Annual overview of the Cosmos ecosystem: well-known projects emerge and core developers continue to grow

Author: Xangle, PANews authorized and translated

Compiled by: Felix, PANews

In 2023, the Cosmos ecosystem has grown rapidly, and its unique interoperability and modular architecture have attracted Many developers and projects. These characteristics bring new development prospects to blockchain technology.

This article will discuss the major changes, technology updates, and new projects in the Cosmos ecosystem in 2023. We will delve into the technological advancements and market changes in the Cosmos ecosystem, as well as Cosmos’ role in redefining the existing blockchain paradigm.

1. Infrastructure

1.1 Major update of Cosmos SDK

The modules managed by Cosmos SDK are mainly used to develop chains in the Cosmos ecosystem. Below are the major updates to the SDK released in 2023.

Version 0.47 Update

Upgrade to CometBFT: CometBFT is a fork of the Tendermint consensus engine and is now officially launched in the Cosmos SDK. Version 0.47 does not introduce major changes. The purpose of this update is to assist the smooth migration of blockchains that previously used Tendermint to CometBFT.

Version 0.50 Update

ABCI 2.0 introduces a new process called "PrepareProposal" to solve the problem of restrictions on the order of transaction processing in the memory pool. In this new process, ABCI is responsible for determining the transaction sequence and passing it to the consensus engine CometBFT (Tendermint) to ensure the smooth progress of block generation and transaction broadcasting. In this way, the design of ABCI has been further optimized to ensure the orderly processing and effective delivery of transactions, thus improving the performance and reliability of the overall system.

Optimistic Execution: In the previous Cosmos SDK, all validators needed to reach consensus to execute transactions and submit the results to the chain. This move slowed down the execution of transactions, and to overcome this issue, a feature called “Optimistic Execution” was introduced. This feature allows transactions to be executed and submitted without the consent of all validators, thereby increasing transaction throughput.

SDK Modules: The Cosmos SDK contains various modules for application development. Previously, each module's update followed the updated version of the SDK, so it was difficult to track the update history of each module. In version 0.50, version control of each module is implemented independently, making it easier to track update records. In addition, the data storage model Store and IAVL have been decoupled so that they can be updated independently.

1.2 Cosmos on Metamask

Since there are multiple chains in the Cosmos ecosystem, each chain has an independent address even if the mnemonic is the same. Although the Keplr wallet is currently used for integration and management, it requires the use of a new wallet application, providing a poor user experience and raising the barrier to entry.

Cosmos is working on projects to solve this problem. Against this background, Metamask implements full support for Snap, allowing custom features to be added to Metamask. Transactions can now be created on Cosmos-based chains, including Leap wallets. In other words, the technical foundation has been laid, and users familiar with EVM-based chains can be more easily attracted to the Cosmos ecosystem.

Leap钱包（https://cosmos.leapwallet.io/portfolio/overview）

1.3 MultiVM

Unfortunately, the Cosmos SDK does not support virtual machines for smart contracts. Therefore, several projects have emerged to develop virtual machines that have been verified and used in other blockchains, or there are projects to develop virtual machines unique to the Cosmos ecosystem. Some people have tried to integrate various virtual machines (such as EVM, WasmVM, SolanaVM, MoveVM, etc.) with the Cosmos SDK, and have highly praised some virtual machines. If more commonly used virtual machines are supported, it will be easier for dApp developers to enter the Cosmos ecosystem.

2. Projects

The following are some interesting and eye-catching projects that will appear in the Cosmos ecosystem in 2023.

2.1 Celestia

The most popular project in the Cosmos ecosystem in 2023 is undoubtedly Celestia. Celestia is a representative modular blockchain project that roughly divides the functions of the blockchain into four parts:

• Execution: the ability to process transactions and change the state of the chain.
• Settlement: Verify transactions processed by the computing layer.
• Data Availability: Stores information from transactions and blocks and ensures it is always available.
• Consensus: The ability to determine transaction validity or the order in which transactions are included in a block

Among these features, Celestia focuses on data availability. The combination of Celestia and the word "L2" triggered the Rollup craze in the Cosmos ecosystem. For this purpose, a framework called "Rollkit" has been created and supported, which supports ABCI between Celestia and Cosmos SDK.

Celestia Rollkit ( https://docs.celestia.org/developers/rollkit )

Rollkit replaces Cosmos’ consensus engine Tendermint (more precisely CometBFT) and allows Celestia and the Cosmos SDK to communicate directly. Rollkit allows Sovereign Rollup by aggregating transactions in a block and leveraging Celestia’s consensus engine and data availability.

2.2 Skip Protocol

Skip Protocol is a project with the vision of "sovereign transaction infrastructure for sovereign blockchains". This protocol can improve the user experience of sovereign blockchains, make the order of transaction processing transparent, prevent malicious MEV, and improve the quality of the network.

在用户体验改进中，该项目旨在解决区块链间通信（IBC）协议的问题。IBC是Cosmos内部不同链之间交易资产的协议。为了通过IBC转移资产，必须创建一个通信“通道”，并且每个通道需要为每个连接的链提供唯一的ID。下图为ETH从Axelar发送到Terra2的示例。

Skip API ( https://api-docs.skip.money/docs/ibc-routing-algorithm )

此外，Skip提出了一个在Cosmos生态中交付资产的最佳路由算法，并通过确定资产的Denomination来提供更好的用户体验。

Skip Protocol还提供了各种API，这些API对于基于Cosmos SDK开发区块链非常有用，例如多链交易跟踪。Skip还向社区提议将Skip的功能纳入Cosmos SDK中，为生态发展做出贡献。

SKIP API ( https://api-docs.skip.money/docs/ibc-routing-algorithm )

2.3 其他项目

Sei

Sei被定位为专门从事交易的链，其目标是成为快速的Layer1而不是Rollup，这也是2023年区块链发展的一大趋势。Sei专注于通过利用各种技术来提高链的性能。

Injective

Injective致力于构建一个专门针对金融应用程序的区块链生态系统。Injective与Figment和Binance建立了合作伙伴关系，并支持Helix和Hydro等各种dapp加入Injective生态。

dYdX

dYdX被认为是最成功的DEX，并且已经使用Cosmos SDK成功迁移到Layer1。

dYdX通过自身代币，加强了治理。

Stride

Stride是一种类似于以太坊Lido的流动性质押协议。在Cosmos生态中，流动性质押本来就很困难，因为资产分散在多条链上。Stride旨在通过利用ICA（链间账户）、ICQ（链间查询）和ICS（链间安全），在Cosmos生态中实现多链流动性质押。

Coreum

Coreum是一个面向企业的Layer1区块链，支持基于Wasm的智能合约、RWA代币化、NeoBanking应用程序等。

3.链上性能

3.1 开发活动

虽然Cosmos网络的开发活动总体保持健康，但2023年Q2的智能合约部署数量最多（2226），增长率最高（21.4%）。核心开发者的数量呈逐渐上升趋势，这也是生态基础设施建设活跃的标志。

与此同时，去年Q2和Q3部署的智能合约数量分别为2226和1777，高于第四季度的1701。虽然与前两个季度相比，开发活动确实有所放缓，但考虑到Q4年底的下降，活动水平仍在继续保持。

3.2 网络活动

Cosmos网络活动中最值得注意的是，Q2和Q3的开发活动转化为Q4整个生态的增长。如图所示，Cosmos生态中的TVL在Q3继续下降，但随后在Q4显著上升。

Cosmos生态在第四季度TVL出现爆炸式增长可归因于两个因素。首先是10月中旬Layer1叙事的流动性涌入。在下半年，大量的资金流入了Layer1生态，Solana、 Cosmos和Avalanche以爆炸性的表现推动了整体TVL上升。

此外，包括Cosmos SDK在内的对开发者友好的基础设施环境，以及基于IBC生态构建的庞大的区块链连接网络，为用户带来了实际效用。通过观察TVL趋势会发现，这不仅仅是暂时的上升，而是持续的趋势。市场对协议成熟度的满意可能会推动Layer1的流动性，促进Cosmos的发展并减少用户流失。

与表现最差的Q3（1,470,050）相比，Q4活跃钱包数量也增加了近55%，达2,280,335，反映出生态充满活力。Cosmos IBC生态的互操作性推动了链上活动的增加。

此外，从IBC生态中关键协议的TVL趋势来看，下半年基于Cosmos SDK的协议的持续炒作也起到了重振生态的作用。

3.3 网络安全

Cosmos目前共有180个活跃验证者。前9位验证者持有ATOM供应量的40.89%。目前有24.4亿枚ATOM质押在Cosmos上，约占总供应量的65%。

4. Conclusion

2023 is a milestone year for the Cosmos ecosystem, witnessing the development and major changes of several projects. These changes show that Cosmos is not just an area of ​​blockchain technology, but is driving innovation across the entire blockchain ecosystem.

Celestia, Skip Protocol and other well-known projects demonstrate the diversity and flexibility of the Cosmos ecosystem and how it continues to evolve. These projects pioneer new use cases for blockchain technology and help create more efficient, user-friendly blockchain environments.

The growth and development of the Cosmos ecosystem has increased excitement about the future of blockchain technology. Opening the door to new opportunities for developers, users and investors, and paving the way for continued innovation for years to come. It is expected that the Cosmos ecosystem will continue to maintain this positive trend in the next few years, and new technical challenges and opportunities will continue to emerge in the process.

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