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Shape the Future of AtomOne with GovGen

GovGen governance-only chain is distinct from the AtomOne hub chain and aims to help define and finalize the constitution of AtomOne before AtomOne itself launches.
Shape the Future of AtomOne with GovGen

Exciting news! The GovGen governance-only chain intended to help shape the outcome of AtomOne is planned to launch on Tuesday, February 27, 2024, at 6 a.m. PST (Tuesday, 2 p.m. UTC), with a pre-launch call for final questions and discussions happening on Monday, February 26, at 6 a.m. PST (Monday, 2 p.m. UTC), 24 hours before the anticipated launch (certain relevant links can be found at the bottom of the page).

If you’re a validator who wants to take part in GovGen, the application instructions are located at (https://github.com/atomone-hub/validator/tree/main/govgen-1) and your GenTX should be submitted at (https://github.com/atomone-hub/validator/tree/main/govgen-1/gentx).

The initial communicated deadline for submission was Friday, February 23, at 5 p.m. PST (Saturday, 1 a.m. UTC). However, the term has been extended until Saturday, February 24, at 5 p.m. PST (Sunday, 1 a.m. UTC). If you haven’t already, make sure to also register your validator by creating a validator PR here. The ability for a validator to take part in GovGen will be subject to certain eligibility criteria and restrictions.

What Is GovGen?

GovGen is intended to be 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 GOVGEN token is intended to be distributed to all ATOM holders who voted (or inherited via delegation) a “NO” or “NO_WITH_VETO” vote on Cosmos Hub proposal 848. Cosmos Hub accounts that voted “YES,” “ABSTAIN,” did not vote or did not inherit a “NO” or “NO_WITH_VETO” vote via delegation on the aforementioned proposal will not receive GOVGEN tokens. The intended purpose of GovGen is only for sentiment assessment of competing proposals in relation to the genesis constitution of AtomOne.

The GovGen chain software is expected to be a fork of the current running version of Cosmos Hub with minimal modifications (for example, SendTX is disabled). The GOVGEN token will not be transferable and is intended never to be transferable, never to pay dividends or distributions of any sort and to be used for governance only. Find further details in the GovGen launch section.

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” or “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 what may be one of the 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 have ATONEd 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 expected to be subject to certain additional requirements, restrictions and exclusions.

If you are interested and believe that you meet the requirements specified above, please submit your request for participation through a PR in the validator repository and send your GenTX by Saturday, February 24 at 5 p.m. PST (Sunday 1 a.m. UTC). If you qualify as a validator but don’t have any GOVGEN tokens, your validator account may be allocated a small number of GOVGEN tokens to pay for transaction fees and to stake a minimal amount upon launch.

GovGen Launch

The initial GovGen Genesis file was published on Tuesday, February 20, and can be found in the GovGen Genesis repository. By Monday, we expect to update the GovGen Genesis file with the newly submitted and qualified GenTX transactions. In the Readme, you should be able to find all the scripts you need to derive the Genesis file yourself, as well as further information on all the governance module modifications made for GovGen.

Remember, validator applications to be included in the GovGen Genesis close at the end of this week, so be sure to send your GenTX by Saturday 24 at 5 p.m. PST (Sunday 1 a.m. UTC).

About AtomOne

Based on “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 (not intended to be an exhaustive list, and expected to be subject to GovGen input)

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 and 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, indicates 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 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 it’s 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 also could support innovative solutions, such as smart contract systems deployed on ICS-secured shard chains.

Why Support AtomOne and GovGen

Essential Timeline

Disclaimer:

Any mention of AtomOne in this post refers to the decentralized AtomOne community and anticipated hub chain. AiB reserves all rights to the term/mark “AtomOne,” but the software and documents that we publish may be used by others via the copyleft license to launch any fork of any chain. The GovGen governance chain may choose to adopt a different name for the AtomOne hub.

This post is not, and is not intended to be, an offer of tokens or securities.

Eligibility to participate in GovGen, to receive any GOVGEN tokens or to serve as a GovGen validator is expected to be subject to additional qualifications, restrictions and exclusions. Importantly, to the extent that one is determined to be an eligible participate in GovGen, to receive any GOVGEN tokens or to serve as a GovGen validator, that does not necessarily indicate that one will satisfy eligibility requirements to participate in [any other existing or proposed future project or initiative related or not to GovGen, including AtomOne].

Certain statements included in this post (or in any linked materials) are forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by words with prospective meanings such as “intend,” “plan,” “estimate,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “predict,” “project,” “propose,” “assume,” “forecast,” “outlook,” “future,” “pending,” “goal,” “objective,” “potential,” “continue,””aim,” “seek to,” “may,” “can,” “will,” “should” and “could,” or the negative of such terms or other variations or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are predictions based on current expectations and assumptions regarding future events. They are not guarantees or assurances of any outcomes, performance or achievements, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon them. The forward-looking statements are subject to a number of estimates and assumptions, and known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Actual results may differ materially.

IMPORTANT: Participating in GovGen requires sharing only your public keys, NOT your private keys. In connection with GovGen you should never be asked to share your private key [or any seed or recovery phrase]. This means that you should never be contacted by email, phone call or other form of messaging, nor provide instructions or a request to share your private key [or seed or recovery phrase]. Any request for your private key [or seed or recovery phrase] should alert you immediately to [potential] fraud. Beware of bad actors who seek to obtain access to your [wallets or digital identity]. Keeping your private key [and seed or recovery phrases] secure is critically important, and failure to do so could result in theft of your digital identity and loss of whatever you may own, including digital assets, that is associated with your digital identity.