Sustainability of the Cosmos Network: A Statement from the Interchain Foundation
On Monday, February 3, statements were made on Twitter about Jae Kwon in his role as CEO of All In Bits (dba Tendermint Inc). While it is widely recognized that Jae is a brilliant technical product visionary who co-founded the Cosmos project with Ethan Buchman in 2016, assertions were made that Jae has become an obstacle and distraction to the Cosmos engineering effort at All in Bits. Jae and Ethan currently serve as President and Vice-President of the Interchain Foundation, respectively.
All in Bits (“AIB”) has been contracted by the Interchain Foundation (“ICF”) since 2017 to build the software necessary to launch the Cosmos Network. All In Bits was crucial in bringing both the software and the Cosmos community to life, and the launch of the network would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the team members at AIB.
Since the network launch in March 2019, the Cosmos community has continued to grow, mature, and expand. We’ve seen entities like Agoric, Regen and others become core contributors to the Cosmos engineering effort, while Figment, Chorus One and others have taken on leadership roles in governance and community coordination. We applaud these efforts and continue to be amazed at the incredible commitment and talent of the Cosmos community. For many of the core engineers at AIB, Cosmos is a mission more than a place to work. Their passion for the project and its values has allowed them to push forward with development despite uncertainty about AIB’s governance. Their dedication and resilience is inspiring.
The number one priority of the Interchain Foundation is to ensure the long term stability, security, and growth of the Cosmos Network, which includes the stability and security of Cosmos’ most valuable assets: its contributors. The ICF is committed to ensuring all major Cosmos contributors at AIB have a supportive place to continue their work, to grow, take risks, experiment, falter, and ultimately succeed.
Operations at the ICF will not be impacted by these recent events. Multiple people are involved in decision making and financial management at the ICF. Effective controls are in place so that no individual can act unilaterally. The ICF will continue to operate its funding program, manage its treasury, and conduct business as usual. The funding program has deployed funds to over 50 projects and is continuing to see high impact results. We expect the program to continue its operations for years to come, and we are planning some improvements to incorporate more community involvement in funding decisions. We also have some exciting developments with respect to a significant expansion of the Cosmos R&D effort, to be announced soon.
The Cosmos Network belongs to everyone now; it is not owned, controlled, or operated by any single party. The Interchain Foundation will continue to support this decentralized and resilient community according to its mandate. We are committed to the sustainability of the Cosmos ecosystem and are excited by the leadership roles so many community members have taken on, as well as the outstanding R&D efforts we’ve seen to date.
We are monitoring the situation with AIB closely, and will provide updates on any changes or actions as things progress, though we expect this to be a short term distraction from the very bright future ahead for Cosmos in 2020.
