How to get started with Cosmos
This is a guide on getting started with the Cosmos ecosystem, specifically the Cosmos Hub. After this article, you’ll be able to access dApps on various blockchains building on Cosmos with ease.
For an introduction to Cosmos, click here.
For our favorite blockchains built on Cosmos, click here.
Access
To start with Cosmos’ ecosystem, you can begin by buying ATOM, which is Cosmos’ native token for its Hub.
It is available on major exchanges such as Binance, Kraken, and FTX. You can find the complete list of all the exchanges where you can buy ATOM.
Wallet
Once you have acquired some ATOM, you can send them to a personal wallet to interact with the various dApps on Cosmos.
The leading hot wallet for Cosmos/IBC currently in use is Keplr. With the Keplr WebApp, you can view your assets across the IBC ecosystem with a simple dashboard, and delegate your assets for staking in the Keplr WebApp.
However, if you want to interact with dApps across the IBC ecosystem, you need the Keplr Chrome Extension, which can be found here.
One more thing: If you have bought ATOM from an exchange, the chain that you will be depositing your coins into is called Cosmos Hub, and your address should look like “cosmosxxxxxxxx”.
Always make absolutely sure that you and you alone have access to your wallet’s private key and/or your seed phrase (also called a mnemonic password) This is the key to unlocking your wallet. We recommend writing your keys down twice and storing the documents securely or storing the keys in an encrypted, secure password management system.
Using the ecosystem
Now that you have some ATOMs in your wallet, we can now start using dApps that are built on the various blockchains in the Cosmos ecosystem.
But first, you need to swap your ATOM to the various assets, and the best DEX for that is Osmosis. To do this, you need to “deposit” your assets from Cosmos Hub to Osmosis, and this is easily done by going to the assets page on Osmosis, then clicking “deposit” on ATOM.
Once you’ve done that, you can then swap around and withdraw your assets to the various chains if necessary.
For example, if you’re looking to explore the EVMOS ecosystem, you’d swap ATOM to EVMOS on Osmosis, then withdraw it to the EVMOS chain using the same method you used to deposit your ATOM from Cosmos Hub to Osmosis.
To discover our favorite blockchains built on Cosmos, click here.
Ecosystem Insights
Currently, there are about 49 zones or different blockchains that are built on Cosmos, of which, about 20 are active with IBC transfers with the leading zone being Osmosis (understandable since it is a DEX).
With Map of Zones, you can check all of the various blockchains built on Cosmos, and look at which blockchains that are built on Cosmos interest you.
With Mintscan, you are also able to look at the various transactions happening across the Interchain (not limited to just Cosmos Hub) to see exactly what people are buying, selling, and minting.
And that is it! The Interchain is vast, and there’s a lot of exploration to be done. In our next article, we will be going through some of our favorite dApps from the various blockchains built on Cosmos.
About Flagship
Flagship is an easy-to-use DeFi platform. We provide you access to early investment opportunities across emerging crypto sectors through our cross-chain ecosystem of decentralized funds and a network of experts.
- Join our Discord to be part of our active community and discover new assets and opportunities
- Check out our website and whitepaper here
- Get in touch with the team
We’d love to have you on board!
