Decoding Cosmos Blockchain Ecosystem and Its Benefits

Cosmos Blockchain Development

Blockchain technology has profound benefits for swathes of industries, however, the issue of scalability and interoperability often appalls many. Well, we urge you to enter the Internet of Blockchains with Cosmos Network.

Cosmos blockchain is a decentralized network of parallel independent blockchains, powered by BFT consensus algorithms like Tendermint consensus. It furnishes a set of SDKs and tools for building and hosting decentralized applications or DApps in the Cosmos ecosystem.

Before its existence, blockchains were largely isolated and unable to interact with one another. Cosmos addressed this problem and remarkably resolved it, extending a new vision to the blockchain industry. In this blog, we will discuss all the vital aspects of Cosmos, what it really is, what benefits it offers, and what are the issues of the blockchain network that it deftly resolves. Let’s dive deeper into the vital insights of Cosmos Network.

Understanding Cosmos Blockchain

Cosmos is an ever-increasing ecosystem of connected applications as well as services constructed for the decentralized future. As a community-owned and operated network, the applications and services built on Cosmos connect via Inter-Blockchain or IBC protocol, enabling data and asset exchange across sovereign decentralized blockchain networks freely. 

The main cynosure of Cosmos is to offer customizability and interoperability. Rather than network prioritization, it fosters a connected network ecosystem that facilitates token and data sharing programmatically without the governance of any centralized party. 

Every independent and new blockchain that is created on Cosmos is referred to as Zone and is securely tethered to the Cosmos Hub. The Cosmos Hub is a proof-of-stake blockchain that maintains the record of each Zone state. 

How Does The Cosmos Blockchain Work? 

Let us take a look at the blockchain network architecture that underpins the Cosmos blockchain so we can better understand how it works. To begin with that, it is crucial to know that the Cosmos network is made up of three layers:

• The Layer of Consensus in Cosmos

On the Cosmos network, the Tendermint consensus algorithm is used by the blockchain. Founded in 2014 as an open-source project, Tendermint addresses the speed, solidity, and scalability flaws of PoW consensus mechanism. Described as an “application-agnostic consensus engine”, Tendermint has become one of the most sought-after consensus algorithms today. This implies that any blockchain may leverage it to drive its layers of consensus. Its Sybil resistance mechanism is PoS and the entire technique is Byzantine Fault-Tolerant.

• Cosmos Networking Layer

To gain consensus in Tendermint, the set of validators vote in rounds. To do this, nodes must be entitled and permitted to speak with each other and pass messages in order to make sure that everyone sees the same data in the network. Like Ethereum, Tendermint uses the gossip protocol to keep peers in the most current state and up to date about the blockchain.

• The Application Layer of Cosmos

The Tendermint comprises two layers: the consensus layer and the networking layer. The Tendermint consensus assures that the state on all state machines is the same and the Tendermint networking layer is pivotal for assuring that all the transactions are propagated through all computers linked within the network.

The Cosmos application layer focuses on:

• Explicitly reporting and explaining the transactions that must be placed on the blockchain
• After a transaction is completed, the consensus layer then updates the state on the blockchain

Also Read: Evaluating the Possibilities of Metaverse NFT Game Development

What Are The Prominent SDKs/Tools/Frameworks Used By Cosmos?

Ethermint

Implemented as a Cosmos SDK module, the Ethereum Virtual Machine makes it possible to deploy PoS blockchains that altogether support Ethereum-based smart contracts.

Agoric Swingset

Agoric’s Cosmic Swingset allows blockchain developers to test smart contracts that are built in various blockchain setup environments with Electronic Rights Transfer Protocol or ERTP. It is basically Agoric’s token standard for transferring digital tokens or other assets in JavaScript.

CosmWasm

CosmWasm enables blockchain developers to write and create multi-chain smart contracts in Rust.

Cosmos SDK

Cosmos SDK is essentially a library collection of various SDKs that enable any blockchain protocol development expert to easily write/execute/run the entire programming code with the aid of the provided SDK library.

IBC Protocol 

Inter-Blockchain Communication is another robust protocol that offers a way by which one blockchain protocol can seamlessly communicate with the other blockchain protocols. It is extensively used to construct a plethora of cross-chain applications including multi-chain smart contracts, token transfers, atomic swaps as well as data and code sharding of various types.

Features of Cosmos DApp Development

• A programming language statically typed and compiled (Go)
• Modular architecture
• An effectively-designed blockchain framework
• Built-in governance
• Highly customizable

Tendermint Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT)

The Tendermint BFT engine is one of the most crucial elements of the layered architecture and design of Cosmos. It enables decentralized app and smart contracts developers to create blockchains without having to create code from scratch.

Tendermint BFT inculcates the networking and consensus layers into a generic engine, facilitating the development team to focus on app development instead of the underlying complex protocols. Therefore, Tendermint efficaciously saves hundreds of blockchain app development hours. Essentially, it is an algorithm that is used by computers operating on Cosmos to secure networks, validate transactions, and commit blocks to the blockchain network. For connecting decentralized applications through a protocol, it leverages Application Blockchain Interface. 

Moreover, Tendermint uses a PoS mechanism that allows the distributed networks to run in sync with Cosmos Hub. Users are permitted to delegate tokens to other validators, thereby also allocating votes to them whilst earning a portion of the block reward. In turn, these validators are incentivized to perform honestly. 

Here are some of the properties that make Tendermint BFT a state-of-the-art blockchain network engine:

• Development of both public and private blockchains
• High performance – Tendermint BFT can handle thousands of transactions in one second
• Tendermint consensus is ultra-secure, fault-tolerant, and accountable 
• The PoS mechanism ensures instant finality

Core Solutions That Cosmos Blockchain Offers

The Cosmos Blockchain leverages two types of scalability:

• Vertical scalability – It offers robust methods for scaling blockchains. Whilst moving away from the PoW model, Tendermint BFT can handle thousands of transactions each second by optimizing its components.

• Horizontal scalability – Even if the consensus engine and applications are extremely optimized, the transaction throughput of any single chain goes down which can not be surpassed. It is basically the limitation of vertical scalability. However, multi-chain blockchain architecture provides the solution to this constraint. Implementing multiple parallel chains powering the same applications and operated by a common set of validators can theoretically make blockchain infinitely scalable.

So basically, the Cosmos network offers vertical scalability at launch – which is already a massive enhancement over the current blockchains and implements horizontal scalability solutions after finishing off the IBC module.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, it is absolutely clear that the Cosmos Network is not a product but an expansive ecosystem of blockchains constructed on a set of interchangeable, modular, and adaptable tools. It makes the blockchain applications and services powerful, robust, secure, interoperable, and simple to develop using Cosmos SDK and Tendermint BFT. Cosmos offers the benefits of scalability and interoperability of blockchain apps and scales it to millions of users using horizontal and vertical scalability solutions. 

If you are looking for building blockchain applications or services on Cosmos, feel free to drop us a line. Our experts will get back to you within 24 hours.