Split, Croatia — Cosmos used the Cosmoverse 2025 stage to make one thing clear. The network is no longer just an ecosystem for developers, but is positioning itself as an enterprise-grade blockchain stack for banks, payment networks, Fortune 500 companies, and global financial institutions getting into actual tokenization.
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Over three days of keynote speeches, co-CEOs Magnus Meerneck and Barry Plunkett, along with Cosmos Labs CMO Nico Poggi, unveiled ambitious changes. The idea is that Cosmos is becoming the foundation of an institutional blockchain infrastructure where sovereignty, performance, and interoperability are non-negotiable.
Strategic transformation for banks, governments, and Fortune 500 companies
In his keynote, “The Future of Cosmos in Global Finance,” Magnus Marenec detailed how central banks, corporations, and financial institutions are now choosing Cosmos to build tokenization and payment systems that they fully control, rather than relying on other companies’ chains.
He indicated that two upcoming CBDCs will be built on Cosmos in collaboration with Cosmos Labs and Peersyst, joining existing deployments in Latin America. Leading enterprise adopters such as Figure, Progmat, and Ondo are also building or forking Cosmos technology for regulated financial use cases.
“The world’s largest financial institutions recognize that they need sovereignty, scalability, and control, and Cosmos provides them with a platform that combines institutional trust with true interoperability. This is evident as we continue to see companies like Figure, Progmat, and Ondo use or fork Cosmos technology to drive enterprise and financial use cases.”
Magnus Marenek, Co-CEO, Cosmos Labs
Cosmos’ long-standing architecture – a sovereign app chain connected by IBC – is now the exact structure that enterprises need for their regulated real-world assets.
Technology roadmap: IBC enhancements, PoA support, and new tokenization layer
Barry Plunkett took to the stage with a detailed technology roadmap that will propel Cosmos toward enterprise-scale adoption.
Key upgrades announced:
IBC expands to Solana and Ethereum L2
Powers Cosmos as the interoperability backbone for Web3.
Proof-of-Authority support in Cosmos SDK
Enable a compliant and permitted network for banks and regulated enterprises.
New IBC native tokenization layer
Supports asset issuance and enterprise-grade modules for escrow, settlement, and treasury operations.
A platform for educational institutions to implement custom chains
It features ready-to-use modules for tokenization, escrow, and banking, turning Cosmos into a no-code infrastructure layer for global finance.
Mr. Plunkett put it bluntly:
“Tokenization and payments are the key use cases driving Kosmos forward. These markets require sovereign L1 rather than L2 for compliance, control, and performance. From fast, deterministic payments to full regulatory control, Kosmos is now the infrastructure for tokenized finance.”
Barry Plunkett, Co-CEO, Cosmos Labs
Reinventing Hub and ATOM for the enterprise
In “Hub and ATOM: The Path Forward,” CMO Nico Poggi outlined how Cosmos Hub and its native token, $ATOM, will evolve to support the needs of institutions.
The new roadmap focuses on three pillars:
Adding a hub unit
A dedicated team will support ecosystem growth, developer relationships, and organizational integration.
new delegation program
Improve validator incentives, support tools, and strengthen network health.
A complete re-evaluation of ATOM tokenomics
Multiple research companies and communities are collaborating to create a transparent, data-driven redesign for enterprise adoption and a sustainable long-term economy.
Cosmos Labs, the ecosystem’s growth and engineering arm, is leading these changes to ensure the hub is the trusted payment and reconciliation layer for the future of on-chain finance.
Cosmos: now the institutional stack for real-world finance
Cosmos was not presenting a vision; it was presenting a transformation that was already underway. Businesses are adopting AppChain because they need to:
Sovereignty (full control of the chain)
Deterministic performance (no congestion in shared block space)
Interoperability (IBC between networks)
Regulatory Compliance (Granted PoA Support)
Cosmos, a sovereign, interoperable blockchain ecosystem connected by IBC and supported by Interchain Stack, is a natural foundation for that model.
The Interchain Foundation, the Swiss nonprofit organization that funds and coordinates the development of Cosmos Labs, Cosmos Hub, and Interchain Stack, continues to support this transition as the ecosystem matures as an institutional infrastructure.
Turning point in the space ecosystem
Cosmoverse 2025 in Split, Croatia brought together developers, institutions, central banks and businesses, all united by a common understanding: Cosmos is entering the enterprise era. Magnus Marenek summed it up in his keynote speech as follows:
“Cosmos is becoming the preferred stack in real-world finance.”
Magnus Marenek, Co-CEO, Cosmos Labs
And this year, the industry saw exactly how that future is being built.
