Cosmos Community and Marketing — Tendermint Hands the Reins to the Interchain Foundation (ICF)
With more than $130 billion of digital assets under management and 260+ apps and services building in the network, Cosmos has blossomed into one of the largest blockchain ecosystems today. As DeFi moves cross-chain and more people understand the need for blockchain interoperability, Cosmos is leading the pack.
At Tendermint, we are proud to have presided over the growth of Cosmos since the beginning and to have played a very active role in building the technology and community. As part of that role, we have been officially in charge of Cosmos marketing since 2017, building the Cosmos community, managing the marketing channels, creating engaging content, and hosting dynamic events, both online and in-person. Cosmos is now the go-to solution for building sovereign interoperable blockchains with four chains in the top 20 by market cap and nine projects in the top 100.
Over the last five years, Tendermint has helped drive Cosmos from inception and one of the most successful fundraisers in the industry’s history in 2017 to the completion of its whitepaper and the launch of the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol in 2021. The Cosmos solution for blockchain interoperability, in less than 10 months, 38 individual chains have enabled IBC, driving more than 9.2 million IBC transactions per month.
As the cornerstone of Cosmos’ founding philosophy, IBC is a masterpiece brought to life by many artists. In fact, the decentralization of Cosmos development started with IBC and many contributors now maintain and develop the Cosmos tech stack, including the Interchain Foundation (ICF), Iqlusion, Tendermint Inc., Informal Systems, IRISnet, Regen Network, Agoric, Confio, Osmosis, Anoma, and Strangelove. Cosmos community and marketing has also grown exponentially, reaching the stage where more contributors are needed. Decentralization of strategy and operations is the next logical step.
Taking Cosmos from Zero to $130+ Billion
From March 1, 2022, Tendermint will, therefore, transition Cosmos marketing and community initiatives and channels to the ICF, in line with our guiding principles of decentralization and collaboration. As a longstanding core contributor to the Cosmos ecosystem, Tendermint will be working closely with our friends at the ICF to ensure a smooth transition. We’d like to thank all Tendermint employees old and new who contributed to creating such a strong community and technology stack that helped Cosmos realize its vision.
Over the years, Tendermint helped build the Cosmos ecosystem from scratch to one of the most vibrant and engaged in the blockchain ecosystem today, from developers and validators to partners, community contributors, and enthusiasts. In 2017, building a scalable interoperable Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain was a new frontier. There were no instruction manuals or go-to guides on how to build a robust decentralized validator set or create awareness around such a project.
Tendermint pioneered and marketed the first incentivized testnet for a distributed community, Game of Stakes, that grew the Cosmos Hub validator set from 20 to more than 100 in a few short months. We were instrumental in designing and crafting the Cosmos brand and identity, successfully launching the Cosmos Hub mainnet, and developing and promoting the Cosmos SDK, which contributed to the rise of the Cosmos ecosystem from zero to over $130 billion in market capitalization.
We promoted development in the network through informative tutorials, hands-on coding sessions, and challenging hackathons, hosting 11 successful competitions worldwide and launching the Cosmos Code with Us workshops. The largest in Cosmos history, HackAtom VI, took place last November with a record prize pool of $1 million in ATOM. Cosmos’ social channels from Twitter to Telegram, Discord to YouTube have all grown exponentially, and we helped attract newer community members through popular initiatives like Cosmos Signal, which captured more than 500K views.
Fostering the Brightest Talent in the Space
In addition to managing Cosmos marketing and community and developing industry-leading tech, Tendermint has acted as a tremendous incubator for talent since its inception. Many Tendermint employees have gone on to create amazing products and services in the ecosystem, such as Osmosis, Sommelier, Umee, Anoma, Evmos, Tgrade, Nomic, Celestia, and countless others to come like Gno, Archway, Pylons, and Sagan. Tendermint was and continues to be a learning ground for development, creativity, innovation, and success at building thriving blockchain ecosystems.
Tendermint CEO Peng Zhong commented, “It’s been an honor to build and grow the Cosmos community and to celebrate many successes over the years. Now, it’s time for Tendermint to start a new chapter of our own, focusing our resources on developing user-friendly products that help to democratize access to the Cosmos ecosystem. We wish the ICF the very best of luck and are confident that the Interchain team is the right choice to take Cosmos to newer heights.”
Tendermint’s Exciting Initiatives in 2022 and Beyond
As the creators of Tendermint Core, Cosmos SDK, and the ground-breaking IBC protocol, Tendermint’s legacy of building an industry-leading tech stack speaks for us. As we transition Cosmos communications to Interchain, we return to our roots and look forward to focusing on our own exciting initiatives.
Cosmos Hub Lead at Interchain Billy Rennekamp commented, “We’d like to thank the Tendermint team for all the wonderful work so far in building the Cosmos brand and look forward to continuing our strong collaboration as we enter this next phase of Cosmos. We can’t wait to see what innovative projects Tendermint will bring to the Cosmos network next.”
Throughout 2022, Tendermint will be focused on bringing Emeris, our cross-chain navigator, wallet, and DEX aggregator, to public launch, as well as adding innovative, high-impact features to Starport, our all-in-one solution for creating sovereign blockchains. We will also be supporting the launch of several projects to mainnet, including Archway, an incentivized smart contract platform that rewards developers.
Like Cosmos, Tendermint has been experiencing hyper-growth and our team has expanded from 30 employees to 120 employees in the last year alone. We’ve learned a lot from our time building the Cosmos community, are proud of everything we have achieved so far, and will remain a major player in the ecosystem by focusing on building the needed products designed to bring mass adoption to Cosmos. Watch this space for updates, the best is yet to come!
