Cosmos in India: 4 Key Projects Paving the Way for Innovation

The Cosmos community continues to grow quickly in India with the help of organizations like Cosmos India, a non-profit founded in November 2019 by passionate community members. Cosmos India aims to grow blockchain presence in the country by promoting and accelerating awareness and adoption to developers, enterprises, and other key stakeholders in the region. Just nine months after its inception, over 1,000 people had joined, and the number continues to accelerate.

India boasts the highest number of crypto owners in the world, with 7.3% of the population (around 100 million people) owning digital assets. India has also seen a massive surge in the average trading volumes of different cryptocurrencies — rising by as much as 500% from March 2020 to February 2021.

In terms of blockchain development, Asia has the highest number of GoLang developers globally, with India contributing significantly to this number. India is now home to the second-largest GoLang community in the world and demand for the popular programming language of the Cosmos SDK and Tendermint Core is rising quickly here.

So, let’s take a deeper dive into some of the most popular projects currently leading the charge in the Cosmos India community.

Persistence (XPRT) Presents Multi-chain DeFi Solutions

Persistence is building a vast ecosystem of advanced Web3 products to drive liquidity and interoperability, driven by a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) chain running on Tendermint’s BFT consensus engine. Users can gain exposure to several blockchain-based asset classes under its umbrella solution.

Its multi-chain tech stack that consists of coding languages, frameworks, and tools is supported by various chains, making it easy and seamless for developers to deploy DEXs (decentralized exchanges), marketplaces, and debt financing applications. XPRT is the protocol’s native and governance token, allowing users to stake in return for rewards and vote on future project initiatives.

The Persistence ecosystem consists of multiple products. The first is pSTAKE, a liquid staking protocol that lets users stake supported assets to earn rewards while also receiving 1:1 pegged tokens to simultaneously transact with. The second is Asset Mantle, a framework allowing developers to build custom NFT (Non-fungible Token) marketplaces. The third is Comdex (third-party application built on top of Persistence SDK and Cosmos SDK), a trading platform where synthetic assets such as commodities and derivatives can be traded through an AMM (Automated Market Maker) interface.

Persistence has deep roots in India and has seen tremendous growth with more and more developer talent originating from its development center in Bangalore. “We’re extremely pleased to observe a significant growth in the number of Indian developers contributing to the Cosmos ecosystem,” comments Tushar Aggarwal, founder and CEO of Persistence. “Over the last year alone, we have seen the popularity of the GoLang programming language rise and are witnessing more developers building Web3 applications using GoLang and Cosmos SDK.”

At the time of writing, the project had amassed over 33,000 Twitter and 14,000 Telegram followers. The XRPT token now stands as a strong contender amongst competitors, with a total market cap of over $500 million.

Sentinel (DVPN) Offers a New Use Case for Internet Bandwidth

Sentinel is a global network of independent dVPN (decentralized Virtual Private Network) applications that allow users to access and browse the internet in a fully private and censorship-resistant manner on Web3. The network is built using the Cosmos SDK framework and is IBC enabled in order to optimize efficiency, scalability, and interoperability.

The protocol creates a decentralized internet bandwidth marketplace where anyone can monetize and earn passive income from their unused computer bandwidth. Users can elect to become “Bandwidth Miners” on Sentinel’s peer-to-peer network by seamlessly connecting dVPN nodes with hardware devices from their own homes. Moreover, developers can leverage provided bandwidth from the marketplace in order to build applications on the Sentinel protocol.

The native DVPN token is an essential driving force within the Sentinel ecosystem, as it’s used as a reward mechanism for validator nodes in return for verifying blockchain transactions and community peer-to-peer nodes lending their internet bandwidth. Holders will also be able to utilize the token as a form of payment for dVPN services.

With multiple VPNs being built on Sentinel, 500,000 registered devices tapping into its dVPN network, and over 15 TB of bandwidth consumed since its inception, it’s clear that Sentinel’s reach has not only grown in India but also vastly expanded on a global scale. Sentinel has been one of the first projects to commit to using Cosmos and IBC as core building blocks in their offering.

Polygon (MATIC) Introduces a Powerful Ethereum Scaling Solution

Originally known as Matic Network prior to a major rebrand, Polygon is a layer-2 framework and scaling solution created on Tendermint SDK designed for building Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) interoperable blockchains, creating a multi-chain ecosystem for Ethereum. Through its innovative solution, independent blockchains can interoperate with one another, allowing for the free flow of digital information and value.

Polygon’s platform offers multiple advanced scaling mechanisms for blockchains, such as ZK-Rollups and Optimistic Rollups, which are designed to increase transaction throughput while maintaining security and overall functionality. Developers can easily build and deploy their own Ethereum-compatible blockchains through Polygon’s advanced framework, allowing for customization and flexibility.

Its native MATIC token is utilized to secure Polygon’s vast ecosystem and facilitate governance for voting on project proposals. Users can also stake the token and leverage it to pay for transaction or gas fees on the network.

The adoption of Polygon’s network is impressive with now more than 566,500 active users, which surpasses Ethereum. In just one year, the MATIC token has surged over 13,000% and reached a total market cap of over $13 billion, pushing its way into a top-20 token position.

OmniFlix Network is the New Infrastructure for Decentralized Media

OmniFlix is a peer-to-peer network designed for creators, studios, and brands to mint, manage, and monetize media assets in the form of NFTs and DAO-governed communities in a multi-chain fashion. Through fractionalized ownership backed by NFTs, users can distribute and license their Web3 media assets to earn royalties and passive income.

Users can participate in collaborative content pools that are backed by NFTs in order to drive content within the network’s decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts. Its dApp ecosystem allows creators and users to self-publish their media assets, discover NFTs through watching videos and broadcasts, create a custom profile to showcase their artwork, and more.

OmniFlix Hub is the network’s chain, connecting with independent blockchains and DAOs to allow them to manage their media processes and discussions within communities. It’s also IBC enabled, so its marketplace protocols can connect to other interconnected Cosmos chains, allowing for the free flow of value and assets for creators and users alike.

The project originated in India and is continuing to broaden its horizons through new partnerships, upgrades, and continued innovation.

Stay Updated with Cosmos India

The communities within Cosmos India are building powerful and innovative systems and applications leveraging Cosmos frameworks and technology, bringing immense value to the entire ecosystem of interconnected systems. These four projects are just a flavor of what this promising country has in store.