It’s time for the usual update from the Informal Systems’ Cosmos Hub team. Here are some of the highlights:
Coordinated the Cosmos Hub v16 upgrade.
Completed the integration, testnet, and governance phases for Gaia v17.
Started the integration phase for Gaia v18
Started the signaling phase for ICS with Inactive Hub Validators.
Completed the implementation phase for ATOM Wars / Hydro.
Working on the implementation phase of Security Aggregation.
Note that we use CHIPs to track the progress of our work. Hence, throughout this update, we refer to different phases of the CHIPs framework.
On May 15th, the Cosmos Hub upgraded to Gaia v16.0.0. This upgrade brings several functionalities that were enabled by the upgrade to Cosmos SDK v0.47:
The IBC rate limit module prevents massive inflows or outflows of IBC tokens in a short time frame, adding an extra layer of protection to IBC transfers.
The ICA controller sub-module enables Hub users to perform actions on other chains using their Hub accounts.
The IBC fee middleware enables the creation of IBC channels with in-protocol incentivization for relayers.
In addition, the v16 upgrade introduces ICS epochs that reduce the amount of ICS packets that need to be relayed.
We thank the validator community for a smooth upgrade with less than seven minutes of downtime.
Throughout May, we conducted the integration, testnet, and governance phases for Gaia v17, a major release that will bring ICS 2.0 to the Cosmos Hub. ICS 2.0, also known as Partial Set Security (PSS), enables consumer chains to join Interchain Security (ICS) as either Top N (the top N% of the voting power on the Hub must validate the consumer) or Opt-In (validation on the consumer is completely optional) and enables validators to opt-in and out of validating any given consumer chain. In addition, ICS 2.0 introduces the power shaping feature that gives consumer chains more flexibility in choosing their validator set. For more details on the PSS feature, check out the ICS docs.
Below are the major milestones we completed last month:
We released ICS 2.0 as part of ICS v4.2.0and integrated it into Gaia v17.0.0
Both Cosmos Hub testnets were upgraded to Gaia v17.0.0. Please join the testnet to familiarize yourself with ICS 2.0. If you are a Cosmos Hub validator, please check out the
We submitted a software upgrade proposal on May 17th, and it passed on May 31st. This means the Cosmos Hub v17 upgrade will occur on June 5th.
The security review conducted by the audit team at Informal was completed, and no critical bugs were found. As a result, we decided to go ahead with releasing ICS 2.0 in production. We’re currently working on fixing the minor issues found, but the fixes will be in a future release (most likely Gaia v18).
We started the integration phase for Gaia v18, which will bring the following features:
Permissioned CosmWasm (as per prop 895) enables the governance-gated deployment of CosmWasm contracts. The forum discussion provides more details on what contracts should be deployed on the Hub. The CosmWasm integration is in review.
Skip’s feemarket module (as per prop 842) enables the dynamic adjustment of the base transaction fee based on the block utilization (the more transactions in a block, the higher the base fee). The feemarket integration is in review.
Note that we decided against adding the Block SDK (which enables multiple transaction lanes) as there is no existing application for it at the moment. We will add it to a future release once it is clearly needed.
Expedited proposals enable governance proposals with a shorter voting period (i.e., one week instead of two), but with a higher tally threshold (i.e., 66.7% of Yes votes for the proposal to pass). Initially, we want to limit this feature to only software upgrade proposals to make the upgrade process more efficient. However, we could enable it also for client update proposals to shorten the time needed to unfreeze light clients. If you have feedback or questions about this feature, you can join the discussion on the forum.
The feature is implemented as part of Cosmos SDK 0.50, so we need to backport it to the special branch of Cosmos SDK v0.47 used by the Cosmos Hub.
As a preliminary timeline for v18, we plan to upgrade the testnet on June 19 and the mainnet on July 10. Note that these dates might change due to issues during the integration phase.
We started working on a new feature for Interchain Security (ICS) that would enable validators from outside the Hub’s active set to validate on consumer chains. This feature addresses multiple concerns with ICS 2.0.
It reduces the entry barrier for projects to launch as consumer chains and more validators will be allowed to opt in.
It enables validators outside the Hub’s active set to compete by providing their services to interesting projects.
It reduces the risk of all the validators of a consumer chain opting out, which would require the chain to leave ICS.
Currently, we are working on an ADR and a prototype implementation to help us finalize the design. Once the ADR is completed, we will submit a signaling proposal and start a discussion on the forum.
We published a post on the Cosmos Hub forum introducing Hydro, a bidding and governance platform for efficient deployment of liquidity across the Interchain and an important part of the ATOM Wars strategy. In a nutshell, Hydro enables ATOM holders to lock up their staked tokens in exchange for decision power on liquidity injections into third-party projects. For more details on how Hydro works, check out the litepaper.
We also completed the implementation of the first version of Hydro (as a CosmWasm contract) and successfully deployed it on the Neutron testnet.
Finally, we are working with Simply Staking to source a third-party audit for Hydro. If you have feedback or questions about the audit, you can join the discussion on the forum.
In February, we started the discussion phase of Babylon integration with the Cosmos Hub, which is part of a larger effort to make the Hub a security aggregator bringing together staked assets from many sources. In May, we published a signaling proposal for the technical specification to bring Bitcoin security from Babylon to the Cosmos Hub and its consumer chains.
We also completed the implementation of the power mixing feature, which is currently under review. This feature enables chains to mix multiple sources of stake to compute the validator set passed to the consensus engine.
This month, we’ve either launched or continued working on new features to make the Cosmos Hub more secure, flexible, and user-friendly:
Better Security: The Gaia v16 upgrade adds protections to make cross-chain transactions safer and smoother.
More Control: Users can now perform actions on other chains using their Hub accounts, making managing assets across the ecosystem easier.
Efficient Governance: Faster decision-making processes help the community implement important changes more quickly.
Incentives for Relayers: New incentives ensure those who help facilitate transactions are rewarded, improving overall network reliability.
Economic Growth: The Hydro platform allows ATOM holders to influence how liquidity is deployed, helping to solve liquidity issues in the ecosystem.
Future Readiness: Upcoming features like permissioned CosmWasm and support for inactive validators will make the Hub more versatile and inclusive.
These updates make the Hub a better place to launch and manage projects, ensuring ongoing rewards for validators and a more robust, user-friendly experience for everyone. We’re excited about these features' new capabilities and look forward to continued growth and innovation in the coming months.