Switzerland-based Interchain Foundation, a nonprofit group supporting research into secure and scalable open-source software, today announced the launch of the Cosmos Network.

It’s a decentralized network of independent, scalable and interoperable blockchains designed to become the foundation of a new token economy. By design, the network allows multiple organizations to run their own blockchain systems, with all the security and privacy that entails, while also allowing these separate systems to connect efficiently.

The core motivation of Cosmos is to help legacy systems to escape from centralized silos and enable them to become more decentralized. The network provides the foundation with the aim to provide communication and connectivity among thousands of cryptocurrency systems — thus permitting multiple tokens, assets and transaction logs to work together.

“Blockchain technology is an incredible innovation that has unfortunately been hamstrung by a series of limitations, including scalability problems, a lack of usability and myriad governance and environmental issues,” said Jae Kwon, founder and chief executive of Tindermint Inc. “The vision of Cosmos is to overcome these limitations and break down barriers to innovation, ultimately creating an Internet of Blockchains: a decentralized network of independent, scalable and interoperable blockchains.“

The development of the Cosmos Network is led by Tindermint, the blockchain consensus project behind Tindermint Core. Backers of the project include the $400 million blockchain fund Paradigm and other investors such as Bain Capital LP and 1confirmation LLC.

The infrastructure for the Cosmos Network is built on Tindermint Core, a protocol solution that provides networking and consensus that binds the layers of the blockchains together. That allows developers to focus on development instead of needing to worry about the complexities of how the underlying systems operate.

The system uses a specialized algorithm to create consensus when transactions are added called a Byzantine Fault Tolerant engine, created by Kwon in 2014, that solves the scalability, security and efficiency limitations that persist in other blockchain products currently on the market, such as bitcoin and Ethereum.

“The launch of the Cosmos Network is the first major milestone in the development of this network and represents the culmination of 40 years of computer science research,” Kwon said, noting that it’s the first live deployment of a Byzantine Fault Tolerant and Proof of Stake consensus mechanism. “Now we’re encouraging developers to develop applications that take full advantage of the promises of this powerful ecosystem.”

Following this launch, developers will now have access to the Cosmos Network software development kit that will provide all the resources needed to build applications on the network. With this SDK, developers will be able to design their own customized blockchain, launch it themselves and connect to other Cosmos-launched blockchains.

Also at launch, the Cosmos Network is bringing on board numerous partners with whom new developers will be able to interconnect. They includeg Binance Holdings Ltd., the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by volume, blockchain gaming platform Loom Network Inc., Interledger solutions provider Kava Labs Inc. and news validation social media platform TruStory.

Image: Interchain Foundation