The Third Time’s a Charm. Permissioned CosmWasm on the Hub; Proposal #895 passed
It is official!
Exciting news has arrived for the Cosmos ecosystem: proposal #895 has passed successfully, paving the way for implementing Permissioned CosmWasm on the Cosmos Hub.
Some History on CosmWasm and Hub proposal
The journey of integrating CosmWasm into the Cosmos Hub began with proposal #25 in 2020 (and it has been happening every two years since!), which marked a pivotal moment for the Cosmos community. Confio delivered two versions of testbeds, the permissioned testnet GaiaFlex and the permissionless testnet Coral so that people could play with them before actually moving them to the Hub.
Then, in 2022, a group of people submitted a subsequent attempt, proposal #69, to further enhance CosmWasm capabilities on the Hub, which was rejected, and Jae Kwon was one of the people against it.
Now, in 2024, with proposal #895, the community has rallied once again to agree on implementing Permissioned CosmWasm.
The Crucial Role of CosmWasm
Since 2020, the CosmWasm ecosystem has experienced exponential growth, starting with Terra. Today, more than 50 blockchains and hundreds of dApps utilize CosmWasm, and the developer community continues to expand, underscoring its crucial role in the Cosmos ecosystem.
The most secure, performant, and IBC-native smart contracting platform, CosmWasm has become one of the major 4 tech pillars, the cornerstone of innovation and collaboration within the Cosmos network.
Permissioned Approach
Proposal #895 advocates for a permissioned approach to CosmWasm implementation on the Cosmos Hub to minimize risks and enhances the security and efficiency of smart contract deployment and management.
Enhancing Governance and Restaking
Central to the proposal is enhancing governance and re-staking functionalities within the Cosmos Hub. Focusing on onboarding and managing consumer chain relations and treasury management, the integration of permissioned CosmWasm modules promises to streamline decision-making processes and bolster network reliability.
Supporting voices
We, Confio, have not submitted the original proposal, but as the key maintainer of CosmWasm, we are humbled and honored to receive community support on this proposal as follows:
Keplr: CosmWasm is the ‘HTTP’ to IBC’s ‘TCP/IP’. We believe that CosmWasm on the Cosmos Hub does not significantly increase risk as long as contracts go through a review process much more stringent than other chains.
Oni: This is the safest implementation of CosmWasm possible and comes at a time when the Cosmos Hub has shown a desperate need for some basic and safe CW functionality. This is the strongest proposal yet and ultimately benefits all stakers while retaining safety for users.
PRYZM: Permissioned CosmWasm simply empowers the Cosmos Hub to consider app deployments, subject to governance approval. This ensures that governance retains oversight over the deployment process. We support giving governance this optionality.
Everstake: Permissioned CW could swiftly bring new opportunities to the Hub while remaining under the full control of the community. Oversight through governance makes it much less risky and worth trying.
The Path Forward
This proposal serves as a signal for the commencement of an extensive process ahead. The journey towards the integration of the Hub has only just commenced. Among the subsequent steps, one crucial aspect involves crafting a comprehensive constitution that delineates allocating resources for CosmWasm on the Hub and establishes clear guidelines for contract approval. In preparation for the actual integration of permissioned CosmWasm on the Hub, the Confio team is eager to engage in collaborative efforts. Looking forward to our collaboration, Hub!
