BIockchain meets cloud and it’s a powerful combo
This is a featured guest post from Alexander Boyd, co-founder of Salex Digital.
Setting the developer scene
Web3 developers are at an all-time high and skyrocketing faster than ever.
We’re quoting these stats by Electric Capital just to put this astronomical growth into perspective:
- 18,000+ monthly active developers commit code in open source crypto and Web3 projects
- 65% of active developers in Web3 joined in 2021; 45% of full-time developers in Web3 joined in 2021cudndnd
- 34,000+ new developers committed code in 2021 — the highest in history
- 20%+ of new Web3 developers joined the Ethereum ecosystem
2021 can be officially declared the ‘Year of Crypto’: billions of dollars flowed into the crypto space and thousands of developers made the transition to Web3.
How exactly do developers commit code to build projects in this space? Two programming languages, Solidity and Rust, are gaining rapid adoption. For some context, Solidity is used to code on Ethereum and Rust is used on other chains such as Solana, Polkadot and Cosmos.
Out of the two, Solidity is the most popular language, likely due to Ethereum having the largest smart contract ecosystem. Despite this, Rust is a strong contender which appears to be attracting a lot of capital, as depicted in the below graph. Crucially, if you are a Rust developer, you can write smart contracts that can be uploaded to any Cosmos SDK based chain and that includes the CosmWasm module.
Enter Cudos
Say hello to Cudos. A blockchain built using the Cosmos SDK that leverages CosmWasm smart contracts (and later EVM via Ethermint).
If you are a Rust developer or simply Rust curious, then there are many reasons to consider building on Cudos.
The Cudos team and vision
Cudos was founded in 2017 by serial tech entrepreneur Matt Hawkins, who had previously founded and then sold C4L (one of the UK’s largest and fastest-growing Data Centre and Cloud Service Providers).
The team includes an unparalleled collection of entrepreneurs, engineers, data scientists, and executives, with the likes of the Ex-President of Sony Playstation, Chris Deering, and the Director of Blockchain at AMD, Jörg Roskowetz united in the mission to ‘make better use of the world’s computing power.’
Cudos’ goal is wholesome and ambitious. Wanting to reduce wasted computing power on a global scale is no mean feat, and when word gets out to developers and users, there will likely be an influx of Cudos converts.
Getting behind a project because you believe in its mission is one thing, but as a developer, there are several factors to consider as to why it is advantageous to build on Cudos.
5 Reasons to build on Cudos
Interoperability
As Chris Dixon from A16z put it: “Composability is to software as compounding interest is to finance”.
Composability is at the heart of Cosmos. The network is built using Tendermint Core and is supported by the Cosmos SDK, allowing easy cross-chain compatibility with many other blockchains.
As Cosmos grows to be one of the largest networks in Web3, Cudos is well positioned to ride the mass adoption wave.
IBC
Cudos has embraced cross-chain support from the outset. As part of the Cosmos ecosystem, the Cudos network can utilise the Inter-Blockchain Computation (IBC) protocol. This protocol acts as a standard for interoperability between all chains that are supported by the Cosmos SDK. It allows for quick and efficient transferring of assets to Cosmos-supported chains and enables the building of cross-chain applications.
Gravity Bridge
The Cudos network also supports transfers to and from Ethereum using the Gravity Bridge. Due to Ethereum being the largest layer 1 smart contract blockchain, it’s critical to have an integration with it. The Gravity Bridge ensures that assets from the Ethereum chain can be transferred into the Cosmos Hub. From there, these assets can be dispersed across Cosmos chains, including Cudos.
Growing ecosystem
The Cudos network will be integrated with Algorand by Glitter Finance, a blockchain research company, as part of their multi-chain strategy for cross-chain services.
Glitter Finance will build a bridge between Cudos and Algorand to improve interoperability in the DeFi blockchain space. The integration will enable users on Glitter Finance to transfer their digital currencies from Algorand to the Cudos blockchain.
To quote Pete Hill, Vice President of Sales at Cudos:
“The cross-bridge between the Cudos network and Algorand will allow full compossibility between the blockchains and will add greater diversity to the DeFi offerings.
The DeFi 2.0 components of the bridge include integration of yield pools on both sides of the bridge, redeployment of synthetic tokens created by the Glitter Bridge, wrapped coins, and wrapped NFTs.
The Algorand bridge integration in Q1 2022 will be followed by bridging Cudos to Polygon, Solana, and Terra networks”.
Flexible developer tools
A large number of dApps will be built on and supported by Cudos. The network is committed to facilitating developers by providing user-friendly tools and accessible document repositories.
Further information on smart contracts can be found here, and details on the launch of CosmWasm, here.
Strong Community
Cudos’ presence on social media is showing strong signs of an upwards trajectory, as detailed below:
Let’s not forget that the Cudos Network is already live with 100k+ users, across 145 countries, with 30k+ live active nodes globally.
Within the Cosmos ecosystem, some incredibly successful blockchains are attracting large numbers of users, such as Terra, Crypto.Com, Osmosis and Secret Network. It’s reasonable to assume that the Cosmos ecosystem will continue growing, placing Cudos at the heart of the activity.
Token utility
Cudos has worked with leading token economists to create a utility token that powers the network and transfers part of the generated value to all participants.
Within the network and the broader ecosystem, the token has many functions. These include:
- staking to become a validator
- delegated staking
- medium of exchange as the backbone of the Cudos network
Concluding remarks
Web1 and Web2 have left us with massive issues. The growing and yet inefficient use of computational resources is a huge strain on the planet. So far, two of the most promising technologies, cloud computing and blockchain, cannot solve this problem when they are acting in isolation.
Web3 offers a glimmer of hope. Spearheaded by Cudos, their project unites the forces of cloud and blockchain to create a decentralised distributed computing solution that has the potential to help the world reduce wasted computing energy.
As a developer, you can be part of this noble cause, and as if that weren’t enough, you will be part of a vibrant network that shows no signs of slowing down. The support and resources have been loaded onto the ship, it’s just a matter of getting on board and sailing off into the ocean of limitless possibilities.
Calling all developers — join Cudos’ testnet!
Cudos have an incentivised Testnet that remains open to participation. You can earn rewards by completing remaining tasks ahead of the highly anticipated Mainnet launch set for release next month. Check out some of the outstanding tasks here.
You can also:
- Join the Cudos’ Discord server
- Join the Cudos’ Telegram community
- Buy CUDOS tokens
- Become a Cudos’ ambassador.
About Cudos
Cudos is powering the metaverse bringing together DeFi, NFTs, and gaming experiences to realise the vision of a decentralised Web3, enabling all users to benefit from the growth of the network. We’re an interoperable, open platform launchpad that will provide the infrastructure required to meet the 1000x higher computing needs for the creation of fully immersive, gamified digital realities. Cudos is a Layer 1 blockchain, and Layer 2 community-governed compute network, designed to ensure decentralised, permissionless access to high-performance computing at scale. Our native utility token CUDOS is the lifeblood of our network and offers an attractive annual yield and liquidity for stakers and holders.
Learn more:
Website, Twitter, Telegram, YouTube, Discord, Medium, Podcast
Originally published at https://www.cudos.org.
