# Tendermint

### What is CosmosSDK / Tendermint?

Similar to Ethereum, Tendermint seeks to make blockchain technology accessible to developers. However, Tendermint's vision differs from Ethereum's by emphasizing a multi-chain model as the cornerstone of blockchain's future scalability and interoperability. Tendermint is not a standalone blockchain but rather an open-source, consensus, and P2P engine. When coupled with the application layer (Cosmos) SDK, developers and enterprises use Tendermint to streamline the development of L1 blockchains.

### How does it work?

1. Builders fork the Tendermint & Cosmos code and add custom features to create a utility-specific blockchain, accelerating blockchain development. 
2. Builders are on their own to launch their chain:
   1. Must have enough locked value to prevent hostile takeovers
   2. Must recruit a diverse validator set to avoid centralization
   3. Must bootstrap an ecosystem from scratch
   4. Must build chain communication features to avoid community isolation

{% hint style="info" %}
Tendermint was created within a year of Ethereum, yet the adoption and popularity are far less.
{% endhint %}

### Pros & Cons of CosmosSDK + Tendermint

**The good:**

* ✅ sovereign and decentralized
* ✅ full value capture
* ✅ scale independently

**The bad:**

* ❌ slow to market (semi-accelerated by the SDK)
* ❌ must keep up with SDK updates
* ❌ have enough capital to ensure network takeovers are expensive, typically requiring fundraising
* ❌ bootstrap their own ecosystem with developer tooling and liquidity paths
* ❌ attract experienced Validators to avoid centralization
* ❌ must build interoperability features to avoid community isolation
* ❌ SDK is complex and intimidating for the new developer

### Cosmos Consumer Chains via ICS and IBC

Tendermint's design failed to address the challenges of starting a blockchain, which is essential for fostering widespread accessibility and mass adoption. 

{% hint style="info" %}
Need a refresher of the challenges involved with starting an L1? Checkout [Blockchains Are Hard To Launch](/docs/canopy-network/why-canopy/background-and-industry-state.md#are-hard-to-build)
{% endhint %}

To fix these shortcomings, the "Cosmos Hub" chain offers Interchain Security and Interoperability to "Consumer Chains":

* Utilizing the Cosmos Validator set to prevent hostile takeovers and avoid early centralization
* Develop a rich ecosystem - using the Cosmos Hub chain as the center of the Inter-Blockchain Communication, facilitating interoperability.

**The good:**

* ✅ ICS validator set secures new chains with ATOM
* ✅ IBC enables ecosystem growth with interoperability
* ✅ scale independently

**The bad:**

* ❌ not sovereign (reliant on ICS for security and finality)
* ❌ must pay security rent to ICS
* ❌ locked into ICS stack - hard fork and re-genesis required for independence
* ❌ slow to market (semi accelerated by the SDK)
* ❌ must keep up with SDK updates
* ❌ bootstrap their own ecosystem with developer tooling and liquidity paths
* ❌ SDK is complex and intimidating for the new developer

{% hint style="info" %}
ICS attempts to address the shortcomings of Tendermint but undermines the sovereignty of builders
{% endhint %}

### <mark style="color:blue;">Canopy and Cosmos Comparison</mark>

<table><thead><tr><th width="201.2000732421875">_</th><th width="178.794189453125">CANOPY</th><th width="185.2176513671875">COSMOS SDK</th><th>COSMOS HUB + ICS</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Architecture</strong></td><td>✅ Peer-to-Peer</td><td>➖ A builder SDK for blockchains</td><td>❌ Centralized around Cosmos Hub</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Scaling Method</strong></td><td>✅ Every new chain horizontally scales Web3</td><td>✅ Independently</td><td>❌ Single Chain: Cosmos Hub</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Builder Sovereignty</strong></td><td>✅ Progressive</td><td>✅ Full</td><td>❌ Critical, lifelong reliance on host for security &#x26; finality </td></tr><tr><td><strong>Ecosystem</strong></td><td> ❌ New</td><td>❌ Fragmented</td><td>❌ Small</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Long range attack</strong></td><td>✅ Proof of Age</td><td>➖ Centralized checkpointing</td><td>➖ Centralized checkpointing</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Builder Difficulty</strong></td><td>✅ Quick to market</td><td>❌ Slow to market</td><td>❌ Slow to market</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Builder</strong> <strong>Economic Security</strong></td><td>✅ Immediate</td><td>❌ Neglected / typically fundraising required</td><td>✅ Immediate</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Builder Framework</strong></td><td>➖ Fork &#x26; Clone: Golang</td><td>❌ Complex with dependecy to Tendermint</td><td>❌ Complex with dependecy to Tendermint</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Chain Resources</strong></td><td>✅ Exponential: Each new chain is additive</td><td>✅ Independent</td><td>❌ Limited: single chain</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Builder Success</strong></td><td>✅ L0 Premium</td><td>✅ L1 Premium</td><td>❌ Typically lower FDV than sovereign L1s</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Native Interoperability</strong></td><td>✅ Permissionless</td><td>➖2 Way through IBC</td><td>➖2 Way through IBC</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Builder Decentralization</strong></td><td>✅ Full/Progressive</td><td>✅ Full</td><td>❌ Semi</td></tr></tbody></table>


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