The Cosmos Atom Online Wallet – Everything You Need To Know
Of all the cutting edge technologies that emerged in the 21st century, blockchain happens to be one of the most prominent. Even if people are not fully aware of blockchain technology's working, the terms related to it have been commonly seen/heard in tech news articles. To understand the concept of a web wallet, which is the central topic of this article, it is necessary to know what blockchain technology is.
What is blockchain technology?
Blockchain consists of a set of ledgers that are present online. Multiple validators maintain several copies of the ledgers. Thus, even if there are some errors in some validators' records, the true information in the ledgers remains unaffected.
When the validators carry out a transaction, they are also provided with protocols for updating the ledger. Thus, common protocols ensure concurrency control in ledgers.
What is Cosmos?
The earliest applications of blockchain technology include Bitcoin and Ethereum, which are cryptocurrencies. With these applications, blockchains contained isolated ledgers with no interoperability.
Cosmos was developed to build an internet of blockchains.
• Cosmos is a network of blockchains that can communicate with each other.
• There is no central party to initiate activities such as sharing data and tokens.
• Each new blockchain created in Cosmos is called a zone. It is connected to the Cosmos hub.
• The Cosmos hub contains details of every zone in the Cosmos. It is a blockchain that uses the native ATOM cryptocurrency.
The working of Cosmos:
Cosmos consists of three layers – application layer, networking layer, and consensus layer.
• The application layer is responsible for processing transactions and updating the zone's state in the network hub.
• The networking layer enables communication between the various blockchains and the transactions.
• Finally, the consensus layer decides the current state of the system.
The Cosmos ecosystem has some important components; without which it wouldn’t provide the exclusive features that it has. Given below is a brief description of the components that make Cosmos what it is.
• The Software Development Kit/Cosmos SDK – It is a framework that enables developers to build and launch their applications in the blockchain network independently.
• The hub – The Cosmos hub maintains the information about all the nodes present in each zone. The hub is under the control of ATOM token holders who have voting rights.
• The IBC – IBC stands for Inter-blockchain communication. It is a protocol that enables communication between blockchain networks. This is the component that provides interoperability.
• Tendermint – Tendermint is an implementation of the BFT-consensus protocol. Tendermint tightens security by finalizing each transaction instantly and eliminating malicious validators.
It has become possible for the Cosmos wallet to achieve security, scalability, usability, and interoperability due to these four crucial components.
The need for a Cosmos wallet:
Each user needs a place to store the assets earned on ATOM. Cosmos atom online wallet enables activities such as balance inquiry and transactions. Any applications built on Cosmos can be accessed using the wallet.
The blockchain market has several Cosmos wallets that people can use for their ATOM assets. But selecting the right wallet can be confusing due to the sheer variety of options.
How to select the right Cosmos wallet?
Availability Blockchain and cryptocurrency enthusiasts may not always have a desktop/laptop in front of them while engaging in transactions. Therefore, one must check whether the Cosmos web wallet is available as a mobile application for Android and Apple users.
• The interval between updates
A wallet with an active development team releases updates frequently. It is a sign of a dependable wallet. It is because frequent updates mean that the developers quickly fix the bugs and provide new features regularly.
• Ratings and reviews
The website of a Cosmos atom wallet generally contains credible information. However, it is better to look for user reviews to confirm the authenticity of the wallet. On mobile app reviews, users can also judge the quality of customer service.
• Security features
The most important thing in the blockchain is security. Users prefer wallets with non-custodial storage. It means that the wallet does not store or share the user’s data and private keys to third-party services.
• User-friendliness
A good Cosmos atom wallet provides users with clear instructions on how to proceed with the wallet setup and usage. Not all blockchain users may be well-versed with technology. Thus, an instruction manual would help.
• Verified validator
Users must check whether a Cosmos wallet is a verified validator on the Cosmos hub for extra safety. Staking through a verified validator prevents attacks on the validator node. Round-the-clock monitoring of incoming and outgoing traffic is also provided.
Managing the Cosmos wallet
There are several operations that one can perform using the Cosmos wallet.
• View costs
The Cosmos atom online wallet displays the market cap and the 24-hour volume for ATOM. One can decide whether to proceed with a transaction by viewing this data.
• Setting up the ledger
Connecting to the ledger is a crucial part of blockchain technology. Generally, the user has to download and install a Ledger app. Then, the user has to set up a device PIN.
• Transactions
In this step, the user provides the deposit address corresponding to the connected account. This will enable the user to carry out transactions using the wallet.
• Delegation
ATOM token can be delegated to specified validators. The wallet stores details of past validators that the user has engaged with. One can view the delegation history as well.
• Undelegation/redelegation
Sometimes, users delegate tokens to the wrong validator by mistake. At others, users may want to delegate token to the same validators again. Both the actions can be performed on the wallet. They are subject to terms and conditions.
In the beginning, the terms that describe the activities performed on the Cosmos atom online wallet can look complicated. However, if the user selects the right web wallet, one can find easy-to-follow instructions for each wallet activity.
Making the most of the Cosmos delegations
Delegations involve the user putting their ATOM asset at risk to keep the Cosmos network secure. While one can win rewards through delegations, there are certain risks associated with the action.
Here are two common risks that arise while delegating on a Cosmos atom online wallet.
• The first risk, called the validator uptime risk, occurs if the validator misses more than 95% of the consecutive 10,000 blocks.
• The second risk occurs when the validators act maliciously. The validator has to face a 5% slash on the stake.
With time, users understand the ways to identify non-malicious validators and engage only if they look safe.
Benefits of using Cosmos wallet:
The Cosmos atom online wallet is built to deal with cryptocurrency. Thus, it provides some benefits that a regular web wallet cannot. Here are some features that give the Cosmos wallet an edge.
• In the case of regular currencies, international transactions involving different currencies are complicated. With the Cosmos wallet, international transactions are a breeze.
• Any online transaction is subjected to a transaction fee. The transaction fee in regular transactions is much higher than that on Cosmos wallet.
• There is a risk of malicious sources getting hold of transaction history and committing identity fraud in regular bank transactions. As Cosmos wallet does not expose transaction history, the user is safe.
One can see that cryptocurrency transactions involving ATOM tokens are faster and more hassle-free than regular online transactions.
Blockchain problems solved by Cosmos wallets:
The introduction of Cosmos atom online wallet has solved some of the persistent problems in the blockchain industry.
• Scalability
Scalability is a powerful asset. The system can accommodate additional developments without a drop in operation speed. Older protocols were not only unscalable but were slow and expensive. Cosmos is highly scalable – both vertically and horizontally, and thus the Cosmos wallets are considered powerful.
• Interoperability
Transferring assets from one blockchain to another was not possible before Cosmos wallets arrived. Cosmos has created a network of blockchains so that users can now engage in cross-blockchain transactions.
• Sovereignty
In the cryptocurrencies that came before the Cosmos network, if there was a bug in an application, it couldn’t be resolved without the approval of the underlying platform's governance. As Cosmos is an open-source community project, things work differently. Everyone can enrich the platform by implementing their valuable ideas.
Apart from these obvious benefits, Cosmos has made using blockchain applications easier. Earlier, blockchain applications were complex and confusing for developers. The Cosmos SDK development has now enabled blockchain developers to build application-specific blockchains in a hassle-free manner.
Overall, one can say that Cosmos web wallets have become popular in usage due to the problems that Cosmos has solved. The developers refer to it not as an application but as the Cosmos ecosystem. Today, it is much easier for a common man to open a Cosmos web wallet account and reap blockchain technology's benefits.
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