This Week in Cosmos with WhisperNode

Welcome to This Week in Cosmos, brought to you by WhisperNode, your go-to roundup of the most compelling developments in the Cosmos ecosystem

What did we cover this week?

• Cosmos ecosystem highlights: Injective, Secret, Sei, and more

• New earning opportunities

• Galxe of opportunities: Career openings, Bounties for devs, Hackathons, and more

• Missed last’s week highlights? Read Here
  
  
  

What's New in Cosmos, Interchain and IBC

• Cosmos Ecosystem Expansion: Interchain Foundation Acquires Skip
  The Interchain Foundation (ICF) has acquired Skip, a leading Cosmos ecosystem team, renaming it Interchain Inc. and making it the ICF's primary subsidiary. This acquisition signifies a shift from the ICF's previous distributed development model to a more centralized, growth-focused approach, prioritizing the Cosmos Hub and internal development of the Interchain Stack.
  
  

  

  
  
  Interchain Inc., led by Skip co-founders Barry Plunkett and Maghnus Mareneck, will spearhead Cosmos' product strategy, vision, and go-to-market efforts to increase user adoption and liquidity significantly. The acquisition aims to address Cosmos' untapped potential by improving developer experience, application quality, and user onboarding, ultimately boosting liquidity, which is crucial for ecosystem growth.

• Secret Network Integrates Confidential Computing with Arbitrum
  Secret Network has announced the integration of its Confidential Computing Layer with Arbitrum, a collection of Ethereum scaling solutions designed to simplify the development and utilization of decentralized applications.
  
  

  

  
  
  This integration aims to enhance privacy and security for decentralized applications built on Arbitrum by leveraging Secret's confidential computing capabilities.

• Valour Akash SEK (AKT) Exchange-Traded Product
  Valour Akash SEK is an exchange-traded product (ETP) that tracks the Akash Network's native token, AKT, a decentralized cloud computing platform connecting developers with unused computing resources, offering a cost-effective and scalable alternative to traditional cloud providers.
  
  

  

  The AKT token facilitates payments, staking, and governance within the Akash Network, allowing holders to participate in platform decisions, and Valour's ETP provides access to this digital asset through regulated exchanges and MTFs, ensuring transparent pricing and liquidity.

• Dymension's Quick Auth: Secure and Walletless Access to Dymension L1
  Dymension is introducing Quick Auth, a secure session mechanism integrated into its Layer 1 blockchain that enables users to interact with the platform without needing to sign each transaction with their wallet, enhancing user experience significantly.
  
  

  

  
  
  This signless, mobile-accessible feature allows users to authorize session keys for specific transactions within a limited timeframe, providing a streamlined and secure experience both on desktop and mobile devices, accessible via a QR code scan after authorizing a secure connection.

• Sei Network Ecosystem Growth Update

  The Sei Network experienced significant growth over the past week, marked by numerous new deployments, competitions, and initiatives, including the integration of Zero1 Labs for decentralized AI innovation, Yei Finance raising $2 million for cross-chain liquidity, and the launch of wBTC on the network.
  
  

  

  
  
  Key developments also involved the rebranding of the Symphony DEX aggregator, the opening of the GamingOnSei Arcade featuring 26 games and NFT rewards, the launch of the first AAA shooter, GPTWars, and the integration of Spores Network leveraging Sei's parallelized EVM. Furthermore, the Sei Tenkaichi Tournament continued, Sei games dominated the Blockchain Game Awards 2024 nominations, and a new ecosystem guide was released, highlighting the continued dedication of builders and supporters driving the network's progress.

• KIP Protocol Integrates with Axelar Network
  KIP Protocol has announced its integration with Axelar Network, leveraging Axelar's Interchain Token Service (ITS) to bring decentralized AI infrastructure to the Web3 ecosystem.
  
  

  

  
  

  This integration will enable seamless connectivity across various blockchain networks, facilitating the interoperability and accessibility of KIP Protocol's decentralized AI solutions.

• cheqd and Sensay Collaborate on AI-Powered Digital Replicas
  Cheqd has partnered with Sensay, a prominent company specializing in AI-driven digital replicas, to leverage decentralized identity and verified data for building a more trustworthy and accountable digital ecosystem.
  
  

  

  
  
  This collaboration aims to utilize cutting-edge AI technology and secure data management practices to shape a future digital landscape characterized by enhanced transparency and reliability.
  

  
  
  

• Jackal Protocol Mainnet Now Supported on Keplr Wallet w/ Jackal Protocol Name Service Launch
  Jackal Protocol has launched its Jackal Names service, allowing users to secure a '.jkl' name for use in sharing files on Jackal Vault and earning $JKL tokens. Users can access the Jackal Names service at names.jackalprotocol.com and the main application at refer.jackalprotocol.com, with an invitation system seemingly in place for initial access.
  
  

  

  
  
  The Jackal Protocol has announced full support for its mainnet on the Keplr Wallet enabling users to easily access and interact with the Jackal network.
  
  
  
  

• Osmosis in 2024: A Year of Growth and Innovation in the Cosmos DeFi Ecosystem
  Osmosis experienced significant growth in 2024, facilitating over $11 billion in trading volume and achieving over $10.5 million in protocol revenue, a more than 3x increase from 2023. Key upgrades included the implementation of Limit Order functionality with a novel Onchain order book mechanism, enhancing the trading experience and outperforming concentrated liquidity pools.
  

  

  
  Improved user experience features were introduced, such as 1-Click Trading and Smart Accounts, along with asset standardization for better liquidity and composability. Technical achievements involved upgrading the platform to the latest Cosmos SDK v0.50, reducing block times to 1.5 seconds, and implementing a Taker Fee Revenue Sharing protocol.
  

Top 5 Active Zones in the past week: IBC Volume, Transfers, Txs, Peers, Channels, WAU, and Activity metrics across the Interchain ecosystem.

Earning Opportunities! Galxe quest, Giveaway and NFTs

• Eric Chen announces a $10,000 donation for contributions to iAgent tooling and apps development.
  Eric Chen, a prominent figure in the Injective community, has pledged a personal donation of up to $10,000 to individuals or teams who contribute valuable tools and applications to the iAgent project.
  
  

  

  
  
  iAgent is an agent fine-tuned on the Injective trading framework and documentation, aiming to enhance the user experience and trading capabilities within the Injective ecosystem.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• BonusBlock <> Axelar Campaign
  Axelar has launched the Axelar Explorers Program, offering a 100,000 AXL prize pool over 3 months for participants who complete partnerships with 7 different dApps.
  
  

  

  
  
  The first partner announced is Frax Finance. By completing each season of the program, users can earn AXL rewards. This initiative aims to foster engagement and awareness within the Axelar ecosystem.

• Meme Coin-Focused Trading and Interval Trading | Injective Bounty
  The Injective Foundation is seeking proposals to develop a user-friendly application that combines meme coin trading with interval trading features. The key objectives are to simplify the trading experience, boost user engagement through a rewards system, and ensure market integrity with robust risk management.
  
  

  

  
  
  The application must comply with all applicable laws, support multiple tokens, integrate liquidity vaults, and utilize an oracle system for reliable price feeds. The proposals will be evaluated based on innovation, feasibility, security, and community impact.

• Civitia Testnet v2
  Civitia, a finance-focused board game, has launched its v2 testnet. Players can now mint cities, collect yield, and compete in seasonal gameplay. Civitia is built on a modular, interwoven rollup architecture powered by Initia Foundation, with Celestia providing the underlying infrastructure.
  
  

  

  
  This unique setup enables Civitia to provide an on-chain gaming experience. Users are encouraged to try the testnet and prepare for the upcoming mainnet launch.
  
  
  
  

  
  

A Universe of Airdrops

The cosmos is alive with airdrop excitement.

• Side Protocol's genesis airdrop allocates 100M $SIDE tokens across Bitcoin users, NFT communities, $ATOM stakers, validators, public goods, testnet participants, and whitelist campaigns, with registration open from Nov 26 to Dec 15, 2024, and tokens claimable after mainnet launch in January 2025.

  
  

• Namada mainnet launches December 3rd, 2024 at 15:00 UTC. $NAM tokens will be accessible for staking and governance immediately, with transfers enabled later in Phase 5 after network stability is confirmed.
  

• MANTRA allocates 50M $OM for GenDrop, rewarding 350K+ users across KARMA quests, NFT holders, validators, and Galxe campaigns. Claim here: checker.mantra.zone.
  

• Hydro's pilot lets $ATOM stakers vote for liquidity and earn tributes while keeping staking rewards. Airdrops may follow for participants. Details: hydro.cosmos.network/voting.
  

• Shade Protocol launches $eSHD, rewarding social engagement with redeemable tokens for $SHD and perks. The first eDrop will be on November 28. Join at zealy.io.
  

• The $ATONE airdrop has been distributed to eligible $ATOM holders, with the allocation based on their Cosmos Hub Prop 848 voting behavior, and users can now view their $ATONE balance and stake it.
  

• Defund is offering an airdrop for $TIA stakers, Osmosis liquidity providers, Defund testnet participants, and Sui Network users, with additional eligibility criteria to be announced.
  
  

Cosmos IBC Analysis

Over the last 7 days, IBC value transfers peaked at $26.6 million on Osmosiszone, followed by $13.2 million on Cosmoshub, $12.2 million on Axelarcore, $4.9 million on Akashnet, and $4.2 million on SecretNetwork.

Shout out Cosmsolytics

Key Governance Votes on IBC-Chains  

• VOTING IN PROGRESS: Signalling Proposal to Whitelist the Deployment of InterChain NFT Contracts
  
  
  
  

  And remember, for an optimal staking experience, choose WhisperNode as your validator