2023 Cosmostation Report: Building Protocol Infrastructure Legos
Shaping the building blocks of protocol infrastructure — the milestones we’ve unlocked so far and what lies ahead for the interchain and beyond.
This is not a financial advice. In this report are achievements realized by the Cosmostation team so far and a roadmap for 2023.
Cosmostation Galaxy
Building for the Interchain — the brightest stars in the blockchain universe
The Cosmos ecosystem has grown into a galaxy of its own. This concept of ‘the internet of blockchains’ began from the big bang known as the Cosmos Hub genesis back in 2019. Nearly 4 years have passed since the launch of the very first Cosmos SDK chain, with now over 100 individual chains built with the Cosmos SDK stack and interconnected with each other via the Cosmos IBC protocol. In 2022, several high-profile DeFi apps including dYdX have announced their migration to a Cosmos SDK chain to match the TPS and security needed for a high performance protocol.
Cosmos Hub in 2023
With Interchain Security(ICS) launching Q1 2023, we are now anticipating a next generation of protocols to utilize the full potential of the Cosmos ecosystem. The maturity of Tendermint and the Cosmos SDK has been proven over the years as can be seen by the steady growth of the ecosystem and builders in Cosmos. Once ICS goes live on the Cosmos Hub, developers will be able to launch a protocol that shares the same validator set that currently secures the the Cosmos Hub. ICS allows developers to mitigate overhead in bootstrapping a new protocol with their own validator set, while empowering them with the proven security of the Cosmos Hub and the opportunity to capture value in unexplored areas. One of the first ICS chains to be launched next year is Neutron, a wasm smart contract platform where Lido will be launched as the first dapp. We are anticipating Circle to also launch on a general asset issuance ICS chain as the first native USDC in the ecosystem.
New Stars
While ICS proposes a bold new vision for the Cosmos Hub, the Cosmos ecosystem as a whole has also seen exponential growth over the years with the birth of app chains with specific use cases. Osmosis is an interchain liquidity lab with a built-in AMM and intuitive UI/UX. It has grown to become one of the most used DeFi platforms in the Cosmos ecosystem, with its deep liquidity and focus on interoperability successfully catering to developers and users alike. Stargaze is an interchain NFT platform home to most of the Cosmos NFT collections in existence, continuously enhancing its UX through new feature additions. Next year is also full of innovative protocols launching as a Cosmos SDK chain — Archway, a wasm smart contract platform that incentivizes dapp developers and Quasar, an interchain vault allowing automated Defi strategies to name a few.
Cosmostation
The interchain infrastructure service provider
As one of the most active contributors in this ecosystem, Cosmostation is dedicated to enhancing the Cosmos experience through the infrastructure and public good services we provide. Since joining the Cosmos Hub as a genesis validator in March 2019, we have been continuously building and upgrading tools such as Mintscan, Cosmostation Extension, Cosmostation Mobile(iOS/Android), and open source libraries and third party developer tools. Cosmostation helps protocols bootstrap their core infrastructure through the wide array of services we provide and assists protocol teams in onboarding users and developers with these UI/UX focused tools.
Our team has grown from just 3 to 28 people over the years, mostly consisting of software developers and node operation engineers holding our validators and applications to a higher standard. We have been fortunate to contribute to the Cosmos ecosystem and grow together as the ecosystem evolved.
Mintscan Block Explorer
The Interchain Explorer/Analytics
Mintscan is now used as the official block explorer by ~60 Cosmos SDK chains and most of the existing centralized exchanges and decentralized applications. With the launch of Mintscan Hub, we have seen exponential growth in our userbase this year. Starting with this release, we plan to significantly enhance the quality and amount of indexed data available to our users to provide a comprehensive interchain analytics platform for the community.
Some of the feature upgrades we made to Mintscan Hub this year include:
- Real-time visualization of interconnected IBC networks
- Interchain Validator Stats — Validator delegation, governance, holder, AUM, commission stats across the Interchain
- Chain Overview — Overview of Interchain assets and proposals
- Dev Activity — Github developer activity of each chain
- Ecosystem — Overview of interconnected chains and validators
- Chain Monitoring — Real-time chain block-time and liveness monitoring
In 2022 Mintscan also integrated smart contract visualizations for several EVM and WASM chains built with the Cosmos SDK. Mintscan now supports EVM contracts on Evmos and Kava Network, and WASM contracts on Osmosis, Stargaze, and Juno Network.
For IBC data visualization, we have been making steady progress with providing more insightful data for both users and developers. One of the key updates this year was the ‘IBC Relayer Detail’ page displaying several IBC related data including relayed assets, relayer operator, txs, and more.
We are now proudly securing over 60 Cosmos SDK chains as a validator. Our strength as an infrastructure provider lies not only within our expertise and experience in operating validator nodes since 2019 but also the tangible value add we bring to our partner networks. Since launching the interchain extension wallet, we have been more actively engaging with interchain protocols to best serve the needs of an interchain ecosystem where not only Cosmos chains can interoperate via IBC, but also non-Cosmos can interconnect via either IBC or multichain bridges like Axelar and Gravity Bridge.
Cosmostation extension natively supports 50+ Cosmos SDK chains, EVM L1/L2 networks including Ethereum, Polygon, BNB Smart Chain, Arbitrum, Optimism and Move networks like Sui and Aptos right out of the box.
The infrasturcture stack we have been building will go hand in hand with the plans we have for 2023. The love and support from our delegators and the interchain community drives us to continue building for this ecosystem and giving back to the community. 2023 will be the year for Cosmostation to build out the most necessary ‘protocol infrastrucure legos’ for a fine-tuned interchain experience that protocols and users can benefit from. To this end, we have been actively hiring talented developers and product managers to join our mission.
Cosmostation 2023 Roadmap
What lies ahead for Cosmostation in 2023.
Cosmostation as an infrastructure company focuses not only on secure validator operations but also the tangible value we can bring to our partner networks. Providing the necessary blocks of protocol infrastructure and end-user experience allows protocol teams to focus on its core product while infrastructure partners like ourselves take care of the rest. Below are some of the protocol infrastructure legos we will work on this year.
Mintscan Hub
Evolving into an interchain analytics and dashboard app
The interchain in its current form is scattered to some extent, although interconnected with each other via IBC. An integrated dashboard that gives users a birds-eye view of all interchain data, assets and the ability to sign TXs on a single UI could significantly enhance the interchain experience.
Some of the features we have lined up for Mintscan this year include:
- Access networks supported on Mintscan. Stake, send, vote, claim, manage assets directly on the web app via mobile/extension.
- Easily purchase, trade, LP, delegate, and earn interchain assets directly on Mintscan Hub. Personalized portfolio and yield management.
- Interchain data analytics — tracking wallet inflow/outflow, monthly active users, on-chain stats, etc. Enhanced address tagging for chain analysis and token flow investigation.
- Advanced tool to monitor fragmented liquidity across interconnected protocols.
- Integration of individual block explorers into Mintscan Hub.
Interchain Security
Interchain security, interchain security, interchain security
- Integration of Cosmos Hub consumer chains on Mintscan for a comprehensive overview of the provider chain and connected consumer chains.
- Indexing of insightful on-chain data related to the Cosmos Hub provider chain and shared security consumer chains.
API/RPC endpoints
Comprehensive API/RPC service for the Interchain and beyond
- API/RPC endpoints for developers/apps to access raw data and easily develop Cosmos SDK applications.
- Highly customized API endpoints for Cosmos SDK chains.
Validator
Powering the Interchain and beyond
- Operating validators for Cosmos Hub ICS chains — Neutron, General asset issuance chain (Circle — USDC), etc.
- Operating validators for newly launching Cosmos SDK app chains — Archway, Quasar, etc.
- Running Ethereum validators and working with liquid staking platforms.
Extension/Mobile Wallet
Focusing on smart contracts and dapp accessibilty
- Upgrading the mobile experience to cater to the increasing UX challenges users face while interacting with interchain dapps.
- Integration of EVM networks including Ethereum, Polygon, Binance Smart Chain, etc. on the mobile application
- Integration of Ethereum Layer 2 networks on the extension
- Integration of fiat on-ramps to allow users to easily purchase crypto straight from the app
- Native integration of interchain dex aggregators for efficient trading experience
2022 was a year full of excitement for the Interchain. The builders in this ecosystem have shown resilience and continued innovation over the years. The Cosmos ecosystem will take the next big leap forward with increased use-cases and presence this year, and Cosmostation is thrilled to be a part of this journey.
Stay tuned for the updates we have prepared for this year — welcome 2023
About Cosmostation
Cosmostation has been a web3 infrastructure team contributing to more than 50 protocols since 2018. Our suite of products include Mintscan block explorer, Cosmostation non-custodial crypto wallet, and node validator service. At Cosmostation, we bootstrap networks and onboard end-users.
Links
Mintscan | Extension | Android | iOS | Web Wallet | Spacestation Bridge
