IRISnet & Tendermint Inc Join Forces to Accelerate Open-Source Blockchain Development
About IRIS Network
IRIS Foundation is a non-profit organization in Hong Kong with a mission to support the development of open-source software for the IRIS Network (“IRISnet”).
As a part of Cosmos Network, IRISnet is positioned to provide infrastructure for the next generation of distributed business applications. The centerpiece of IRISnet is a regional hub known as IRIS Hub (“IRIShub”) that builds on top of Cosmos SDK to enable cross-chain interoperability through a unified service model. IRIShub was also launched, just prior to the Cosmos Hub launch, in March of this year.
Why we’re proud to work with the IRIS Network
The core principle that powers the engineering at Tendermint Inc has always, since its inception in 2014, been about putting software before marketing and being uncompromising when it comes to quality and security.
As such, we are highly deliberate about which projects we work with, ensuring that those that we do engage with are aligned with this core principle and are capable when it comes to delivery.
IRISnet is one such project that has been working alongside us at Tendermint since 2017. The team behind IRIS, Bianjie, has been a major contributor to the Cosmos community both on the technical front and on the community building front, where they helped us build presence in Cosmos China. The highly incentive-aligned nature of the two teams was a natural symbiosis.
Tendermint Inc is the leading organization that is bringing you the Cosmos Network. Due to the sheer scope of the project, however, we realized—very early on—that this is not a feat we could accomplish alone.
In early 2017, a Chinese AI startup called Bianjie.ai decided to launch a public blockchain. In 2018, Bianjie began the arduous task of using a very early prototype of the Cosmos SDK and starting contributing software upstream to the SDK repository. They were the first external project to really adopt the Cosmos SDK as their blockchain framework to build their decentralized microservices application. Along the way, they ran into countless bugs and UX difficulties using the software—all of which were reported and subsequently remediated—until eventually, the developer UX improved enough to go into production. Because they were such early adopters, their extensive testing contributed majorly to the now mature framework, which is currently in beta.
In 2019, the first project that believed in our technology, launched its public blockchain, called IRIShub. Today, the more than 83 projects building on our technology stack reap the benefits of all of the work that Bianjie and Tendermint Inc invested into making the software developer-friendly, modular, and secure above all.
The reasons we selected IRISnet as one of our premier ecosystem partners are:
- Bianjie has been a major and active contributor to the Cosmos community since Day 1.
- The IRIShub is the first major regional hub launched in the Cosmos Network, covering the China region, in case there’s ever a continental network partition. Since the Cosmos Network will eventually be composed of many hubs—not just the Cosmos Hub — the IRIShub serves as a redundant Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) router with the same functionality as the Cosmos Hub for enabling cross-chain transactions. The Cosmos Hub and the IRIShub will be directly connected when IBC is deployed.
- IRIS Foundation is an independent entity dedicated to supporting the Cosmos Network through its 5% airdrop initiative to the Cosmos Hub community reserve pool, intended to fund projects that will serve to expand the Cosmos universe.
- The Bianjie and Tendermint teams are continuing to work together to upstream new features to the Cosmos SDK to create a fully generalized, stable framework that anyone who wants to build application-specific blockchains could compose with ease.
“From the Tendermint consensus engine, to Cosmos SDK, and to IBC, Tendermint has brought so many amazing technological innovations to the blockchain community. We are thrilled to have formally joined forces with Tendermint to take IRISnet to the next level. I am looking forward to a continued productive relationship with Tendermint and believe a reinforced strategic partnership like this will bring more value and fun to our adventures in a multi-hub network of blockchains.” — Haifeng Xi, IRIS Foundation, Co-Founder
Where to find IRISnet
Start here 👇
This is the Chinese-speaking telegram group that doubles as the launchpad which gets WeChat users access to the Cosmos China WeChat groups.
- Telegram (Chinese) : t.me/irisnetworkcn
This is the English-speaking telegram group that doubles as the launchpad which gets WeChat users access to the Cosmos China WeChat groups.
- Telegram (English): t.me/irisnetwork
Follow Cosmos and IRIS Network updates as they’re released on Chinese media outlets.
- Cosmos China Twitter: twitter.com/cosmoschina
- IRIS Network: twitter.com/irisnetwork
