I have been traversing the Cosmos Ecosystem since April 2022 and absolutely love what it stands for. Every day, I keep on diving deep into the ecosystem, which is flourishing with new blockchains, dApps, DeFi farms, new tokens, NFTs, and more.

One thing that really keeps this entire ecosystem from shooting to maybe #2 — #3 crypto projects in the world, is the lack of new money flowing in. But, then again the entire ecosystem is roughly only 2 years old. But, as a user of the ecosystem who believes in its future, I feel like it is one of my duties to spread the news.

I have written quite a few articles about the Cosmos Ecosystem and the different blockchains it hosts. But, I have never broken down the fundamentals.

One of the primary confusions, when I began exploring the Cosmos Ecosystem, was its different names. I was used to seeing independent blockchains such as Bitcoin or Ethereum or Solana.

So, coming to the Cosmos Ecosystem and seeing Cosmos Hub, Osmosis Zone, Evmos, and more names being thrown around was a lot to digest.

So, let’s take a look at what is what.

Cosmos Ecosystem vs Cosmos Hub

As confusing as these names may sound, the difference is astronomical (yes, space-themed pun).

What is the Cosmos Ecosystem?

The Cosmos Ecosystem is the name used for the entire collection of blockchains within the Cosmos network.

So, one very important thing to note about the Cosmos Ecosystem is that it is a collection of blockchains.

Traditional blockchains such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Solana are individual blockchains. There are no other blockchains within these ecosystems.

For example, Solana’s ecosystem consists of its primary Solana blockchain and hundreds of decentralized applications built on it.

In the case of the Cosmos, there are dozens of blockchains thriving within the Cosmos Ecosystem.

All the Cosmos blockchains (at least 99%) are built on the Cosmos SDK and Tendermint Core. Imagine these being the foundation of the entire ecosystem.

So, what’s the benefit?

The benefit is that the individual blockchains can communicate or transfer data between each other. A coin of one blockchain can be easily transferred onto another blockchain (that supports the said coin) to be used on that blockchain.

So, what’s the big deal?

Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) or the transfer of data between different blockchains is as revolutionary as the Internet in its early stages.

This is why the Cosmos Ecosystem is dubbed the Internet of Blockchains!

If not for inter-blockchain communication, crypto users have to use crypto bridges to transfer assets between different blockchains. Crypto bridges are most probably the weakest link in the crypto world. They have been hacked countless times and stolen hundreds of millions of dollars.

Inter-blockchain communication solves this problem — which gives the Cosmos Ecosystem a massive advantage over the OG blockchains such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Solana.

What is the Cosmos Hub?

The Cosmos Hub is one blockchain within the Cosmos Ecosystem.

Why did it steal the ecosystem’s name? Well, Cosmos Hub is the OG blockchain of the Cosmos Ecosystem.

Look at the image above. The yellow circle marks the entire Cosmos Ecosystem. All of these little icons represent an individual blockchain.

All the tiny lines linking these icons show transactions happening between different blockchains. This is the true beauty of inter-blockchain communication (IBC).

Highlighted in green is the Cosmos Hub — a singular blockchain within the entire ecosystem. Its native token is called the ATOM. Just as how atoms make up our universe, the ATOM token has paved the way for all the other blockchains to come up within the ecosystem.

As of today (Oct 1, 2022), the Cosmos Hub or the ATOM token has a market capitalization of $3.6 billion. This puts the token at #23 among the highest market cap tokens.

As of today (Oct 1, 2022), the Cosmos Ecosystem (all blockchains combined) has a market capitalization of $12 billion.

I hope this article helps you to clear out any confusion between the Cosmos Ecosystem vs the Cosmos Hub. If it did, make sure to share it with your friends.

If not, drop a comment below with your questions and I will get back to you.

Connect with the Cosmos Network for more information.