Cosmos, an interoperable blockchain network, announced that it has enabled Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) transfers on the Cosmos Hub, making it possible for sovereign blockchains to transfer cryptocurrency tokens and data between one another.
As of today Monday, March 29th, 8:40 AM UTC, a parameter change on the Cosmos Hub has enabled IBC-compatible blockchains to send their tokens to the Hub, as well as allow the Hub’s native ATOM tokens to be transferred to another blockchain.
The intro of IBC greatly expands the realm of possibilities for blockchain apps…
IBC can be used to transfer both fungible (cross-chain payments) and non-fungible tokens between chains, allowing for interchain token exchanges and NFT marketplaces. It can also facilitate multi-chain contracts, enabling the passing of data and messages between contracts, with the logic split across blockchains. Additionally, IBC solves blockchain scalability problems through sharding — the splitting of popular blockchain applications across multiple chains to solve congestion and reduce fees.
“The permissionless transfer of tokens across chains is a historic moment on the timeline to a valuable internet of blockchains. We will continue to focus on building the Cosmos Hub as the heart of the interchain – enabling trade and connecting politically sovereign chains to create a new paradigm for economic exchange. We have a defined roadmap in place to realize this future, and will continue to develop services for the Cosmos Hub that will create immense value for all the chains that connect to it.”
– Peng Zhong, CEO of Tendermint
Gravity DEX
IBC holds huge potential for the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, with several immediate use-cases being planned for launch this year. Already, ATOM stakers on the Cosmos Hub have voted to add the Gravity DEX, a decentralized exchange, as the next upgrade following IBC.
The Gravity DEX will act as a marketplace for trading tokens from any connected blockchain, including tokens from IBC-enabled blockchains, wrapped ETH and ERC20 tokens, wrapped BTC tokens, as well as from any future networks that implement IBC.
“Asset transfers on the Cosmos Hub enables the next phase of the interchain: economic collaboration among chains and projects. Where the addition of IBC brought highways, today’s transfer launch brings economic exchange — it puts trucks on those highways. As a result, DeFi apps can leverage the assets and services of other chains, leading to the next phase of economic growth in DeFi.”
– Dean Tribble, CEO of Agoric
Cosmos is a decentralized network of independent, scalable, and interoperable blockchains. Now, over 200 projects are building in the Cosmos ecosystem. Focused on sovereignty, scalability, and usability, Cosmos enables developers to rapidly and easily build blockchain applications.
By enabling blockchains to transact with one another, Cosmos creates a network of application-specific chains, spanning user-owned and operated platforms for decentralized finance (DeFi), social impact, privacy, gaming, as well as secure enterprise systems. Cosmos recently announced the Stargate update, a set of upgrades that brought significant capabilities and performance improvements to blockchains built with the Cosmos software developer kit (SDK).