Midcurving Cosmos 2025 | Cosmos ATOM Bottom In? | Nillion Airdrop, Berachain, Akash AKT & More!

Okay, let's dive into the latest from the Cosmos ecosystem and beyond!

This video gives us a rundown on the current state of crypto, touching on recent US regulatory shifts that seem bullish for the space. The main focus, however, is a deep dive into the Cosmos ecosystem, highlighting why, despite a current "cold" market dominated by memes and AI, its strong fundamentals and innovative technology are poised for long-term success. It covers key updates from various Cosmos chains, including ATOM's challenges and new leadership, the booming RWA and privacy sectors, and critical infrastructure developments.

Here's the lowdown:

• Crypto Regulation & Trump's Influence: Trump keeping his word is seen as a big deal, with Ross Ulbricht (Silk Road creator) now out of prison. Elon Musk even confirmed being there when Trump signed the executive order. Plus, Gary Gensler resigned from the SEC after Trump's threats, and the SEC is now talking about "SEC Crypto 2.0," a task force focused on a clear regulatory framework for crypto. All of this sounds super bullish and marks a significant shift in the US government's tone towards crypto.

• Cosmos Market — "Mid-Curve" & Long-Term Vision: Right now, the Cosmos ecosystem is in a "very cold" phase; most coins are down, and hardly anyone's talking about the "Internet of Blockchains" or IBC. The crypto world is currently obsessed with memes and AI agents. But there's a strong belief that Cosmos, with its focus on strong tech, sovereignty, customizability, and interoperability, represents true "fundamentals." Despite the short-term meme hype, the presenter is confident that fundamentals win in the long run, making Cosmos resilient and sustainable. Many major players like Mantra, Celestia, Injective, Sei, dYdX, and Akash are actually Cosmos chains.

• ATOM's Current State & Future: ATOM's bonded ratio (the amount staked) has dropped from 62% in November to below 54.5%, which is pretty concerning. This could signal weak investor confidence, possibly because the airdrop meta for ATOM staking isn't as hot, or maybe there's just less faith in the roadmap. However, the new leadership at Interchain Labs, Mac and Barry, have a clear vision to position the Cosmos Hub as a decentralized router and interchain service provider, capturing value. The big question is whether they can execute this and restore investor confidence before time runs out in an increasingly diluted crypto market. Despite the challenges, all ATOM holdings are staked and locked, and while it's not the biggest position (only 7-8% of the portfolio, as Akash Network and Hedera Hashgraph have outperformed), there's still confidence. ATOM has survived a lot, has a dedicated community, is listed everywhere, and is still in the top 60, proving it's far from dead.

• Noble Protocol's USDC Milestone: Noble has impressively crossed $522 million (now closer to a billion) in natively issued USDC, making it the fifth-largest protocol for native Circle USDC. This highlights the immense potential if the Cosmos ecosystem were truly unified and coordinated. Imagine the growth if all the core teams and IBC-connected projects aligned!

• Privacy Sector in Cosmos: No matter the crypto vertical—DeFi, AI, RWA, or privacy—Cosmos chains are always strong contenders, often category leaders. The recent reversal of US sanctions against Tornado Cash is a huge win for privacy. There's a strong belief that ZK (zero-knowledge) privacy tech will have a massive season in this cycle (this year or next). Cosmos has powerful privacy projects like Penumbra, Namada (launching its NUM token), Secret Network (an OG), Nillion (mainnet launching soon with an upcoming airdrop), and Shade Protocol (launching ShadeX on March 5th). Notably, Namada is being used by chains like Berachain, Arbitrum, and Ethereum for their privacy layers. The Nillion airdrop, distributing 7.5% of its supply to early contributors, is a big deal, and a tutorial is available to check eligibility.

• Mantra Chain and RWA Tokenization: Mantra is a leading player in Real World Assets (RWAs) and tokenization, with $2.5 billion in assets already confirmed for tokenization, primarily real estate in Dubai. They've landed significant partnerships, including Damac (a major Dubai developer) and Pies Earth (an electric motorcycle company whose bikes will be tokenized). Mantra is betting big on Dubai and the MENA region, and if they can secure partnerships with giants like EMAR and Select Group, they could completely dominate Dubai's massive real estate market.

• Mantra Omis NFT & JP's Big Buy: Mantra's official NFT collection, Omis, just revealed its art. A whale named JP went on a buying spree, even acquiring a Rarity Rank 2 Omis for $88,888 (now $93,000), making it the highest purchase in Stargaze history. JP alone holds 157 Omis worth over $115,000. Future plans include "eco-drops" for Omis holders and stakers.

• Babylon's BabyLoong NFT: The next big NFT collection to watch out for is Babylon's "BabyLoong," which could be as big or even bigger than Omis. You can currently customize your own BabyLoong and participate in a $30,000 USDC prize pool. Make sure to register your address in the Babylon Discord for a potential whitelisting or minting opportunity.

• Cosmos Bytes: For those who prefer reading, "Cosmos Bytes" is a revamped weekly recap of all the latest and hottest news, achievements, and airdrop updates across the Cosmos ecosystem.

• Celestia's Upgrades: Celestia just unveiled a new brand and website. More importantly, their next upgrade on January 28th will significantly increase throughput to 1.33 MB/s (8 MB blocks) with 6-second block times. This scaling is crucial for Cosmos, as improving infrastructure and user experience (like the Omis mint) is essential for attracting more users, even if it’s "mid-curve" technical innovation.

• Axelar Network - Interoperability King: Axelar is another "mid-curve" but deeply fundamental project, leading the way in interoperability. It's becoming critical infrastructure, much like Chainlink for oracles, powering RWA infrastructure. Axelar boasts $10 billion in total volumes, with a quarter-billion in the last month alone, and is integrated across major ecosystems like Arbitrum, Polygon, Ethereum, and, of course, all Cosmos chains, as it's a Cosmos SDK blockchain itself.

• Saga Chain's Gaming & AI Focus: Saga, a newer Cosmos chain, will hit its first mainnet anniversary in April, bringing the first token unlocks. They've partnered with Eliza OS (an AI16z DAO framework) to enable AI agents within the Saga economy. Saga is also a leader in the Cosmos gaming ecosystem, having onboarded hundreds of games with flagship titles launching soon.

• Injective (INJ 3.0 Economic Model): Injective's new INJ 3.0 economic model aims to increase the burn rate and deflationary effect, making INJ a more "monetary sound" asset. INJ had an incredible run in 2024, hitting all-time highs above $50.

• Akash Network (AKT) - AI Infrastructure Powerhouse: Akash Network is one of the largest positions in the presenter's portfolio, with its on-chain revenue massively increasing, surpassing $11,000 in average daily earnings for January. It's touted as a "super cloud" provider, a true infrastructure project powering the AI economy with strong product-market fit. It stands out as one of the few non-DeFi/finance products, making it a high-conviction play.

• Story Protocol & Berachain Mainnet: Story Protocol, a highly anticipated "made in Cosmos" launch, released its developer Mainnet on January 19th, with the public Mainnet coming soon. For Berachain, its Mainnet is also expected "very, very, very soon," with hints from the team about big upcoming news.

• Keplr Wallet's Funding Success: Keplr, the primary wallet for the Cosmos ecosystem, secured $5 million in funding at a $50 million valuation. This investment, led by One Confirmation and including Coinbase Ventures, will significantly improve Cosmos infrastructure and user experience.

• Cito+ Membership: A premium community offering exclusive content, monthly AMAs, personalized advice on airdrop and portfolio strategy, and even exclusive whitelist slots for mints (like the Omis NFT, which saw a 220x return for members). You can join the waitlist for $39 a month.