Cosmos Hub and the broader Atom Economic Zone (AEZ) is built on innovation, collaboration, and a shared vision for a decentralized future. Today, Atom Accelerator DAO (AADAO) is proud to spotlight a significant grant we’ve extended to Confio, the team behind CosmWasm, a vital framework that powers over 100 chains in the Cosmos ecosystem.
Already mentioned in previous governance proposals and community conversations, this grant is crucial to ensure the continued development and maintenance of CosmWasm through H1 2025, enabling developers to build smarter, more efficient, and cross-chain applications that drive the growth of the Cosmos Hub. Let’s get into the details…
About Confio
Confio, the developer team behind CosmWasm, has been instrumental in shaping the AEZ. CosmWasm powers some of the most prominent chains like Osmosis, Injective, and Neutron, facilitating over 1.79 million downloads and 15.7k contracts deployed in just the past year. The framework enables smart contract interoperability across the Cosmos network, playing a key role in the creation of dApps that run seamlessly on multiple chains and are interconnected through IBC.
However, while CosmWasm’s success is undeniable, funding challenges have emerged. A budget cut from the Interchain Foundation has left Confio facing a gap in its 2025 development and maintenance budget. That’s where AADAO comes in. In partnership with Neutron, we’re stepping up to match their contribution and extend Confio’s funding with a grant of $250,000, ensuring support for CosmWasm’s continued development through the first half of 2025.
Read further into what CosmWasm enables, the recent budget cut, and other added values in our previous article here.
CosmWasm’s Impact on the Hub
This grant is more than just a financial contribution, it’s an investment in the future of the Cosmos Hub. CosmWasm is a cornerstone for several projects critical to the Hub’s growth, including the upcoming DRIP module and Ark Protocol’s Interchain Launchpad. It also powers governance mechanisms such as DAO DAO on the Hub, enabling decentralized decision-making and CP-funded DAOs. With CosmWasm, developers can create innovative, cross-chain applications with ease, making it a vital tool for the AEZ.
Beyond the immediate impact, this grant helps ensure that the Cosmos Hub remains a leader in smart contract development. By supporting CosmWasm, we’re guaranteeing that the Hub’s infrastructure can evolve and integrate new, cutting-edge technologies as the Cosmos ecosystem expands. The continued development of CosmWasm is essential for developers looking to build on the Hub, and it positions the Hub to grow in an ever-changing blockchain landscape.
Looking Forward
Overall, this grant will support Confio in maintaining reliable service for its users while navigating the next phase of the ecosystem. As the landscape evolves, collaboration remains key to ensuring a steady and thoughtful transition.
While changes are ahead, this grant reinforces our commitment to strengthening the Cosmos Hub and supporting builders. We’ll continue to share updates on this and other AADAO-backed initiatives in the coming months.
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.
