What's up, Get ready because Cosmos just gave us an unexpected twist that has more than one person with their mouth open. It turns out that Interchain Labs (ICL), the brains behind Cosmos's strategy, have turned down the idea of turning Cosmos Hub into a giant platform for smart contracts with its own EVM layer! 🤯
Yes, just as you heard. The thing is they realized that adding an EVM to the Hub was sucking up too many resources, and they didn’t see more developers and investors, outside of those already on the Cosmos boat, getting on that wave. Furthermore, costs were skyrocketing and the blockchain market was fragmenting at a thousand miles an hour! Competing as a smart contract platform for everyone was becoming a headache. 🤕
So, what's the new plan? ICL says they are going to focus on what Cosmos does best: being the toolkit for others to launch their own customizable and IBC-connected sovereign L1 chains! The big bet now is on the institutional public, meaning banks, stablecoin issuers, and all those who want their own dedicated L1s with interoperability and full control of their infrastructure. Cosmos Hub becomes a type of 'service marketplace' to move assets and bridge with things like IBC Eureka. 🌉
Magmar, one of the heads of ICL, said it clearly: 'We do not intend to be anything else... We will be Cosmos, just that we will do it at full speed.' Sounds good, right? But here comes the million-dollar question: how is he going to make the ATOM token fly with this new approach? 🤔 They say that ATOM will continue to be the 'monetization layer' of Cosmos, with transaction fees, routing services, and possible institutional payments that could use or 'burn' ATOM. But, let's be honest, ATOM holders have heard similar promises before! 🤷♀️
And what about those developers who took the plunge for the native implementations on the Hub and are now left hanging? 🌬️ ICL assures that they will help them migrate to other Cosmos chains like Neutron and will maintain funding agreements. But, after such a change, will trust remain intact? That's a good question. 😬
The joke here is that Cosmos has had its ups and downs regarding governance and changes in direction. ICL needs to heal those wounds and rebuild the trust of developers and investors. It seems their strategy is: to focus, prioritize institutional clients, and stop trying to cover everything. There are already examples of Japanese banks using Cosmos and IBC to transfer data and assets, even collaborating with SWIFT! That shows the potential is there. 💪
ICL says they are in 'startup mode', adapting quickly and fine-tuning the long-term strategy. For Cosmos, this could mean a clearer and more sustainable vision, or... who knows if it’s just another twist in the plot! 🔄 Stay tuned to see how this story unfolds.$ATOM
