Atom Accelerator DAO (AADAO) is excited to present nine special grants dedicated to supporting initiatives on Hydro, the ultimate infrastructure platform for Liquid Staking Derivatives (LSD) and Liquid Staking Derivatives in Decentralized Finance (LSDFi). These grants are to: Range Security, Moonkitt, Informal Systems, Eris Protocol, Numia, Margined Protocol, and Immunefi.
Long story short, Hydro plays a major role in amplifying the impact and utility of ATOM across the Cosmos ecosystem. By supporting these initiatives, we’re able to accelerate ATOM use cases and adoption, driving new users and value to the Cosmos Hub. Now, let’s break down these nine grants…
1. Everstake: Hydro Airdrop Eligibility Tool
Everstake’s Hydro Airdrop Eligibility Tool, supported by a $5,000 AADAO grant, is designed to enhance ATOM adoption and engagement by providing real-time insights into Cosmos ecosystem airdrops. Integrated into the SpellDrop explorer, this tool allows users locking ATOM through Hydro to quickly and accurately track their eligibility for airdrops, including rewards tied to Liquid Shares used for voting.
By streamlining access to airdrop opportunities, it demonstrates the added value Hydro offers beyond staking rewards, such as tributes for governance participation.
This project aligns with the broader goal of attracting more users to the ATOM Economic Zone (AEZ) by highlighting the tangible benefits of staking and voting through Hydro. By simplifying the process of identifying airdrop opportunities, the tool not only boosts user engagement but also strengthens the utility and adoption of ATOM across the Cosmos ecosystem.
Stay up to date on this tool development by following Everstake on X.
2. Moonkitt: Introducing Zephyrus, A Vote Aggregator
The Cosmos Hub community previously had limited control over Protocol-Owned-Liquidity (POL) deployments. Hydro, a new auction platform, offers more control and additional rewards to stakers. However, the user experience remains quite complex.
Backed by a $50,000 AADAO grant, the Moonkitt team, specialists in Cosmos development and the Liquidity Staking Module, is building Zephyrus, a gamified vote aggregator that simplifies staking on Hydro. Users can lock their staked ATOM, let Zephyrus optimize their yield automatically, and collect rewards monthly through a seamless interface.
By streamlining Hydro’s complexities, Zephyrus makes liquidity auctions more accessible, boosting user participation and strengthening the Cosmos Hub’s security. AADAO is also funding a security audit to ensure the platform’s safety for users.
“Our goal with Zephyrus is to make Hydro’s complex mechanisms accessible to everyone,” says Arlai, Co-founder of Moonkitt. “We’re not just building a tool—we’re creating an engaging journey for Cosmos Hub participants.”
For updates on Zephyrus, please follow Zephyrus on X.
3 & 4: Numia for Hydro Data Indexing, PoL Revenue Tracking, & Other Tooling
Numia, a longstanding contributor to the AEZ ecosystem, is committed to making Appchain data widely accessible while empowering projects to build, monitor, and scale their Web3 solutions.
In order to track and show metrics to the Hydro users about the overall protocol performance and their own positions, AADAO has granted Numia $27,600 to build a dedicated data indexing service. The final deliverable will be a set of data APIs that the Hydro team will be able to integrate with in order to be able to show critical metrics like, the users’ APRs, the PoL APRs, revenue and more. This type of data is critical not only for achieving a high degree of transparency but also offers a great experience to keep user retention strong.
On top of this, Numia was also granted $54,500 from AADAO to develop two vital tools for the ATOM community. The initiative includes an airdrop snapshot tool that comprehensively tracks ATOM holders across the IBC ecosystem and a dashboard to monitor ATOM Protocol-owned Liquidity (PoL) revenue.
These innovations address key data challenges, empowering ATOM holders to engage more effectively with ecosystem incentives and enhancing transparency in revenue distribution. Read further into this grant here.
5. Margined Protocol: Innovating Liquidity Provision with Delta-Neutral Vaults
Liquidity provision is often accompanied by risks such as impermanent loss and price volatility, which can discourage participation. Recognizing this challenge, Margined Protocol, a team specializing in asset management and risk mitigation within DeFi, has developed a bold new approach.
Supported by an AADAO grant of $50,000, Margined Protocol is creating a delta-neutral liquidity provisioning framework. This innovative system allows users to deposit assets into a vault that LPs into specific pools while simultaneously hedging the LP position’s value. The result is significantly reduced exposure to both realized and impermanent loss.
Initially designed for Hydro, this framework addresses a critical need for safer liquidity provisioning while laying the groundwork for expansion to other platforms like Osmosis, Neutron, and Mars. By stabilizing key Cosmos assets like ATOM, the system enhances liquidity and reduces volatility, making DeFi participation more appealing for DAOs, protocols, and retail users alike.
Margined protocol’s deep expertise in liquidity optimization, market-making, and risk management positions them as a leader in advancing DeFi infrastructure. Their delta-neutral framework is set to drive adoption, increase ecosystem stability, and unlock new possibilities for ATOM liquidity.
Follow Margined on X for further updates.
6. Hydro: Ecosystem Integrations
The Hydro DAO, the Cosmos Hub’s decentralized liquidity management platform, needed key upgrades to improve scalability, security, and transparency for Protocol-Owned Liquidity (POL) management. With AADAO sunsetting at the end of 2024, concerns were growing about funding gaps for third-party teams building on Hydro.
Thanks to an AADAO grant of $75,000, the Hydro team is supporting the “Hydro Ecosystem Integrations” initiative to enhance Hydro, the Cosmos Hub’s decentralized liquidity management platform.
This project extends the scope of critical upgrades, including the integration of Numia’s data indexing service for transparent metrics tracking and Valence’s automation tools for streamlined protocol-owned liquidity (PoL) management. These improvements bolster transparency, scalability, and security for Hydro, delivering significant value to ATOM holders and empowering ecosystem builders.
Follow Informal on X to get the latest news on this grant.
7. Eris Protocol: Simplifying Governance with Votion
Governance on the Cosmos Hub has often been seen as a complex and time-consuming process, deterring many ATOM holders from actively participating. Recognizing this pain point, Eris Protocol, a seasoned protocol development team with over 2.5 years of experience and $10M in Total Value Locked (TVL) across their projects, is stepping in with a transformative solution.
With support from an AADAO grant of $50,000, Eris is building Votion, a decentralized vote aggregator that redefines governance participation. Votion allows users to deposit Liquid Staked Module (LSM) shares into a pool, receive a tradable receipt token (vATOM), and have their votes automatically cast through the aggregator. This seamless system ensures that users can engage in governance without navigating the complexities of manual voting.
But Votion doesn’t stop at governance simplification. It auto-compounds rewards into ATOM, driving buy pressure while boosting user returns. Additionally, the tradable vATOM token unlocks new DeFi integrations, enabling users to access liquidity without compromising their voting power.
With a target of locking $1M worth of ATOM into governance, Eris is paving the way for broader participation and financial innovation. Their expertise in delivering user-centric, secure solutions ensures Votion will be a game-changer for governance in the Cosmos ecosystem.
Get updates on this grant via Eris’ account on X, or Votion directly on X or Telegram.
8. Range: Advanced Monitoring & Threat Detection for Hydro
Hydro is a key project for the Cosmos Hub with the mission to deploy community funds in third-party protocols. Given the cross-chain nature of Hydro and its dependence on third-party protocols, building a comprehensive security monitoring and threat detection system customized for Hydro is essential.
With an AADAO grant of $95,000, Range will build such a system that can be leveraged both by the Hydro committee and the wider community, plus integrate advanced rate limit analytics in the Cosmos Hub that complements value-at-risk capping measures of the Hydro monitoring system. This initiative is critical to protecting the ATOM deployed by Hydro.
After the completion of this grant, the following goals will be achieved:
- A comprehensive alerting and monitoring system for Hydro contracts and the POL funds deployed in 3rd party liquidity venues following a pre-designed implementation plan.
- Automated incident response capabilities that will enable both the Hydro committee and Hydro bidders to respond more effectively to any operational or security incident.
- An automated public Telegram alert channel to keep the Cosmos Hub community updated on relevant events related to Hydro.
- Integration of the Cosmos Hub into the IBC Workbench to monitor inflows and assets, including those of Hydro, and help the community set effective IBC Rate Limits, balancing the trade-off of liquidity and security.
All these deliverables will be maintained for 15 months from the start of the grant. Follow Range on X to keep up to date on this grant’s progress.
9. Immunefi: Protecting Hydro with Cutting-Edge Security
As Hydro’s adoption grows, so does the need for robust security to safeguard its smart contracts and applications. With vulnerabilities posing risks to user funds and platform integrity, Immunefi, the leading crowdsourced security platform in crypto, is stepping in to provide a critical layer of defense.
Funded by an AADAO grant of $57,882, Immunefi is deploying a fully managed bug bounty program for Hydro. Leveraging a network of over 45,000 security researchers, including 1,000 elite-level contributors, the program ensures 24/7 monitoring, report handling, and expert mitigation reviews. This proactive approach minimizes the likelihood of critical exploits such as fund theft or network disruptions.
Immunefi’s comprehensive services include full-service hosting, assisted rules design tailored to Hydro’s needs, and premium managed triage. The program’s success metrics are equally impressive, with an average of eight valid bug reports expected annually,the first vulnerability typically disclosed within 12 days of launch and 80% of the onboarded projects finding a critical bug missed in previous audits in the first year of the bug bounty program.
With Immunefi’s proven track record of securing some of the largest DeFi platforms, Hydro is equipped with world-class security infrastructure. This initiative not only protects user funds but also builds trust in Hydro as a reliable liquidity platform, solidifying its role within the Cosmos ecosystem.
Keep up to date on this grant by following Immunefi on X.
Looking Forward
By tackling key areas like liquidity, governance, security, and accessibility, these nine grants strengthen Hydro as a cornerstone platform for Liquid Staking Derivatives (LSD) and LSDFi, overall helping position the Cosmos Hub and ATOM as leaders in DeFi and governance.
As AADAO sunsets, the impact of these initiatives will endure, empowering future builders to advance the vision of a decentralized, user-centric ecosystem. Together, they mark a pivotal step toward global ATOM adoption and sustained growth, ensuring the Cosmos Hub remains a hub of innovation and value for years to come.
About the Atom Accelerator DAO
Atom Accelerator DAO (AADAO) is a governance-mandated DAO of the Cosmos Hub. We have been formed and mandated to drive value for the Cosmos Hub and ATOM, supporting initiatives that either directly create economic impact or produce value that can drive its growth. From this, our current primary mandates are public grants and venture grants.
*Note: Starting January 1st 2025, AADAO has been sunset and is in maintenance mode, no longer accepting new grant applications.
In 2023, we deployed $3.8 million in grants to 39 recipients – resulting in, among other things – a $22m USD airdrop to the Community Pool, an AEZ Accelerator program to expand the AEZ, a successful hackathon with 42 project submissions bringing innovations to the AEZ – and many other key initiatives. Read about them in our 2023 Impact Report.
