Cosmos Network
An ecosystem of sovereign, interoperable blockchains connected by the IBC protocol, built using the Cosmos SDK and secured by CometBFT consensus.
Cosmos was proposed in the 2016 whitepaper by Jae Kwon and Ethan Buchman to address the two main problems of early blockchains: scalability (each app competing for the same block space) and sovereignty (apps subject to another chain's governance).
The Cosmos SDK allows developers to build custom blockchains as easily as building a web application, with pre-built modules for staking, governance, slashing, and the IBC protocol. Notable chains built with Cosmos SDK include Binance Chain, Terra, Kava, and Osmosis.
graph LR
Center["Cosmos Network"]:::main
Pre_blockchain["blockchain"]:::pre --> Center
click Pre_blockchain "/terms/blockchain"
Pre_proof_of_stake_pos["proof-of-stake-pos"]:::pre --> Center
click Pre_proof_of_stake_pos "/terms/proof-of-stake-pos"
Rel_ethereum["ethereum"]:::related -.-> Center
click Rel_ethereum "/terms/ethereum"
Rel_sidechains["sidechains"]:::related -.-> Center
click Rel_sidechains "/terms/sidechains"
Rel_the_graph["the-graph"]:::related -.-> Center
click Rel_the_graph "/terms/the-graph"
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🧠 Knowledge Check
🧒 Explain Like I'm 5
Imagine if every country in the world had its own government, its own laws, and its own currency ([blockchain](/en/terms/blockchain)). Now imagine they all built the same high-speed railway system (IBC) between their capitals, so you can send money or goods from Japan to Brazil in seconds—instantly and without a middleman. That's Cosmos: independent countries that can all talk to each other perfectly.
🤓 Expert Deep Dive
CometBFT (formerly Tendermint)
Cosmos chains use CometBFT, a Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) consensus engine that achieves instant finality (no probabilistic finality like Nakamoto consensus). It separates consensus from application logic via the Application Blockchain Interface (ABCI), allowing any language to be used for chain logic.
IBC Protocol
IBC (standardized in ICS-002 to ICS-004) is a TCP/IP-like protocol for blockchains. It enables chains to authenticate each other's state via light clients, and transfer tokens or arbitrary data packets trustlessly. The Cosmos Hub acts as a routing layer.
Interchain Security (ICS)
Launched in 2023, ICS allows 'consumer chains' to lease security from the Cosmos Hub's validator set, removing the need for a new chain to bootstrap its own economic security from scratch.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What is ATOM used for?
ATOM is the native token of the Cosmos Hub. It is used for: 1) Staking (delegating to validators to secure the network and earn rewards), 2) Governance (voting on protocol upgrades and parameter changes), and 3) Paying transaction fees on the Cosmos Hub.
What is the difference between the Cosmos Network and the Cosmos Hub?
The Cosmos Network refers to the entire ecosystem of IBC-connected chains. The Cosmos Hub is one specific blockchain within that ecosystem — the first and most prominent Hub, which hosts the ATOM token and provides Interchain Security services.
Does Cosmos compete with Ethereum?
They take different philosophies. Ethereum aims to be a single, shared execution environment where all apps run on the same chain. Cosmos advocates for 'app-chains' — each application having its own dedicated blockchain, with IBC enabling communication between them.