In a world of thousands of blockchain projects, Cosmos stands out because of what it is trying to achieve and the success it is having. Cosmos is a project that helps developers build highly scalable decentralized projects that are interoperable with one another. It achieves this through the Cosmos SDK product.
Cosmos also uses the Inter Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol to link hundreds of other cryptocurrencies together. As a result, they can work and communicate despite the underlying technology like Ethereum, Solana, and Avalanche.
There are over 250 cryptocurrencies in the Cosmos ecosystem. Some of these are OKEX, BNB, and Cronos. In this article, we will look at some of the most popular projects in the Cosmos ecosystem. Precisely, we will assess those apps built using the Cosmos SDK.
Terra
Terra is the biggest blockchain project built using the Cosmos SDK. It is a full-scale decentralized platform that helps developers build apps in all industries like decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens. Terra was built by a company known as Terraform Labs that is valued at billions of dollars.
LUNA, the native token for the Terra ecosystem, has a market cap of over $32 billion, making it the top 7 of the biggest coins in the world. This value comes from the overall success of its ecosystem.
For example, data shows that its DeFi ecosystem has a total value locked (TVL) of over $26 billion, making it the second-biggest one after Ethereum. DeFi projects built in Terra like Anchor Protocol and Lido have had a lot of success, considering that they have a TVL of over $10 billion each.
Terra is also a leading player in the stablecoins industry. Its flagship Terra USD coin is the fourth biggest in the sector, with a market cap of $16 billion. Further, Terraform also runs Chai, a South Korean fintech app used by millions of people.
Ankr Protocol
Web 3.0 is one of the biggest themes in the technology industry. It is based on the idea that data should be owned by individuals and not big technology companies like Microsoft and Google. A good example of a web 3.0 project is Brave, which is a browser that does not track users.
Ankr Protocol is a blockchain project built in Cosmos that offers multiple tools that are important for building web 3.0 applications. Its flagship features are Application Programming Interface (API) and Remote Procedure Call (RPC) endpoints with web sockets.
As a result, people can build web 3.0 applications that are connected to popular blockchain projects like Avalanche, Near Protocol, BNB, and Fantom.
ANKR is the native token for the protocol and has a total market cap of over $641 million.
ThorChain
The DeFi industry is showing substantial growth as people embrace a more decentralized future. Today, most people are accessing financial services by just linking their cryptocurrency wallets. No username and account password is needed.
One of the most important concepts in DeFi is known as liquidity, which is the available amount of cash in an ecosystem. In a centralized world, this liquidity comes from customer deposits and central banks.
ThorChain is a project that enables people to provide liquidity across various blockchains. At the time of writing, it had about 101 active nodes and a total value locked (TVL) of over $1 billion. In 2022, the developers launched a platform to enable people to develop their own synthetic derivatives that can be traded in all exchanges.
ThorChain’s cryptocurrency is known as RUNE, and it has a market cap of more than $3 billion.
Gravity DEX
The Decentralized Finance industry is highly fragmented, with most chains pushing their own projects. For example, Ethereum DEXs like Uniswap and Terra’s Anchor Protocols exist in their own siloed ecosystems. This is a difficult challenge that is being addressed through tools like bridges.
Gravity DEX is a platform built by the team behind Cosmos, whose goal is to enable DEXs built-in all chains to communicate with each other. It is like the SWIFT system that exists in global banking.
By communicating with one another, these DEXs are able to benefit in various ways. For example, they can access a bigger pool of liquidity at a lower price. According to its website, it uses an Equivalent Swap Price Model (ESPM) that helps to lower prices by reducing arbitrage opportunities. Although it is a new project, Gravity has a total volume of over $1 billion.
OKEX
OKEX is one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, with millions of customers. It provides the basic exchange solutions that allow people to buy and sell coins. Further, the coin allows people to trade, borrow, and earn interest. OKEX has also launched its in-house decentralized exchange, which has grown in popularity.
As with other exchanges, OKX launched its own cryptocurrency in a bid to improve its services. OKB has grown to become a major player in the industry with its market cap of over $5.6 billion. It used to provide discounts to holders and to let them earn staking rewards by just owning it.
Its staking rewards come from the overall fees that the company charges its client both in the centralized and decentralized exchange.
OKB is built using the Cosmos SDK and has achieved substantial success in the past few years.
Summary
Cosmos has become one of the most influential platforms in the blockchain industry, and analysts expect that more developers will choose it. In this article, we have looked at some of the most popular projects in the ecosystem.
