Cosmos Ecosystem

Author Simon Warta, bumblefudge
Discussions-To https://github.com/ChainAgnostic/CAIPs/issues/5, https://github.com/ChainAgnostic/CAIPs/issues/6, https://github.com/ChainAgnostic/CAIPs/pull/1
Status Draft
Type Standard
Created 2022-03-01
Updated 2022-03-26
Requires CAIP-2

Table of Contents

Namespace for Cosmos chains

This document describes the syntax and structure of the [Cosmos][] namespace, which formalized a URI scheme for references on the broader Cosmos ecosystem. This ecosystem includes many different kinds of blockchains, variously interoperable and interconnected, but share the consensus rules and configuration objects of the Tendermint consensus engine. The namespace thus defined includes blockchains generated using the Cosmos SDK such as Cosmoshub, Binance, and the Cosmos Testnets, but also Weave-based blockchains, like IOV. These blockchains can have drastically different properties and capabilities, but have certain interoperability commitments imposed by the shared SDK and use the message-based Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocoal (IBC) to communicate and move assets between them along “channels”.

References

  • ChainID tips : A useful thread on chainIDs on the Cosmos SDK github repo
  • IOV Core TS : A reference implementation of the CAIP-2 section of this specification in the IOV Core SDK
  • configuration objects : Tendermint core requires each chain have a unit genesis block and genesis block timestamp, and derives a chain ID (chain_id in their semantics) deterministically from those values; these
  • IBC : The Inter Blockchain Communication Protocol is used to enable bridges and multi-chain compatibility between Tendermint chains
  • channels : The Inter-Blockchain Communication protocol establishes persistent “channels” between the clients of independent Cosmos-based blockchains; these can maintain state for assets across two chains like a bridged asset or smart contract.
  • ICS : The InterChain Standards are canonically maintained in this repo, and cover all aspects of interop and addressing between/across Cosmos chains and networks; these are equivalent to BIPs, EIPs, and CAIPs.
  • IBC#517 : A GitHub thread containing a concise explanation of chain_id validation/constraints across Cosmos contexts

Rights

Copyright and related rights waived via CC0.

Citation

Please cite this document as:

Simon Warta, bumblefudge, "namespaces/cosmos: Cosmos Ecosystem [DRAFT]," Chain Agnostic Namespaces, cosmos, March 2022 / March 2022. [Online serial]. Available: https://github.com/ChainAgnostic/namespaces/cosmos.md