Switzerland-based Interchain Foundation (ICF), the core developer behind the cross-chain communications protocol Cosmos, will allocate $26.4 million for maintaining the said ecosystem next year.
According to a Dec. 13 announcement seen by Cointelegraph, the ICF 2024 roadmap “prioritizes funding for the Interchain Stack’s optimal functionality.” Out of the amount, $3 million will be allocated to CometBFT, Cosmos’ Byzantine fault-tolerant engine for state machine replication. Meanwhile, $4.5 million will go toward the Cosmos software development kit, and $7.5 million will be allocated to Cosmos’ native inter-blockchain communications protocol (IBC).
The remaining $4.155 million will go toward smart contract framework CosmWasm, digital library CosmJS, and ecosystem security audits. “This year’s funding program is designed to fortify the free-to-use, open-source Interchain Stack, serving as a catalyst for enhanced blockchain interconnectedness,” said ICF board director Maria Gomez, adding, “The role we play in the ecosystem is that of a steward that aids the interchain to achieve its goal of interoperable sovereignty.”
Cosmos’ IBC bridge currently connects 46 blockchains with a combined token value of $13 billion. Although plenty, it remains below the 200-IBCs-by-2022 target set out by Cosmos core developer Tendermint (now Ignite) back in November 2021.
This year, the ICF allocated a total of $40 million for ecosystem development in areas such as the Interchain Developer Academy, the Cosmos Developer Portal, and the Interchain Builders Program, as well as integration with other blockchain technologies such as Polkadot and Hyperledger. Although there have been numerous hacks surrounding cross-chain bridges, they have largely steered clear of the Cosmos ecosystem.
The Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol is expanding and securing $30B+ in annual asset transfers for 100+ chains.
— Cosmos - The Interchain ⚛️ (@cosmos) November 28, 2023
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Related: What is Cosmos: A beginner’s guide to the ‘Internet of Blockchains’