How Does Polkadot Compare And Compete Against Cosmos?
Cosmos and Polkadot are among cryptocurrencies that have attracted massive interest from crypto investors due to their unique utilities. The two digital tokens come with an interoperability feature enabling different blockchain networks to connect. In addition, they provide developers with a platform to build on top of the platform.
About Polkadot and Cosmos
Polkadot is a multi-chain application environment created in 2016 by Petr Czaban and Dr. Gavin Wood, one of the Ethereum co-founders. The open-source blockchain protocol connects different blockchains into a single network. Polkadot supports both private permissionless blockchain and open, permissioned public blockchain. The current DOT to USD exchange rate now stands at 25.5 USD.
On the other hand, Cosmos is a decentralized network parallel blockchain launched by Ethan Buchman and Jae Kwon in 2014. The POS blockchain network aims to create a network infrastructure that allows the transmission of data and tokens without the need for a central platform. The current ATOM to USD exchange rate now is 22.6 USD.
To understand the distinction between the two blockchains networks, we will explore the differences in governance, models, and other features. Let’s get started.
1. Interoperability
Interoperability is the accessibility of data across various networks. A use case would be using an Ethereum contract to complete avalanche transactions using the Polkadot network. The design of inter-blockchain communication is quite different in Polkadot and Cosmos.
Polkadot enables transfers of data and assets across different blockchain networks. It supports transfer tokens and other types of communication between two parachains. On the other hand, Cosmos focuses on transferring assets between chains.
Cosmo and Polkadot also differ in how they handle their interchain communication security. Polkadot uses two security approaches. The first is shared security which involves bringing security of two parachain with varying security levels to a uniform level. For instance, Ethereum security is a notch higher than Avalanche. Polkadot secures interchain communication between the two digital tokens.
The other method involves using fishermen to roll back the whole transaction if an invalid block is identified. On the other hand, Cosmos has validators to ensure that malicious activities on a zone do not affect the entire network.
Polkadot passes arbitrary messages to each other through a cross-consensus message passing format (XCM). Cosmos does not have a mechanism for sending arbitrary messages. It uses inter-blockchain communication (IBC) chain protocol to pass tokens to access different zones.
