Cosmos Labs has initiated an urgent search for external economists to redesign the ATOM token due to the pricing issues this crypto asset is facing.
According to the company, Cosmos SDK has become a widely used framework for launching blockchains. This includes projects related to large companies and government initiatives that are often used as examples of the interest of 'Fortune 500' companies.
Why does Cosmos want to renew the design of ATOM?
However, since the software is open-source, these users can deploy independent and sovereign blockchains without paying fees or royalties to the Cosmos Hub.
As a result, these institutional developers can use the core technology of the network without having to hold or interact with ATOM.
The blockchain development company wants to change this by promoting a new “revenue-driven model.” This approach seeks to monetize both on-chain and off-chain usage.
“The objective of this research effort is not to design a new tokenomic model from scratch, but to provide research and design support for a revenue-based model that combines various sources of potential ATOM revenue with changes in the supply and inflation dynamics of ATOM. In the end, the utility of ATOM will be driven by these fees, whether through ATOM buybacks, ATOM staking rewards, other mechanisms, or a combination of them,” it indicated.
Meanwhile, the initiative also marks a strategic shift for the Cosmos ecosystem. Cosmos Labs acknowledged that Interchain Security, the shared security framework that was previously touted as the main value driver of ATOM, “failed to find market fit.”
“Interchain Security is in the process of being withdrawn and the economic architecture of the Hub remains quite separate from the main activity of the Cosmos ecosystem. It currently does not have a comprehensive fee model, aside from transaction fees that occur on the network,” the company explained.
Therefore, this redesign effort aims for economic models closer to enterprise software standards, including usage-based fees and consumption, rather than “renting” for security.
However, the implementation of any proposal will face significant political limitations. Any relevant change must be approved by the Cosmos Hub DAO, which has historically rejected measures seen as centralizing.
Cosmos Labs mentioned a previous proposal to reduce inflation that was approved by a narrow margin of 3%. This decision triggered a significant withdrawal of locked assets, showing how sensitive the token economy remains within the community.
Taking this into account, the company expressed that any successful proposal must detail possible revenue streams, analyze supply-side constraints, and offer practical recommendations aligned with the interests of the participants. The call for proposals (RFP) closes on January 15.
On the other hand, this move comes as ATOM has fallen nearly 76% this year to reach a five-year low of about 2.1 dollars.
This price performance reflects strong pressure across the ecosystem, even as the Cosmos software stack has gained greater recognition among blockchain developers and institutional pilots.
