Introducing the Informal & Hypha Cosmos Hub Roadmap
Informal Systems and Hypha Worker Co-operative have been working to push the Cosmos Hub’s vision forward. As part of this effort, we’ve put together an initial roadmap for our planned work in 2024. While many teams contribute to the Hub, the work presented here is only representative of the work that our two teams plan to do and would like to be accountable to the Cosmos Hub community for executing against.
Since 2019, the Cosmos Hub has pioneered the Interchain Stack, and proof of stake in general, as the largest blockchain in the interchain. More recently, the Cosmos Hub launched shared security and re-staking with Interchain Security, which has catalyzed the formation of the Atom Economic Zone. The AEZ is a “super-app” of chains which are secured by the Cosmos Hub and aligned with the ATOM token through their shared security.
We’re presenting this roadmap to all stakeholders of the Cosmos Hub because it is essential to us to get feedback about the items presented in this document, as well as any items that you feel are missing from it.
For most of its life, the Cosmos Hub lacked dedicated resources to drive its development forward. Despite the passion of its vibrant community, two major visions for the Hub have been drafted but never formally accepted (The Cosmos Hub is a Port City, ATOM 2.0) — though the ideas that they contained have subsequently influenced the product direction of the Hub itself.
This lack of resourcing changed in late 2022 and early 2023, when both the Informal Systems and Hypha Worker Co-operative Hub teams organized and dedicated themselves to driving forward the product vision of the Cosmos Hub.
As part of this effort, Informal Systems pioneered and launched Interchain Security, and the Hypha team collaborated closely with them to bring it to market. Since then, the Cosmos Hub community has rallied around this feature as the focal point for both product and governance. Interchain Security opened the doors for an ecosystem of builders that have woven their futures together with that of the Hub, whether it be via Interchain Security or a governance mandate. This focus represents a new era for the Cosmos Hub.
There is still work to be done to make the Atom Economic Zone an attractive and differentiated venue to build in. To further accelerate this work, and get feedback from key stakeholders that are impacted by the work that the Hypha and Informal Hub teams do — we would like to present our Cosmos Hub 2024 roadmap.
The key strategic themes in our roadmap are:
- Security and composability: The Cosmos Hub provides Interchain Security which allows chains in the Atom Economic Zone to launch with a very high level of security. During 2024, the Cosmos Hub will extend this to provide chains in the AEZ with composability through Atomic IBC: the ability to integrate tightly with instant IBC transactions.
- Liquidity: The Cosmos Hub is using concepts such as protocol owned liquidity and liquid staking to harness the substantial liquidity and market value of the ATOM token to provide chains in the AEZ with liquidity and collateral, while reinforcing the foundational role of ATOM.
- IBC Routing: In 2024, the Cosmos Hub will launch IBC routing, which will allow any chain which uses IBC to cut relayer costs by routing light client updates through the Hub. This service leverages the Hub’s neutral status and high security, since routing requires trust in the intermediary chain.
If you are a Cosmos Hub stakeholder, we need your feedback about this roadmap via this form and / or the public consultation call on Wednesday, September 20, 4PM UTC. You can sign up to join the consultation call and future events here.
It is our intention to become accountable to the community for this work, and thus it is crucial to us that the community has an opportunity to engage with this roadmap before execution begins.
The market for blockchain security is poised to become highly competitive and dynamic. What token you choose to stake will have no bearing on which applications you can choose to secure, and what chain/rollup/data availability layer these applications rely on.
We aim to position the Cosmos Hub as a differentiated product within this market — propelled forward by the strength of the ecosystem of appchains and dApps that rent its security, access its liquidity, and compose atomically with each other within its zones.
Next Steps
- Click here to read the roadmap.
- Provide feedback before October 1st via the feedback form and/or the public calls. Please note that feedback delivered via social media or other channels will not be considered; you must provide your feedback directly on the form or live on the call.
Public Consultation Call
- Wednesday, September 20, 4PM UTC
Click here to register for the consultation calls.
The Informal and Hypha teams are just two of the many teams that are focusing on the Hub; we couldn’t do this without you. We’re looking forward to building on the Hub together. See you on the interchain!
