In the last six months, much of the attention in the crypto space when it comes to smart contract blockchains were given to Ethereum, Polkadot, Binance Smart Chain and Cardano. However, there are much more exciting developments outside of these blockchains, particularly with Cosmos and Algorand.
Let's start with Cosmos.
Cosmos (ATOM) is a cryptocurrency that powers an ecosystem of blockchains designed to scale and interoperate with each other. The team aims to "create an Internet of Blockchains, a network of blockchains able to communicate with each other in a decentralized way."
Last March 29, Cosmos launched its Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) Protocol. The IBC is a result of five years of research and development. Before and during IBC launch, the Cosmos team has made it clear that IBC will enable Cosmos and other projects in the Hub to start playing an active role in DeFi.
Osmosis, Cosmos' first decentralized exchange launched a week ago. Similar to Ethereum's Balancer, users can swap ATOM, OSMO, XPRT, DVPN, CRO, IRIS, AKT and REGEN. All of these coins are way undervalued right now considering the working products they have built. Currently, the total value locked in Osmosis is almost USD 40M, too early that users are enjoying 1000% APY in OSMO.
The GravityDEX which has just concluded its beta test a month ago is also set to launch soon. It will be similar to Ethereum's Uniswap and will include chains which have not yet activated the IBC such as KAVA, SCRT, LUNA, BTSG, NGM and CTK.
Let's move to Algorand.
Algorand is a cryptocurrency and blockchain protocol that aims to be simultaneously scalable, secure, and decentralized. It uses a consensus algorithm called pure proof-of-stake.
The focus of Algorand in the recent months is to become the chain for Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and for digital securities. It's showing that blockchain and crypto could go side-by-side with the traditional financial system and various laws while still keeping much of the concept of decentralization.
Between the two, I am more excited about digital securities. For those unfamiliar, digital securities are real-world financial securities – including stocks, bonds, and derivatives – that are digitally represented on a blockchain. While using a blockchain infrastructure, digital securities are still in the purview of traditional securities laws.
In March 2020, Realio, a digital asset issuance and trading platform focused on real estate private equity, partnered with Algorand to use its ASA standard to tokenize its network. The Realio Security Token (RST) is built on Algorand’s Layer-1 blockchain and represents the first digital asset that acts both as a hybrid security and utility token for the Realio network.
Exodus, one of the most popular multi-currency wallet providers, issued EXIT tokens as ASAs representing shares in the company. The cryptocurrency company closed its Regulation A public offering at the beginning of May 2021, distributing EXIT tokens representing Class A common stock. Investors who bought the tokens now hold shares in the company and can access them either through their Exodus Wallet or via their Securitize account.
There are still more upcoming projects that are set to launch within the Cosmos and Algorand ecosystem. Aside from offering faster transactions and cheaper fees, these chains are showing how interoperability works, something that is presently a concept for Ethereum, Polkadot and Cardano.
Anyone not holding ATOM or ALGO, in my opinion, is crazy.
References:
1. Deep Dive: How Will IBC Create Value for the Cosmos Hub?, https://blog.cosmos.network/deep-dive-how-will-ibc-create-value-for-the-cosmos-hub-eedefb83c7a0
2. Digital Securities on Algorand: Here's What's Available, https://www.algorand.com/resources/blog/digital-securities-on-algorand-heres-whats-available
