Shape the Future of AtomOne with GovGen
Exciting news! The GovGen governance-only chain intended to help shape the potential outcome of AtomOne has launched. GovGen is a governance-only chain, distinct from the AtomOne hub chain, that aims to help define and finalize the constitution of AtomOne before AtomOne itself launches. The intended purpose of GovGen is only for sentiment assessment of competing proposals relating to the genesis constitution of AtomOne.
GOVGEN tokens were distributed according to the snapshot taken at block #18010657 (November 25, 2023, at 21:00 UTC) on Cosmos Hub to “NO” and “NO_WITH_VETO'' voters on Prop 848 (or those who inherited a dissenting vote via delegation), subject to certain requirements, limitations, and exclusions to qualified GovGen launch validators. Cosmos Hub accounts that voted “YES,” “ABSTAIN,” did not vote, did not inherit a dissenting vote via delegation, or did not meet the specific requirements to become a GovGen genesis launch validator did not receive GOVGEN tokens in this distribution.
The GovGen chain software is a fork of the current running version of the Cosmos Hub with minimal modifications (for example, SendTX is disabled). The GOVGEN token is not transferable and is intended never to be transferable, never to pay dividends or distributions of any sort, and to be used for governance only.
A Community-Led Initiative
There are over 7,000 Cosmos Hub accounts that voted “NO” or “NO_WITH_VETO,” and more than 180,000 Cosmos Hub accounts that inherited a “NO” or “NO_WITH_VETO” vote from delegation on prop 848. This community of “NO” and “NO_WITH_VETO” voters can come together, submit proposals, and vote on their preferences over what AtomOne should be. As such, AtomOne is intended to be a community-led, decentralized initiative from the start.
Everyone who participates in the GovGen initiative will become the founding members of the AtomOne chain. With the help of GovGen, the anticipated AtomOne Proof-of-Stake network could benefit from one of the potentially most robust, decentralized decision-making processes.
Who Can Support GovGen
With the goal of ensuring alignment with the original values of the Cosmos Hub—security, scalability, and decentralization—throughout the creation of AtomOne, only those “NO” or “NO_WITH_VETO” voters on Cosmos Hub prop 848 may participate in governance through the GOVGEN governance token, which is non-transferable and usable for voting only.
GovGen may also include certain qualified validators who are philosophically aligned with the mission and values of AtomOne and who wish to support the GovGen initiative, as long as they didn’t vote “YES” on prop 848 (with the exception of those validators who ATONE for their vote by publicly renouncing their “YES” vote and clearly demonstrating alignment, subject to additional eligibility criteria). Eligibility to receive GOVGEN tokens or to serve as a validator is subject to certain additional requirements, restrictions, and exclusions.
If you are interested and believe that you meet the requirements specified above, you may be able to become a validator on the GovGen chain. Please submit your validator PR in the dedicated validator repository. The initial Genesis for the GovGen chain has been published, but you can still create your validator using your GOVGEN tokens and validate on the chain post-launch.
GovGen Launch
The initial GovGen Genesis file was published on Tuesday, February 20, 2024, and was updated on Monday, February 26, with the newly submitted and qualified GenTX transactions. You can find the Genesis file in the GovGen Genesis repository. In the Readme, you should also find further information on all the governance module modifications made for GovGen.
About AtomOne
Based on the “NO” and “NO_WITH_VETO” voter community’s expressed views concerning proposal 848, AtomOne is a proposed fork of the Cosmos Hub (a.k.a. Gaia) that aims to complement the broader Cosmos ecosystem with a security-conscious constitutional and minimal IBC/ICS hub. AtomOne is intended to conserve the founding vision of the Cosmos Hub. It is anticipated that AtomOne contributors should uphold the original values of the Cosmos Hub—security, scalability, and decentralization—and agree that hub minimalism enforced by a written constitution is the best way to ensure a secure platform for hosting all blockchain applications.
Proposed AtomOne Core Features
This is not intended to be an exhaustive list and is expected to be subject to GovGen input
- Hub Minimalism: AtomOne’s token design, core shards, growth plan, and responsibilities could be designed to align with a true minimal hub. Smart contract systems and VMs may not live on the Hub but, instead, on consumer shard chains to preserve utmost security and efficiency.
- Scaled Security: AtomOne is intended to scale permissionless blockchain applications for billions of users by leveraging a future optimized permissionless version of ICS (scaled security) for efficient intra-hub communication without sacrificing security and leveraging Linux container technology.
- Self-Reinforcing Constitution: AtomOne’s values are intended to be enshrined in a living constitution designed to reinforce itself while supporting innovative experiments in new chains that further fork from AtomOne.
- Fixed Validator Incentives: Validators are intended to be incentivized to secure ICS consumer chains and core shards through incentives memorialized in the AtomOne constitution, reflecting the goal that every validator is appropriately incentivized to run all consumer chains.
These proposed AtomOne design implementations are subject to change according to future input from the GovGen and AtomOne communities.
Why We Need AtomOne
The prop 848 vote results indicate that a significant minority in the Cosmos Hub community believe that the Cosmos Hub is increasingly vulnerable to factions representing divergent views on core aspects such as mission, token design, and security philosophy. The introduction of GovGen is based on the idea that the passing of prop 848 places ATOM on the path to becoming a monetary token. It marks a significant shift from the established design of the ATOM staking token that has kept the ecosystem secure since its inception. As a result, many in the Cosmos Hub community believe a security-conscious constitutional and minimal IBC/ICS hub is needed. This is discussed in detail in the blog post, NWV to Prop 848 – ATOM Must NOT be Money. Minimizing the hub's risk profile has become an existential issue of the highest order.
The opposition to Prop 848, and the results of that vote, indicate that a significant minority of the Cosmos Hub community believes that an IBC-token-pegging and ICS-hosting hub should never be secured by a monetary token. Monetary tokens are widely distributed by definition and do not adequately capture the decentralized intelligence needed to maintain a secure hub or innovative edge. A monetary token may also leave the governance of the chain more open to a hostile takeover by anyone with sufficient capital due to its liquidity. It is anticipated that the AtomOne Constitution will provide that the ATONE native staking token should never be used as money. Contributors should be highly aligned with the vision of a minimal IBC-token-pegging and ICS-hosting hub that maintains two-thirds of the stake bonded to prevent adversarial takeover and preserve its long-term security and sustainability.
AtomOne and Cosmos Hub
AtomOne is not intended to compete with the Cosmos Hub; rather, it is intended to offer a bridge to make the Cosmos Hub more secure while aiming to implement improved technical designs to guide its future development. AtomOne contributions may also be upstream-merged to the Cosmos Hub while seeking to steer the Cosmos Hub toward safer designs. While AtomOne is expected to be designed with the intention of preserving hub minimalism, the to-be-designed AtomOne ecosystem could also support innovative solutions, such as smart contract systems deployed on ICS-secured shard chains.
Why Support AtomOne and GovGen
- Alignment: You agree with the proposed founding principles of AtomOne and preserving Cosmos’ original values of security, scalability, and decentralization
- Governance Involvement: You want to be involved in potentially shaping the governance decisions of AtomOne and helping guide the Cosmos Hub community
- Supporting Innovation: You support the development of innovative solutions in a safe and potentially flexible environment
- Contribution Recognition: Certain initial validators who participate in the GovGen chain launch may be considered for contribution recognition based on their operations and conduct on GovGen at the community’s discretion
Resources and Useful Links:
- Public Calendar for all future community meetings. Add yours here: http://bit.ly/govgen
- AtomOne Discord channel: https://discord.gg/atomone
- AtomOne GitHub: https://github.com/atomone-hub
- Validator repo: https://github.com/atomone-hub/validator
- GovGen Chain repo: https://github.com/atomone-hub/govgen