Cosmos 2021: A Look Back at This Shining Star

The year 2021 was very important for the Cosmos ecosystem. During this year, we witnessed many milestone progressions, from the official launch of IBC to the thriving development of the network. Let's review the significant achievements of this year together.

IBC Launch, Achieving the Vision of the Cosmos White Paper

At the beginning of 2021, the entire Cosmos community was preparing for or eagerly anticipating the release of IBC. In February, Cosmos launched the largest StarGate upgrade in history, laying the groundwork for the official release of IBC in April. StarGate included a series of key upgrades and performance improvements to the Cosmos SDK, a result of the collaborative efforts of multiple distributed organizations.

The launch of IBC marks the end of blockchain being an isolated ecosystem. It allows blockchain networks to avoid the problem of application overcrowding on a single underlying layer. The launch of IBC also signifies the realization of the vision proposed in the 2016 Cosmos whitepaper.

On April 2, the first IBC cross-chain transaction was completed between IRISnet and Cosmos Hub. So far, there have been over 5.8 million IBC transfers, and 25 chains have enabled IBC functionality. In October, the large blockchain project Terra also integrated with IBC, bringing more possibilities to the Cosmos ecosystem.

The Cross-Chain Bridge between Cosmos and Ethereum

In 2021, blockchain interoperability became one of the focal points of the industry. We saw the official launch of the first cross-chain bridge connecting Cosmos and Ethereum.

Sifchain has become one of the most popular cross-chain networks in Cosmos and integrates the Peggy project. Compared to other Ethereum-based projects, Peggy helps users perform cross-chain operations between Cosmos and Ethereum more conveniently and at a lower cost.

Sommelier Network has also launched its own Gravity Bridge, which is a bi-directional Ethereum bridge managed by a global network of validators.

In December, the Althea team launched the Gravity Bridge Chain with an independent decentralized validator set, aimed at increasing adoption through strategic incentives.

In addition, the TIBC simplified cross-chain communication protocol developed by the IRISnet team was officially launched in November. This protocol is a subset of IBC, which simplifies cross-chain processes and expands functionalities, enabling the seamless and trustless transfer of complex digital assets across heterogeneous blockchains.

Global Offline Events

In 2021, we finally had the opportunity to hold offline events and communicate face-to-face with community members. The Cosmoverse conference held in Lisbon on November 5-6 attracted many interesting projects and figures from the ecosystem.

We also held the largest hackathon in the history of Cosmos, HackAtom VI. This was a month-long online event, with offline warm-up and opening ceremonies held in Berlin and Lisbon respectively. The event attracted over 1,900 registrants and received more than 100 high-quality submissions.

Cross-chain Sustainable Development Mission

In 2021, global awareness of the climate crisis reached new heights. Cosmos aims to become a leading blockchain ecosystem in the field of sustainable and renewable digital finance.

This year, the Cosmos Interchain Foundation signed memorandums with several partners, planning to carry out research and development, publicity, and strategic cooperation in the coming years to jointly promote inclusive finance and sustainable development.

Cosmos Signal

In 2021, we also launched Cosmos Signal, a quarterly themed presentation aimed at showcasing the latest developments in the Cosmos ecosystem. The inaugural release attracted nearly 500,000 views, becoming a powerful tool to attract more people to join the Cosmos ecosystem.

Summary

2021 was an exciting year for Cosmos! From enhancing blockchain interoperability to hosting various events and building cross-chain bridges, we have been making continuous progress. More exciting developments are on the way, stay tuned for the latest updates from Cosmos!