What Is Cosmos (ATOM)? Should You Invest In ATOM And Where To Buy It?

Last Updated September 7th 2022

19 Min Read

The cryptocurrency space is developing faster than many people believed it will develop. Just a little after a decade of Bitcoin, there are several altcoins available for willing investors. The best part of the story is that many of these coins are millionaire makers like Bitcoin.

The best way to succeed in cryptocurrency trading/investing is knowing the right coins to trade/invest in, and that is not common knowledge. Cosmos (ATOM) is one of the many coins that are making waves now, and it is important that willing investors/traders understand the coin and its network very well before making financial commitments.

So, what is Cosmos? Should you invest in Cosmos (ATOM)? And where is the best place to buy Cosmos (ATOM)? You probably have many more questions on your mind regarding this digital currency. Here, we will discuss every important thing you need to know about the coin in order to make the right decision.

At Trading Education, we don’t make the decision for our readers or push them to make a hasty decision. Therefore, it is important that you read this piece carefully to get the right information that will help you make the right decision. It is all about knowledge and sound investment decisions, and we are always eager to help.

What Is Cosmos?

Cosmos is a cryptocurrency project that prioritizes the interoperability of blockchain technologies. It has always been projected as the project that takes on the hardest problems facing the blockchain industry. It has also been called the network of all blockchain networks and has branded itself as the “internet of blockchains.”

Cosmos was created as a desirable alternative to the proof-of-work protocols used by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Cosmos solves the problems of speed, cost, scalability, and environmental issues connected to the old proof-of-work protocols. It achieves this by offering an ecosystem of connected blockchains.

The Cosmos platform serves as a bridge between blockchains. It basically allows a blockchain to communicate, share data, and transact with another blockchain. Its high-efficiency interblockchain communication protocol prevents fragmentation in the industry.

Another exciting thing about Cosmos is that it makes blockchain technology a lot less easy for developers. Thanks to its modular framework that demystifies decentralized apps (dApps) and powerful tools that significantly improves blockchain creation efficiency.

Before we draw a curtain on the meaning of Cosmos, it is important that we introduce the coin ATOM. Yes, Cosmos has a native coin that serves as the investment vehicle of the network. Regular investors and traders can buy the coin as a digital asset and sell it when the conditions are favourable. Cosmos ATOM should be your focus if you are only interested in buying/investing for profit-making.

A Brief History Of Cosmos

The history of Cosmos can be traced to the founding of Tendermint by Jae Kwon. Tendermint is still considered the gateway to the Cosmos ecosystem and was started in 2014. In the early days of his initial project, Jae Kwon linked up with two respected crypto developers, Zarko Milosevic and Ethan Buchman.

While creating what we all know as Cosmos today, the developers focused on solving such problems as scalability, usability, and compatibility. These, of course, were some of the key issues they identified as being responsible for limiting the widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies in many places.

The Cosmos project was ready after few years of real work. It was eventually launched through an initial coin offering (ICO) in April 2017. It was a successful launch as it took the team just about 29 minutes to reach their target. However, the team had to wait until December 2018 to begin major testing with the release of Game of Stakes.

Jae Kwon is still recognized as the principal architect of Cosmos. However, he stepped down from his role as the CEO of Tendermint in 2020 to focus on other initiatives. He has since been replaced by Peng Zhong, who has been steering the network in the right direction.

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

What Makes Cosmos Unique?

Before Cosmos was introduced into the cryptocurrency universe, fragmentation was a major issue no one was willing to tackle. Cosmos came and did just that, allowing existing and new blockchains to communicate and share relevant data.

Cosmos is described as Blockchain 3.0 because of its uniqueness. One of its most important goals is to ensure that its infrastructure is easy to use. To make this happen, the team created a software development team that focuses on modularity.

Cosmos' modular framework includes already-existing pieces of code that make building a network straightforward for developers. With what we've seen already from the team, there is a good chance that Cosmos will make it a lot more straightforward for developers to build complex applications.

Another major area Cosmos differs from some of the older cryptocurrency networks is in terms of scalability. The network can handle a lot more transactions than most old platforms, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, in a relatively short period.

What Problems Does Cosmos Solve?

To appreciate Cosmos better, we need to reiterate that it solves one of the biggest problems in the cryptocurrency universe – interoperability. Blockchain technology can be used to design and transmit a wide variety of services and functionalities. But the major challenge was that each blockchain operated independently as an island, and this inhibited serious growth in the sector.

Cosmos has broken some of the barriers that existed between blockchains, allowing different networks to coexist in a mutually beneficial manner. Improved interoperability does not only benefit traders and investors. It also allows developers to take a break from marketing and other competition-related activities to focus on innovations and improvements.

Cosmos also improves the usability of the entire cryptocurrency universe. Different platforms can seamlessly leverage the capabilities of other platforms to improve their usefulness and usability. Things happen a lot faster in Cosmos also.

More About the Cosmos Token (ATOM)

Cosmos’ native currency is called ATOM. You can also call it Cosmos or the Cosmos token. Here, we will use the names interchangeably.

Cosmos ATOM is a desirable cryptocurrency majorly because it powers the Cosmos network, which is bringing blockchains together for sustainable growth in the sector. The ATOM serves a couple of functions in the network. Firstly, it is used to execute smart contracts and complete transactions. Secondly, it is used to reward validators whenever a block of a transaction is approved.

ATOM is also the primary investment vehicle for those who decide to invest in Cosmos. It is the digital asset you can buy and sell for profits, depending on market conditions. You can employ different strategies while investing in ATOM, including HOLDLing and Copy Trading.

At the time of writing this piece, ATOM was trading at $12 per token. Cosmos (ATOM) has a market capitalization of $3.4 billion at the time of writing. It is currently ranked the #22 biggest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization. There are 286,370,297 ATOM in circulation.

Check Out: Should You Buy Cosmos (ATOM)?

Should You Invest In Cosmos?

Are you thinking of investing in Cosmos? Are you having second thoughts about the viability of the coin and its potentials for growth? Here is where we discuss the coin to see if it is a good fit for your cryptocurrency portfolio.

Cosmos ATOM has performed relatively well in the past. The coin’s ICO price was $0.10 per token. The founders wanted to raise $17.00 million but ended up with $17.63 to mark a highly successful launch. The price of the coin has increased greatly from that point, in spite of the volatility that rules the market.

ATOM's price performances in the past have been nothing but spectacular. According to historical data, it was trading at $7.5044 as of March 19^th, 2019. Following months of volatility, the coin ended 2019 at $4.2167. It reached its post-ICO all-time low on March 13^th, 2020, selling for $1.13. It took ATOM about a year and three months to reach an all-time high of $32.14 (May 07, 2021). By 20th September 2021 ATOM topped this price, reaching its current all-time high of $44.70. ATOM dropped to $21 in December but closed the year at $32.47. In January 2022 the coin reached $43.61, close to its all-time high. In February and March ATOM was trading between $34 and $24. In April and May Cosmos price took a downward trajectory along with the overall crypto market crash. In June ATOM hit the low of $6, but since July it started rising again.

The coin is also well-positioned to take advantage of market upswings. It is currently trading for less than $12, and there is a good chance that the price will skyrocket with the next bull market. The coin and its network have potentials. Many experts have agreed that ATOM can be a great digital coin for long-term investments.

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Major Reasons To Invest In Cosmos

Are you still trying to make up your mind about investing in Cosmos? Here are a few reasons you should consider the coin ahead of most other investment options:

✅ Cosmos Has the Right Technology

The entire Cosmos ecosystem started with Tendermint, a software solution that packages consensus and networking layers of a blockchain into a generic engine. It has evolved so much with so many upgrades and the introduction of new technology. The Cosmos SDK, for instance, makes the process of building apps easier. Varied consensus and the inter-blockchain communication protocol (IBC) are other important technological innovations that attract developers and informed investors to Cosmos.

✅ Cosmos Is Needed In the Cryptocurrency Universe

Cosmos brings an uncommon level of interoperability into the cryptocurrency universe, and this is highly needed. By serving as the bridge between two different blockchains, Cosmos improves the adoption and real-life use of cryptocurrencies. It is helping to advance the cryptocurrency scene and will certainly benefit from the growth it is facilitating.

✅ Cosmos Solves Core Problems of Legacy Blockchains

In addition to serving as a bridge in many inter blockchain transactions, Cosmos solves many other major problems of legacy blockchains, including scalability and usability. It actually leverages two kinds of scalability (horizontal and vertical). Running multiple chains in parallel brings about infinite scalability to the scene. Cosmos SDK and other technologies also help developers create projects that are usable with ease.

✅ Cosmos Has a Strong Team and Major Supports

Cosmos was started based on the ideas of Jae Kwon and Ethan Buchman, but it has advanced in many regards. At the same time, the team has grown significantly with supports from different foundations. The Interchain Foundation, a Swiss non-profit foundation, and The IRIS Foundation are some of its biggest supporters.

✅ Cosmos Has an Attractive Ecosystem

Cosmos has an advanced ecosystem that has attracted both investors and lots of partners. Currently, there are hundreds of ongoing projects on the ecosystem, including Binance Chain, Kava, Loom, OKExChain, e-Money, Akash network, Band Protocol, Persistence, and many others. An ecosystem that is facilitating the development of several solutions by trusted partners is very much likely to succeed beyond people’s imaginations.

✅ ATOM Has Performed Well So Far and Will Likely Improve

In few years of trading in major exchanges, Cosmos (ATOM) has performed really well. We can say that the coin has justified the investments made on the network, but we still expect a lot from the coin in the future. It is highly probable that it will surpass its all-time high value in no time.

Reasons To Think Twice Before Investing In Cosmos

We’ve briefly discussed some of the biggest selling points of Cosmos, and it is only fair that we discuss some of its possible downsides. Here are a few reasons you may need to think twice before investing in Cosmos (ATOM):

❌ Volatility

Regardless of the role it plays, Cosmos ATOM is still a cryptocurrency. It is not immune to the issues that affect the market, especially volatility. You need to have the stomach for extreme volatility if you want to invest in any cryptocurrency, including ATOM.

❌ Improvement in the Network May Have Little Effect on the Price of ATOM

Cosmos' major role in the crypto universe is to facilitate the interoperability of blockchains. While this is hugely important, the benefits are distributed to all the blockchains in connects. Since these blockchains have their native currencies, ATOM does not have the exclusive right to facilitate all the transactions and, therefore, cannot enjoy the benefits alone. The price of ATOM is majorly thriving on speculations, and not only the growth/advancement of its network. Even as Cosmos continue to enjoy adoption, it may not reflect so much on the price of ATOM.

❌ Issues with Staking

Cosmos investors can stake their tokens to earn some reward, but there are issues with this that may not play in your favour. It takes about three weeks for you to retrieve any token you stake. Again, staking activities are normally delegated to a few consistent users of the network. If the validator in charge of your stake misbehaves during the period, your stake could be destroyed when his/her own is slashed (destroyed).

❌ Competitions

At the moment, Cosmos is not the only cryptocurrency platform that focuses on interoperability. It has benefited a lot from its protocol, but there are newcomers who are focused on the same niche, including Polkadot and Chainlink. Platforms with similar or better protocols may emerge in the near future and the competition will become tougher for everyone, including Cosmos.

Where Can You Buy Cosmos?

Like other cryptocurrencies, Cosmos ATOM is available in many places on the internet. Exchanges are the major places to buy cryptos, and some of the most prominent ones include Binance, Coinbase, Huobi Global, FTX, KuCoin, Kraken, Bitfinex and more.

There are places to buy and sell cryptocurrencies other than crypto exchanges. A few stockbrokers now allow investors to buy select cryptocurrencies to boost their portfolios. These are brokers that understand that some cryptocurrencies can bring sparks to their client's portfolios.

In addition to Exchanges and brokerages, there are a few more places to buy cryptocurrencies. Most of such places are designed as apps. These apps are neither official exchanges NOR run by stockbrokers. While many of them are safe, some are scam apps run by individuals with questionable backgrounds and malicious intentions. CashApp is one of the few good ones out there.

Best Platform To Buy Cosmos

There are several important factors to consider when choosing a platform to buy a cryptocurrency. Security is one of such important factors. If you are conversant with the cryptocurrency market, you will know that it is a big target for hackers. Many exchanges have been hacked in the past, which is why it is not advisable to leave a cryptocurrency in an exchange, even if you buy from one.

As hinted above, crypto platforms/apps that are not official exchanges or Brokerages are even riskier. Some are run by con artists while some lack the necessary security features to protect your digital assets.

From all indications, it is always better to buy a cryptocurrency from a brokerage. There are a few full-service brokerages that allow traders/investors from any part of the world to invest. eToro is seen as the best ones for users of all experience levels. It helps to make online trading easier for beginners and makes profit-making a little better for experienced traders.

Regardless of how long you have been in the game, buying Cosmos and other digital assets from eToro can be beneficial in many ways. Besides cryptos, you can buy other investment vehicles from eToro, and there are always things to smile about when you use their services.

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

What Next After Buying Cosmos (ATOM)

Ideally, traders buy cryptocurrencies to sell within a few days or even hours. Core investors can buy and keep a coin till the value appreciates significantly. Irrespective of what you consider yourself and your strategy, what you do after buying your coin is very important. As mentioned earlier, leaving a coin in an exchange is a bit risky as many have been hacked in the past. You shouldn’t also leave a digital asset in a crypto app that is not an official exchange or a brokerage.

Even if you buy your crypto asset from a reliable full-service brokerage like eToro, it is still very important that you move it to a digital wallet. This is another important area eToro beat its competitors. The brokerage provides a multi-token, secure digital wallet for its users.

Even if you do not intend to use the eToro wallet, buying from the platform can still be beneficial in many ways. You should also endeavour to use a highly secured digital wallet to store your digital assets.

Key Points To Keep In Mind

We’ve discussed some of the most important things you need to know before investing in Cosmo ATOM. Here are the key points to keep in mind:

Cosmos is a unique cryptocurrency that solves one of the biggest problems in the industry – interoperability.
Cosmos also solves the problems of scalability and usability.
Cosmos ATOM is volatile and the price is primarily influenced by speculations.
Cosmos ATOM has performed really well in the past and has been projected to become a millionaire maker.
Cosmos has the right technology to improve further in the future as well as an attractive ecosystem to succeed in the market.
Cosmos ATOM is considered a good digital asset for long-term investment.
It is best to buy Cosmos (ATOM) from eToro.
eToro has a multi-token, secure digital wallet and several other extra perks for users.

Final Words

Cosmos is a decent cryptocurrency. It is one of the less-known digital currencies that can bring a spark to your online investment portfolio. We’ve discussed the most important things you need to know about the coin, and this is decision time. Remember, it is always best to buy your digital assets from a reputable brokerage like eToro.

It is also important that you embrace continuous education as an online trader/investor. You can find several well-researched trading articles and online trading courses here.