Istanbul, as 2023 approaches, has established itself to be the leading hub for cryptocurrency conferences. In November, the city will host a number of major crypto-related events including Binance Blockchain Week (2 days in length) and Ethereum’s DevConnect. Cosmoverse is the appetizer if you consider the two and three largest crypto assets in terms of market capitalization (excluding stablecoins).
In its third year the Cosmos Community-driven Event was packed with ecosystem teams looking to grab mindshare. The conference was in a positive mood, with little evidence of a market downturn. Estimates put attendance at the conference over 2,000.
Istanbul, a city that is located on the Bosphorus Bridge which connects Europe to Asia and vice versa, has positioned itself geographically so as to be able attract both East and West attendees.
Swisshotel Bosphorus is a compact hotel with a spacious feel. Most of the events were held on three floors. Some areas had spectacular harbor views. There was no problem getting in and out the main stage. It featured a full program of keynotes, panels, and workshops from around 9 am GMT up until late evening.
The lounges adjacent to the conference rooms, which were always stocked with coffee and snacks, became a few special-purpose meeting rooms. The rooms were used for media or side events. One room was dedicated to AppJam and the other streamed in guest speakers from around the world.
Upstairs, the exhibition hall of booths provided a mini headquarters for conference participants to schmooze with peers and users alike…and have some fun.
Merger intrigue
Participants of the Cosmos hub and other infrastructure key pieces discuss the future of governance proposals in order to unite parts of ecosystem.
Stride Labs, who presented a proposal Wednesday to become a hub, and not just a chain of consumer stores, is the first team to formalize their pitch. Stride Labs Co-founder Aidan Salzmann said that these public discussions are the result of weeks’ worth of internal debates and initial negotiations on Tuesday in Istanbul.
The concept will now be taken to the community forums where it can be further discussed. Some early reactions are skeptical — as STRD holders worry that an exchange for ATOM will undervalue the independent liquid staking protocol.
Bring Bitcoin to Cosmos
A number of developer teams showcased products which were newly released or soon to be launched. It was a feeling of excitement that Cosmos might be about to launch something innovative enough to draw in new capital and attract users.
Bitcoin holders, for example, will have soon a decentralized way to invest capital and earn stake yield in Cosmos.
Nomic’s nBTC, which is set to be activated on October 30, gives it an edge over wrapped bitcoin (WBTC), which relies on a centralized custody, as well as a bridge, in order to access Cosmos. Bitcoin holders can deposit directly into Nomic and then use IBC compatible nBTC in any part of the Cosmos eco-system.
Nomic uses the 2021 Taproot upgrade of Bitcoin to provide features Matt Bell, Turbofish’s CEO, believes will calm Bitcoiners fears.
“One of the big tight integrations with Bitcoin that adds security here is our emergency dispersal mechanism,” Bell Tell Blockworks “Like if something went wrong, even if the Nomic network disappeared, the default is the funds go back to the nBTC holders on the Bitcoin blockchain.”
Bell claims that Nomic’s validator set only needs 10% to be true to make sure the bridge is safe.
Cosmos DEX Osmosis has demonstrated that users will have the ability to deposit Bitcoin and withdraw it directly through Osmosis.
Bell believes that Nomic will appeal to a significant percentage of Bitcoin holders.
“Clearly, there are Bitcoin holders who want to take some amount of risk and earn on their Bitcoin,” “He said”
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