console 2.0 Launched
Akash has fully integrated Cloudmos Deploy into Akash Console, offering an improved platform for deploying 1-click templates, creating custom deployments, and viewing provider status. This makes Akash Console the best place for seamless cloud deployment. Get started with Akash Console 2.0 today at Akash Console.

Akash Accelerate ’24: Join Over 1,000 Attendees
More than 1,000 people have registered for Akash Accelerate ’24, set to be a remarkable event for the brightest minds in Decentralized AI.

Introducing: The Akash Chat API
The Akash Chat API, powered by Llama 3 and Akash GPUs, offers zero-cost inference with funding from Akash. The public beta starts today, allowing select developers early access. After the beta, the API will be open and permissionless for all users. To apply for the beta, join the Akash Discord, navigate to the “akashchat-api” channel, and introduce yourself and your intended API use. Stay tuned for full access in the coming weeks.

Other ecosystem news

ATOM dVPN Development
Sentinel is developing a decentralized VPN (dVPN) that uses Cosmos ATOM, among other tokens, for IBC-enabled payments. Sentinel seeks community input on designs and branding to enhance the retail dApp.

Crypto regulations & compliance news with MME

Former deputy of Sam Bankman-Fried, Ryan Salame jailed for seven years
Ryan Salame, the co-CEO of FTX’s Bahamian subsidiary, was sentenced to 90 months in prison due to US federal prosecutors. Salame pleaded guilty last September to violating political campaign finance laws and operating an illegal money-transmitting business.
Salame is believed to be a close associate of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison in March this year after a high-profile trial, according to BTC-ECHO.
In September, he pleaded guilty to making tens of millions of US dollars in illegal campaign contributions. This was done to further the legislative goals of FTX and Bankman-Fried. According to the US government, the then-CEO of an FTX subsidiary in the Bahamas “helped pump more than $100 million in illegal contributions into the US political system”.

Implementation of the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) for crypto assets
The Swiss Bundesrat plans to extend the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) to include crypto assets by January 2026. This move aligns with OECD’s new Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), requiring Swiss financial institutions and banks to report crypto transactions involving foreign clients. Banks and crypto service providers must adapt to ensure compliance and maintain Switzerland’s tax transparency and financial credibility. The implementation will follow parliamentary approval and is expected to enter into force by January 2026.

US passes Cryptocurrency Bill
The US House of Representatives passed the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, which creates a new regulatory framework for digital currencies. Despite bipartisan support, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler warned that the bill could create regulatory gaps and undermine investor protections by exempting blockchain-recorded investment contracts from being considered securities. This legislative move comes as the SEC is expected to approve applications for Spot Ether ETFs, signaling increased support for the cryptocurrency industr

Conclusion

Thanks for joining us on this cosmic crypto journey! If you enjoyed blasting through the latest updates from the Cosmos ecosystem, don’t forget to give us a cosmic thumbs up, drop a comment with your thoughts, and hit that subscribe button to stay tuned for more out-of-this-world content. Until next time, keep exploring the crypto cosmos and may your investments reach for the stars!

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