A Deep Dive Into the Cosmos Network and the Cosmos Ecosystem

## What Is Secret (SCRT)?

[Secret (SCRT)](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/secret/) is a privacy-oriented blockchain built on [Cosmos](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/cosmos/). Its [smart contracts](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/smart-contract) are called Secret Contracts and allow [DApps](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/decentralized-applications-dapps) to use private data on Secret, similar to how smart contracts operate on other blockchains. However, Secret Contracts transfer encrypted inputs into encrypted outputs without exposing data. This is made possible thanks to the encrypted contract states during the execution.

Data privacy is guaranteed by combining encryption protocols and key management within a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE). This allows Secret Contracts to compete for several privacy-related use cases that traditional blockchains have found difficult to accommodate. For instance, private voting mechanisms or credit scoring applications become possible since they do not expose sensitive user data on-chain with Secret. 

## Who Contributes to Secret?

Secret is supported by dozens of global organizations. The core development team is Israel-based SCRT Labs, whose mission is to create products and systems that accelerate the adoption of privacy-first, decentralized technologies. The CEO and founder of SCRT Labs is Guy Zyskind, a former MIT researcher who is one of the most highly-cited authors on blockchain privacy.

Another core organization is Secret Foundation. The Foundation’s mission is to _“advance privacy as a human right and public good; to empower individuals through development and use of decentralized technologies; to protect freedom and create more valuable systems by eliminating data monopolies; and to build a sustainable network, foundation, and community that will work to instill these core values around the world.”_ Secret Foundation was founded in 2017 by Tor Bair, a US-based entrepreneur and MIT alumni that has been advising several other Fintech companies.

Other contributing organizations can be found on the [Secret Network website](https://scrt.network).

## What Makes Secret Unique?

Secret Network stands out with its focus on privacy and end-to-end encryption of data, something that blockchains like [Ethereum](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/) don’t offer. Developers are able to build solutions that protect data privacy without compromising usability, contributing to the network’s goal of advancing the adoption of privacy-first, decentralized applications. 

In contrast to other public blockchains, [node](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/node) operators on Secret utilize specialized hardware for running code in secure enclaves called Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs). In these TEEs, not even device administrators can access the information that is being decrypted. On the user’s end, the blockchain works as follows:

* Users send encrypted input to the network
* Validators (the Secret nodes) perform computations over encrypted data
* Proposing validator submits encrypted output
* Validators achieve consensus on the results
* Encrypted outputs and encrypted contract state are recorded on Secret Network

The functionality of the smart contracts is based on CosmWasm, the smart contracting platform of the Cosmos ecosystem. 

Secret’s potential use cases are manifold. For instance, digital content management platforms can use Secret to store a decryption key to the content. After a user pays, the Secret contract shares the decryption key, and the user receives their unique access key. With traditional blockchains, this is not possible since the data is publicly visible. 

Other examples are secret auctions and secret voting, which could make use of the encrypted bids and votes they can submit to a Secret Contract. In this scenario, the contract computing encrypted outputs can determine the winner without revealing the votes.

Finally, Secret can maintain privacy in decentralized finance with a permissionless economic system that offers economic opportunities for wealth generation that have not been possible before. 

## Related Pages:

Check out [Terra (LUNA)](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/terra-luna/) — a layer-one blockchain based on the LUNA token.

Check out [Polkadot (DOT)](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/polkadot-new/) — a blockchain that serves as the basis for other blockchains.

Read our [deep dive into layer-two solutions](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/how-to-use-layer-2-rollups-to-avoid-gas-fees).

Get the latest crypto news and latest trading insights with the [CoinMarketCap blog](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/categories/blog).


## How Many Secret (SCRT) Coins Are There in Circulation?

SCRT can be used for [staking](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/staking), voting, and paying network transaction fees. It is also necessary to operate a node in the network, with the validators receiving rewards and a share of the transaction fees from token swaps. Thanks to the [delegated proof-of-stake](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/delegated-proof-of-stake-dpos) system of Secret, non-node-operating token holders can delegate their SCRT to a validator to earn a share of the network rewards. SCRT also functions as a [governance token](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/governance-token).

The initial [total supply](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/total-supply) of SCRT was 170 million, distributed as follows:

* Community: 75 million
* Team: 36 million - vested between 2-4 years
* Treasury: 30 million
* Foundation: 1 million
* Inflation. 8 million

Secret targets an inflation rate of 15%, with a projected inflation rate of 20%, if less than 67% of the supply is staked, and a gradual increase to 7% when more than 67% is staked.

** **

## How Is the Secret Network Secured?

Secret uses a delegated proof-of-stake [consensus mechanism](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/consensus-mechanism) called Tendermint. Validators stake SCRT and receive SCRT from delegators in return for verifying transactions, ensuring the protocol is running, and maintaining blockchain security. Dishonest nodes can see their stake slashed.


## Where Can You Buy Secret (SCRT)?

SCRT is available on [Binance](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/binance/), [Mandala Exchange](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/mandala/), [Huobi Global](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/huobi-global/), [Gate.io](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/gate-io/), and [MEXC](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/mxc/).

If you want to learn more about how to start buying cryptocurrencies, you can read more in [our guide](https://coinmarketcap.com/how-to-buy-bitcoin/).

Binance

Secret

The first mainnet blockchain with data privacy by default for every app - 100x'ing the possibilities for DeFi and much more!

Kadena is a proof-of-work blockchain that combines the PoW consensus mechanism from Bitcoin with directed acyclic graph (DAG) principles to offer a scalable version of Bitcoin. Kadena claims it can provide the security of Bitcoin while being able to offer unparalleled throughput that makes the blockchain usable to enterprises and entrepreneurs alike. Kadena's unique infrastructure is decentralized and built for mass adoption because of its multi-chain approach.

Kadena promises industrial scalability that can support global financial systems and can be scaled as necessary. It also vows to remain energy-efficient at scale and deliver more transactions with the same energy input, another difference to Bitcoin. Moreover, Kadena offers crypto gas stations, which allow businesses to pay for their customers' gas fees and remove a massive pain point in adopting blockchains for business.

Kadena has already scaled its network from 10 to 20 blockchains and can do so again in the future, if necessary. This final addition to Kadena was its private Kuro layer-two blockchain, which supports up to 8,000 transactions per second across 500 nodes.

Kadena

Audius is a decentralized music streaming protocol initially built on POA network, but now living on Solana. Audius was launched to remedy the inefficiencies of the music industry, which is plagued by intransparent music rights ownership and intermediaries standing between artists and their audience.

Audius aims to align the interests of artists, fans, and node operators through its platform powered by its native AUDIO token. Artists can upload music, stored and distributed by content and discovery nodes, that fans can listen to for free. Currently, Audius rewards content creators through rewards like featuring in the weekly trending lists. In the future, it plans to integrate stablecoins for artists to offer paid content, as well as artist tokens that give fans the ability to access exclusive content, potentially cooperating with platforms like Rally.

Audius

Arweave is a decentralized storage network that seeks to offer a platform for the indefinite storage of data. Describing itself as "a collectively owned hard drive that never forgets," the network primarily hosts "the permaweb" — a permanent, decentralized web with a number of community-driven applications and platforms.

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Arweave.

The Arweave network uses a native cryptocurrency, AR, to pay "miners" to indefinitely store the network's information.

The project was first announced as Archain in August 2017, later rebranding to Arweave in February 2018 and officially launching in June 2018.

Arweave

Harmony is a blockchain platform designed to facilitate the creation and use of decentralized applications (DApps). The network aims to innovate the way decentralized applications work by focusing on random state sharding, which allows creating blocks in seconds.

According to the project’s website, Harmony is expected to introduce cross-shard contracts and a cross-chain infrastructure by the end of 2021.

Harmony

Moonbeam is an Ethereum-compatible smart contract parachain on Polkadot. Moonbeam makes it easy to use popular Ethereum developer tools to build or redeploy Solidity projects in a Substrate-based environment.

Moonbeam is much more than just an EVM implementation: it’s a highly specialized parachain that mirrors Ethereum’s Web3 RPC, accounts, keys, subscriptions, logs, and more. The Moonbeam platform extends the base Ethereum feature set with additional features such as on-chain governance, staking, and cross-chain integrations.

Moonbeam’s Ethereum compatibility is unmatched:

Minimal Changes: developers can use existing Solidity smart contracts right away, with no need to rewrite or reconfigure

Use Existing Developer Tools: connect popular tools like MetaMask, Hardhat, Waffle, Remix, and Truffle via a complete set of Web3 RPC endpoints. Use well-known Javascript libraries such as Web3.Js or Ethers.Js.

Unified Accounts, Addresses, and Signatures: use your existing Ethereum H160 accounts & ECDSA signatures to interact with Moonbeam

Tap into the Most Integrations on Polkadot: use existing oracles, bridges, wallets, and other tools that are already building on Moonbeam

Moonbeam provides integration and connectivity between Polkadot Parachains as well as with other chains such as Ethereum and Bitcoin via bridges. Moonbeam was started in 2019 by Derek Yoo of Pure Stake.

Moonbeam

Self-described as "Polkadot's wild cousin," Kusama is an experimental blockchain platform that is designed to provide a massively interoperable and scalable framework for developers.

Kusama is built on Substrate — a blockchain building kit developed by Parity Technologies. Kusama has almost the same codebase as Polkadot — one of the most successful interoperable blockchains.

By deploying on Kusama, fast-paced projects gain access to a highly scalable, interoperable sharded network, with features that are not yet available on Polkadot. To that end, Kusama describes itself as a “canary network.”

The platform is designed to provide a testbed for developers looking to innovate and deploy their own blockchain and can be used as a preparatory network before launching on Polkadot — though many projects opt to stick with Kusama for their final product.

Kusama benefits from a low barrier to entry for deploying parachains, low bond requirements for validators, and is most commonly used by early-stage startups and for experimentation.

Kusama

Osmosis (OSMO) is a decentralized exchange (DEX) for Cosmos, an ecosystem of sovereign, interoperable blockchains all connected trustlessly over IBC, the Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol. Osmosis also offers non-IBC assets bridged from the Ethereum and Polkadot ecosystems. Originally based on Balancer-style pools, Osmosis is moving to a more sustainable concentrated liquidity model that provides a superior trading and liquidity provision experience.

As an appchain DEX, Osmosis has greater control over the full blockchain stack than DEXs that must follow the code of a parent chain. This fine-grained control has enabled, for example, the development of Superfluid Staking, an improvement to Proof-of-Stake security. Superfluid staking allows the underlying OSMO in an LP position to add to chain security and earn staking rewards for doing so. The customizability of appchains also allows for the development of a transaction mempool shielded with threshold encryption, which will greatly reduce harmful MEV on Osmosis.

Osmosis's vision is to build a cross-chain native DEX and trading suite that connects all chains over IBC, including Ethereum and Bitcoin. To build out the trading functionalities, Osmosis has invited external developers to create a bespoke DEX ecosystem that includes lending, credit, margin, fiat on-ramps, Defi strategy vaults, NFTs, stablecoins, and more – all the functionalities of a centralized exchange and more, plus the trust-minimization of decentralized finance.

Osmosis

In a nutshell, Cosmos bills itself as a project that solves some of the “hardest problems” facing the blockchain industry. It aims to offer an antidote to “slow, expensive, unscalable and environmentally harmful” proof-of-work protocols, like those used by Bitcoin, by offering an ecosystem of connected blockchains.

The project’s other goals include making blockchain technology less complex and difficult for developers thanks to a modular framework that demystifies decentralized apps. Last but not least, an Interblockchain Communication protocol makes it easier for blockchain networks to communicate with each other — preventing fragmentation in the industry.

Cosmos’ origins can be dated back to 2014, when Tendermint, a core contributor to the network, was founded. In 2016, a white paper for Cosmos was published — and a token sale was held the following year. ATOM tokens are earned through a hybrid proof-of-stake algorithm, and they help to keep the Cosmos Hub, the project’s flagship blockchain, secure. This cryptocurrency also has a role in the network’s governance.

Cosmos

Oasis is the pioneering layer 1 blockchain designed to enable scalability and confidential compute. Oasis is home to Sapphire, the first confidential EVM that empowers Web3 and Decentralized AI developers to build dApps with Smart Privacy natively on Oasis or other EVM-based chains.

ROSE is the native token of the Oasis Network used for gas fees, staking, delegation and governance. With a unique layered architecture, Oasis presents the optimal building and execution environment for DeFi, AI, GameFi, NFTs, the metaverse, data tokenization and DAO governance. Oasis also has native support for rollups at the consensus layer.

Oasis

THORChain is a decentralized liquidity protocol that allows users to easily exchange cryptocurrency assets across a range of networks including Bitcoin and Ethereum without losing full custody of their assets in the process.

With THORChain, users can simply swap one asset for another in a permissionless setting, without needing to rely on order books to source liquidity. Instead, market prices are maintained through the ratio of assets in a pool (see automated market maker.

The native utility token of the THORChain platform is RUNE. This is used as the base currency in the THORChain ecosystem and is also used for platform governance and security as part of THORChain's Sybil resistance mechanisms — since THORChain nodes must commit a minimum of 300k RUNE to participate in its rotating consensus process.

THORChain was funded through an initial DEX offering (IDO) which launched through the Binance DEX in July 2019. Its single-chain chaosnet launched in April 2021, the multi-chain upgrade was launched in April 2021 and Mainnet is now live as of Jun 2022..
Learn more here

THORChain

Kava is a Layer-1 blockchain that combines the speed and interoperability of Cosmos with the developer power of Ethereum.

Kava was built from the ground up to optimize its resources for protocol growth, strengthened by its Cosmos EVM technology that enables maximum scalability, speed, security, and developer support.

Builders on Kava earn a share of Kava Rise's $750M developer incentive fund via the program's blockchain-based distribution method, designed to reward the top protocols every month based on usage.

Kava

Fantom is a directed acyclic graph (DAG) smart contract platform providing decentralized finance (DeFi) services to developers using its own bespoke consensus algorithm.

Together with its in-house token FTM, Fantom aims to solve problems associated with smart-contract platforms, specifically transaction speed, which developers say they have reduced to under two seconds.

The Fantom Foundation, which oversees the Fantom product offering, was originally created in 2018, with the launch of OPERA, Fantom’s mainnet, coming in December 2019.

Fantom is an open-source decentralized smart contract platform for DApps and digital assets that was created as an alternative to Ethereum. Fantom has the goal of overcoming the limitations of previous generation blockchains and balancing three components: scalability, security and decentralization. The project offers a set of tools to simplify the process of integrating existing DApps, as well as a detailed staking reward system and built-in DeFi instruments.

Fantom is a Layer-1 blockchain that uses a scratch-built consensus mechanism and independent consensus layer, Lachesis, to facilitate DeFi and related services on the basis of smart contracts. Lachesis provides security for other layers as well, including Opera, Fantom's EVM-compatible smart contract chain. The long-playing mission of the project is to “grant compatibility between all transaction bodies around the world.”

One of Fantom's key strengths is its performance and efficient transaction processing, namely thousands of transactions per second, where transactions are settled in 1-2 seconds, and the cost is fractions of a cent per transaction. As a result, Fantom provides higher scalability but at a lower cost.

The ecosystem is based on two main technologies: Lachesis protocol and Opera.

The Lachesis protocol is the core consensus layer that secures the Fantom network by providing both transaction speed and security.

Lachesis is an aBFT consensus engine that uses a directed acyclic graph (DAG) algorithm. How it works: network data can be processed at different times, and the network filters the participants, allowing only one third, which are allocated due to erroneous or malicious behavior, without compromising network processes.

Fantom's Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerant (aBFT) Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism maintains the efficiency of the entire network, its design provides security at maximum speed. Fantom developers emphasize that the PoS mechanism is a leaderless phenomenon — there are no leaders of blocks and participants, and anyone can join (or leave) the network of nodes at a convenient moment.

The key qualities of Lachesis are: asynchronous, leaderless, Byzantine fault-tolerant, and near-instant finality.

As for Opera, it's an application development layer or Fantom's mainnet deployment platform, permissionless and open-source hosting DApps. Thanks to EVM integration and support for the Solidity programming language, Fantom has a full set of smart contract capabilities, which allows users to seamlessly interact with Ethereum platforms while maintaining the advantage of Fantom's transaction efficiency.

The Fantom Foundation concluded that removing block leaders improves network security, so Opera uses a PoS model and leaderless validators (validators do not determine which blocks are valid).

In addition to being a fast, secure and cheap payment platform that enables to make fast and secure payments at minimal cost, Fantom also features on-chain governance where users vote with FTM tokens (one token equals one vote). Of the features: users have the right to express the degree of agreement / disagreement on a scale from 0 to 4.

FTM is the native utility in-house PoS token of Fantom that powers the ecosystem and is applied for payments, network fees, staking, and governance. FTM forms the backbone of transactions, and allows fee collection and staking activities, along with the user rewards the latter represents.

Fantom

Enjin Coin is a project of Enjin, a company that provides an ecosystem of interconnected, blockchain-based gaming products. Enjin's flagship offering is the Enjin Network, a social gaming platform through which users can create websites and clans, chat, and host virtual item stores.

Enjin allows game developers to tokenize in-game items on the Ethereum blockchain. It uses Enjin Coin, an ERC-20 token, to back the digital assets issued using its platform, meaning that items can be bought, sold and traded with real-world value.

Enjin Coin was first announced in July 2017, and it launched on the Ethereum mainnet in June 2018.

Enjin Coin (ENJ) is a digital store of value used to back the value of blockchain assets like non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Every asset minted with the Enjin Platform contains ENJ, a minting resource which is locked inside NFTs and removed from circulation. Minting blockchain assets with ENJ provides a variety of benefits to creators and users:

Infuses them with a reserve value

Ensures their transparency and scarcity

Gives them instant liquidity

Provides utility in games and apps

Anti-inflationary

Enjin's "melting" functionality allows users to destroy their blockchain assets at any time to retrieve the ENJ value from within.

The Enjin blockchain ecosystem aims to offer software products that make it easy for everyone to develop, trade, monetize, and market with blockchain.

Founded in 2009, Enjin has roots in the gaming industry, with the company’s first product, a gaming community platform called the Enjin Network, growing to 20 million users over the course of a decade.

In 2017 following an ICO, Enjin established itself as a leading blockchain ecosystem developer, building a suite of software products that enable anyone to easily mint, manage, trade, distribute, and integrate blockchain assets.

Enjin’s co-founder Witek Radomski wrote the code for one of the first ever non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and is also the co-author of the ERC-1155 Ethereum token standard.

Built on top of an on-chain infrastructure, the Enjin ecosystem enables game developers and businesses of all sizes to use tokenized digital assets as part of their acquisition, retention, engagement, and monetization strategies. The Enjin ecosystem is fueled by Enjin Coin (ENJ), a cryptocurrency used to back the value of blockchain assets.

Enjin Coin

Moonriver is an Ethereum-compatible, smart-contract parachain on Kusama. It is intended to be a companion network to Moonbeam, where it will provide a permanently incentivized canary network. New code will ship to Moonriver first, where it can be tested and verified under real economic conditions. Once proven, the same code will ship to Moonbeam on Polkadot.

It does this by providing a full EVM implementation, a Web3-compatible API, and bridges that connect Moonriver to existing Ethereum networks.

This allows developers to deploy existing Solidity smart contracts and DApp frontends to Moonriver with minimal changes.

Moonriver

Curve is a decentralized exchange for stablecoins that uses an automated market maker (AMM) to manage liquidity.

Launched in January 2020, Curve is now synonymous with the decentralized finance (DeFi) phenomenon, and has seen significant growth in the second half of 2020.

In August, Curve launched a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), with CRV as its in-house token. The DAO uses Ethereum-based creation tool Aragon to connect multiple smart contracts used for users’ deposited liquidity. Issues such as governance, however, differ from Aragon in their weighting and other respects.

Curve DAO Token

LRC is the Ethereum-based cryptocurrency token of Loopring, an open protocol designed for the building of decentralized crypto exchanges.

In 2020, the average daily trading volume of the entire cryptocurrency market fluctuated in the approximate range of $50-$200 million. Most of that trading is conducted on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges — online platforms operated by private companies that store users’ funds and facilitate the matching of buy and sell orders.

Such platforms have a number of downsides common to all of them, so a new type of exchange — decentralized— has emerged to try to alleviate these disadvantages. However, fully decentralized exchanges are not without their own flaws.

Loopring’s purported goal is to combine centralized order matching with decentralized on-blockchain order settlement into a hybridized product that will take the best aspects of both centralized and decentralized exchanges.

LRC tokens became available to the public during an initial coin offering (ICO) in August 2017, while the Loopring protocol was first deployed on Ethereum mainnet in December 2019.

Loopring

MultiversX is a blockchain protocol that offers true horizontal scalability by using all aspects of sharding (Network, Transaction & State). The project describes itself as a technology ecosystem for the new internet, which includes decentralized finance, real world assets and the Metaverse. Its smart contracts execution platform is reportedly capable of up to 100,000 transactions per second, 6-second latency and a $0.002 transaction cost.

MultiversX is governed and secured through the EGLD token. EGLD, or Electronic Gold, is MultiversX's native token. It acts as a store of value currency to pay for network usage. The coin also serves as a medium of exchange between platform users and validators. Users pay transaction fees in EGLD and validators participate in the consensus process.

EGLD allows developers to deploy smart contracts, protocols, and dApps on the platform. It empowers participants to perform any network action. Through staking and validation rewards, as well as transaction fees, EGLD manages the MultiversX network. Plus, EGLD is endowed with the functionality of a governance token, so its holders can vote on network decisions.

MultiversX

Mina Protocol is a minimal “succinct blockchain” built to curtail computational requirements in order to run DApps more efficiently. Mina has been described as the world’s lightest blockchain since its size is designed to remain constant despite growth in usage. Furthermore, it remains balanced in terms of security and decentralization. The project was rebranded from Coda Protocol to Mina in October 2020.

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Mina Protocol.

The Mina network has a size of only 22 KB, which is miniscule when compared to Bitcoin’s 300 GB blockchain.