Cosmos co-founder Jae Kwon has announced the forking of the Cosmos Hub, the core of the Cosmos network, following the community's approval of proposal 848.
This significant proposal has set a maximum inflation rate of 10% for the Hub's native token, Atom, leading to a divide within the community.
The new fork, named AtomOne, will bring about a new network along with its associated token, ATOM1. In a bold gesture, Kwon has planned to reward the majority of the initial genesis supply, presumably around 90%, to those who stood against the proposal.
The remaining 10% will be pre-mined for a variety of purposes, as outlined in a detailed document released by Kwon. Notably, the Interchain Foundation will not partake in the airdrop.
This proposal to cap Atom’s inflation rate has been a subject of heated debate. Passing with a narrow margin of 41.1% in favor against 38.5% in opposition, it has marked the most participated vote in the Cosmos ecosystem's history.
Proponents of the proposal argued for the necessity of this move, claiming that Atom’s inflation was higher than required for maintaining network security, and a 10% rate would still ensure profitability for validators.
Kwon, a pivotal figure in developing Cosmos' Tendermint consensus algorithm and co-founding the Hub, has been a vocal opponent of this decision.
His concerns centered around the potential impact of this change on the network's security. Despite numerous appeals from the community, Kwon is resolute in his decision to fork the Cosmos Hub, which acts as the central blockchain of the Cosmos network and plays a crucial role in staking, governance, and transaction fees.
Additionally, Kwon aims to introduce a new governance mechanism in AtomOne, including altering the quorum threshold for governance decisions from less than 50% in the Hub to a two-thirds majority in the new network.
The new fork will create a separate blockchain derived from the existing Cosmos Hub network, also known as Gaia, with the chain ID “cosmoshub4.”
This new chain will maintain essential features such as IBC and interchain security while preserving the original maximum inflation rate of 20% to adequately reward validators and stakers.
Kwon has also proposed introducing a separate fee token, Photon (phATOM1), to function alongside ATOM1, further expanding the new network's ecosystem.
