To Fork or Not to Fork: Cosmos Founder Causes ATOM Debate
- In its highest-turnout vote, the Cosmos community decided to lower Atom’s inflation rate to a maximum of 10%.
- Supporters advocated for reduced spending on network security and opponents expressed concerns about its impact on security.
- Cosmos founder Jae Kwon opposed the proposal and has now laid out his plans to fork the network.
Community Votes
A recent community vote on the much-disputed proposal to lower ATOM’s inflation rate, which will reduce the annualised staking yield, marks a significant change in the economic and governance structure of the Cosmos Hub
Supporters of the decision to cap ATOM’s inflation at 10% believed it would avoid excessive spending on network security, while opponents like Cosmos founder Jae Kwon raised concerns about the potential impact on the network’s security.
Founder’s AtomOne Pitch
Kwon has stated in a GitHub document that he feels the community has seen enough division and believes a fork is the best way forward.
The AtomOne fork within the Cosmos community is seen as an effort to address differing opinions on the project’s mission, tokenomics, and security. This minimal fork of Gaia, focusing on sovereignty, security, and decentralisation, aims to provide innovative solutions and adapt to a multi-chain, multi-token universe. Kwon stated it’s designed to steer Gaia towards safer decisions, operate as a minimal IBC/ICS hub, and embody a more principled approach.
AtomOne addresses token distribution issues, competes with liquid staking providers by offering liquid $phATOM tokens, and emphasises diversity, open dialogue, and decentralisation. Its approach goes beyond specific business or tokenomics strategies, stressing alignment with its founding principles and considering major deviations through new forks or chains.
We will just fork “cosmoshub4” so it will be the current software, but we will have our own plan and development teams (more decentralised than Gaia) for managing the transition toward a minimal final product. AIB will not be the only participant, all who voted NO welcome.
John Galt, a Cosmos expert, foresees the upcoming fork benefiting ATOM holders, expecting significant airdrops and increased trading for ATOM and ATOM1 tokens. Others have lashed out over poor leadership and infighting. A thing that has plagued the Cosmos environment for quite some time.
ATOM Surge Prior to the Vote
Cosmos (ATOM) has surged 27% in the past month – this is attributed to its role in the Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP), which is going live on the Cosmos-based Noble chain and integrates with DyDx on Cosmos. CCTP’s launch, enabling direct USDC transfers across multiple blockchains, reflects Cosmos’ growing importance in the DeFi space, marked by improved risk management and transparency. This development, along with Cosmos’ role as a facilitator of blockchain interconnectivity, contributes to its recent price increase.