[Portfolio Update]
By: Ken, Cypher Core
Tags: Crypto, Proof Of Stake, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Staking

Cosmos SDK v0.36.0 and Gaia v1.0.0 have been released

The latest upgrade from the Cosmos SDK team has a ton of new stuff. Mainly there are streamlined code fixes, standardization across parts of the code that help it play well with other chains, and improvements to the developer, delegator, and end-user experience.

One major part of this update was giving Gaia its own GitHub repository. This compartmentalizes Gaia and gives it its own space to grow. Gaia is a critical piece of interoperability for Cosmos. Essentially, in order for another chain to be part of the Cosmos Hub, it needs an app that lets it talk to the Hub and every other chain. Gaia is that app. If Cosmos is the Earth, Gaia is the crust with all the good biology and atmosphere and stuff that lets everyone live and breathe. (Maybe this makes Tendermint the magnetic field that extends into space and protects everyone with the same security protocols, but I digress.)

Cosmos SDK needs to use common and well-documented standards that Gaia also uses so other projects can connect. For now, it looks like Gaia is still in its infancy in versioning at time of this update, so the info about the SDK still comes from the main GitHub cosmos-sdk release notes. More on Gaia once it develops its own ecosystem and the interplay between the two are better understood.

There is simply no way to detail every last Git commit in this update, so here are highlights that show how the Cosmos SDK team is improving things.

Many changes to make the code clear and more efficient. For example, adding consistency around user IDs so a program can find them, or unifying how the version ID (what version of Cosmos SDK or Tendermint is being used) is reported. Another example is standardizing code for signature verification so people building on Cosmos SDK have clear, consistent methods and practices to follow. This all makes code go faster and easier for incoming devs. Upgrade to the supply module. This tracks the relationship between the Cosmos SDK and other chains on the network. It provides more info to Cosmos SDK about tokens, governance, and behavior on the other chains. Updates to tags — changing them to events. This allows developers to build more complex events and organize them in various ways. It gives more freedom in the ways that other chains can come in and build their own setup. Module refinement and standardization. Basically, when a coding project gets too big, best practice is to break it down into modules so devs can tackle updates, changes, and bugs more efficiently. Cosmos was originally built with modules, but refining and clarifying modularization needs to happen to maintain good mojo (not a technical term). A couple of user messaging and validator messaging improvements. For example, when a validator misses a block, they now get a warning message. Validators only have a number of blocks they can miss before they are booted as a validator, so this warning is a way to alert active validators that something is wrong with their setup. Thanks! A whole lot of bug fixes. Every code has bugs. Squash ‘em.

There are also a number of new features added to the code. Think of the previous stuff and cleaning up and this stuff as the new additions.

Key importing/exporting for new API calls. Getting keys is critical to about everything in blockchain. This update diversifies how different APIs can ask for and give keys. This is opening more possibilities for developers to come in and play.

New governance tools. This update allows chains to build in governance proposals and voting mechanisms without stopping the chain or validation. Cosmos will be publishing a detailed explanation of how this will work in practice soon.

New tags for distribution transactions. Distributions are now categorized as commissions or rewards so validators and delegators can see how funds are being distributed.

Set a coin type. Previously, all coins had to be set to one BIP standard. That means that there is a specific structure coins must have to be recognized as part of the Cosmos ecosystem. This update allows other coin types to be used, which can lead to a greater diversity of coins and projects on the network. However, there are some limitations on how this change impacts coins’ ability to be stored on Ledger. Coins with the BIP44 structure can be seen on the Cosmos Ledger app kind of like how you can see an Ethereum token on Metamask or MyCrypto. If there is a project with a different structured coin, it will need its own Ledger app to be stored on a Ledger device. Something notable about this update — you can see devs talking and discussing how this change will impact user and project experience. There is a ton of thought and discussion around many of these updates — I thought this was a neat one to see a little under the hood if you are curious.

There were a ton of other fixes, changes, updates, upgrades, and a bunch of other related words, but this gives you a good taste of how this project is growing.

Interchain Foundation finishes Round 3 of delegations

To help further encourage decentralization within the Cosmos Hub, the ICF (Interchain Foundation) has been generously delegating to those within the validator community that are actively helping grow and assist the Cosmos ecosystem. Between the weeks of June 7th and June 17th, the ICF requested that validators interested in submitting applications for delegations to do so. Cypher Core had the honors of receiving an additional 100k atoms for displaying our contributions within the ecosystem. It was a great gesture from the ICF recognizing our team’s hard work in helping grow our cosmos ecosystem involvement abroad. Thank you Interchain Foundation for all you do for our growing ecosystem!

Regen Network is Growing!

As all you Regents know already the movement is growing and Regen Network is turning heads all over the world, fortunately with public growth comes….team growth! Recently Regen Network had the honor of introducing Ethan Frey to the community last week, Ethan was recently onboarded as their lead Developer. Being that Ethan is an already known and respected Dev in the Cosmos ecosystem makes this an even more exciting announcement.

Welcome to the team Ethan!

Christian talks Regeneration Innovation

The CEO of Regen Network, Christian Shearer, was recently interviewed on Sea Change Radio. During this exciting interview, Christian was able to break down some of the core concepts behind Regen Network and how they’re trying to bring blockchain technology into the fight against industrialized AG, climate change, and several other topics that covered differences between permaculture and regenerative farming. If you missed out on the interview don’t freight, you can catch the full discussion here.

El Choco Gets Rough

For the first time, the Choco testnet experienced a live upgrade, and while some may have had a very smooth experience during the entire process others encountered some tedious temporal hangups. While during this process from a high overview we must always accept that the inevitable will happen, some may struggle, this was a great educational experience for everyone to understand the previous tooling and approach to production-ready releases going forward. I’m excited about future updates regarding the infamous El Choco testnet, and can’t wait to see what’s in store for the validator community abroad. For a full breakdown on Choco’s recent events turn to Ethan Frey’s awesome breakdown here.

Cosmostation Expands Wallet Support to IRIS Network

Now we don’t usually provide coverage for other staking service providers, but this case is different. As an avid user of Cosmostation’s respected android and web applications, I couldn’t have been more excited to hear about their extended support for the IRISnet community. As one of the top validators within the IRIShub this excites us at Cypher Core due to a vast amount of reasons, one being a surplus of users will be introduced to one of the first Cosmos Hub’s within the ecosystem by one of the most trusted wallet and staking service providers in the space, Cosmostation. This is a great move and we couldn’t be happier for both sides here, we hope to see more tools from their team in the near future for the IRIS community to enjoy.

Same Place New Face

IRISnet added an additional asset and team member to their core group over the last week. The former Chief Analyst for Huobi, Jeffrey Hu will be joining the IRIS team as their Director for Research, and with Jeffrey’s previous ventures we could barely hide our excitement for what he brings to the table here.

Do You Have What It Takes?

On August 20th, Solana will continue the Tour de SOL and kickstart their third testnet dry run. Tour de SOL is an event that occurs in stages putting the validator set through various trials and KPM’s to receive an incentive and build up their presence within the community. If you think you have what it takes and would like to jump into an awesome validator community visit here for more info. See you there!

Solana Secures Funding for Ripple Competitor Platform

This month the Solana team was able to secure $20m from funding led by Multicoin Capital. This event turned heads across the globe, and with high ambitions, the Solana team aims to deliver great utility behind their robust network. As we’ve seen time in and time again while certain metrics may mean x, y ends up becoming the latter result. Over at Cypher Core, we’re excited for the movement behind Solana, and we know their team can deliver beyond their previous predecessors who tried to accomplish similar feats.

Wanchain Extends Their Validator Community

Recently Cypher Core along with Ztake, and ChainLayer had the honors of being welcomed into the Wanchain Validator community. This is an exciting step for the Wanchain, as well as each of our own communities, as each of us excell at providing insititutional grade staking services and outstanding ecosystem support. Each one of us is familiar with the other, and has a respected standing within our individual portfolio’s. As we continue to grow we can only hope we see more familiar faces down the line, as well as lead successful campaigns in delivering nothing less than top notch services and technical support for years to come.

The Countdown to PoS Begins

Validator nodes will start coming live on Tuesday, August 20th and participants will be able to stake as soon as the nodes are visible on the network. The official “switch” to Proof of Stake will occur on Tuesday, September 3rd, so users are highly encouraged to stake their WAN before this date. After September 3rd, staking rewards will become active. Based on the many assumptions in our internal model, users can expect ~11% annual returns. Good luck and Happy Staking!

Calling All Enthusiasts

Are you a Wanchain enthusiast or community member just itching to share with your local community? Or have you ever thought about helping the Wanchain team on an international scale extend the message to communities abroad? Well if anything along either of those lines interest you nows your time to shine! As of this month, Wanchain is currently accepting Global ambassador applications, as well as introducing their Global Meetup program. If you have any questions regarding either of these programs don’t hesitate to reach out to Dan Reecer so he can help assist you in getting the Wanchain message out!

ICON’s Got Talent Winners

After an exciting conclusion to the ICON’s Got Talent two month run, six finalists were deemed winners for their top performances. Here is a quick run through of who they are and what they delivered!

STAYGE.net is a fan community based on blockchain technology. Fans can create fan communities of what they love. Fans can make their own community of the favorite artist, influencers, games and more.

Certiv is an EduTech web application which will allow higher education institutions to certify the profile of their students through the ICON Blockchain in order to promote them to recruiters.

ICONbet is the first DAO on ICON. TAP tokens will provide access to ICX earnings and voting rights of the DAO.

Users can check-in at locations around the world and own their own data! All of the user data is stored locally on their phone, only leaving to securely upload it to the ICON Blockchain, using the user’s own password protected keys generated securely using Official ICON SDKs.

Decentralized exchange on ICON Network that allows users to buy and sell tokens without third-party.

LogisticsX aims to utilize blockchain technology to create a decentralized platform that will transform last-mile logistics.

Huge thanks to the ICON Foundation for providing outstanding coverage throughout this event and for the team’s content for us to share heretoday!

Pre-Game With the P-Reps

Set your calendars for August 26th as ICON Foundation recently announced that they will be unleashing a month-long staking event with your current P-Rep candidates to promote an early Pre-Voting session that includes several incentives for community members who participate. With up to 3 Million ICX tokens up for grabs, I couldn’t think of any reason not to join the fun!

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