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Desmos or in its native Greek tongue δεσμός is a word meaning bond, fastening, chain source. Desmos was also used for the award wining graphics calculator that started off as a free web based calculator and has morphed into a web of different applications and use cases source, none of which are associated with the Desmos Network which we will be featuring today.
Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) is a growing trend amongst the current cryptosphere with more and more projects beginning to develop initiatives that work cross-chain. Enabling IBC provides a smoother user experience and enables users to be able to quickly switch between investments, games, art portfolio and a range of other decentralised services.
However, a large gap in the market is the requirement to be able to do so effectively and easily and I previously reported on XDEFI which was working towards addressing a number of these issues with their advanced crypto wallet.
With many tokens now available cross-chain and many no longer needing to be wrapped we are starting to see projects themselves emerge as decentralised central points such as Desmos Network. The way that Desmos is planning on achieving decentralised centralisation is removing the centralised body or middleman and replacing it with you.
Desmos is commencing its development as the central position for all your decentralised networks by enabling users to link their wallets to Desmos through verification process which occurs through signing a transaction.
At current there are a number of chains that are able to be linked which include: Cosmos, Akash, Osmosis, Sentinel, Crypto.org, Terra Network, Kava, Regen, Likecoin, Band Protocol, e-Money, Juno, Secret Network, Sifchain, IRISnet, Persistence, IXO, Bitcanna and Bitsong. So as you can see quite a large range of eligible networks.
From a quick glance of the project it appears to have some pretty impressive goals but at current the project is aiming to put you in control of all your networks in one place with the added ability of being able to sign transactions on other chains all within their web app.
Outlined in the Desmos whitepaper the project is looking to challenge centralised social media and are developing a cross chain social media platform. although it is linkable to all chains Desmos will have its own native token of DSM with a max supply of 500,000,000 million. Although the white paper doesn't specifically state what the token is being used for their focus is cross-chain proof of identity.
A use case they have provided is focused on validators who operate on multiple blockchains and have to continue to establish new profiles on each chain they join. Desmos is proposing that validators could join their network and then use the profile from Desmos to upload to any chain through their proof of identity.
Another example provided surrounds marketing and reach, from what I am interpreting Desmos is also planning on developing a social media website that will enable marketers to connect with users on other projects by better targeting ads. I would guess that in order to do this Desmos will be tracking the wallets that are connecting to their services and then provide the opportunity for marketers to target specific wallet addresses.
As the project will be launching engagement yield farming it has a similar read to what Valkyrie on Terra Network is establishing by providing unique web3 marketing campaigns that pay people in VKR. You can read a full copy of their white paper HERE
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To launch Desmos Network the project is air dropping a small amount of tokens to a number of eligible wallets that once linked up and verified will be able to receive a set number of tokens. The number of eligible wallets for the air drop distribution can be found in the below graph.
The easiest way to claim the air drop is by adding Forbole X Chrome web extension to your web browser which once you have done that you will need to set up a DSM account. Once you have established an account the network will prompt you to complete your social media profile where you can link your eligible wallets. If you have a number of eligible wallets than you can claim multiple air drops.
Once you have collected your airdrops you can then head over and delegate to a validator and I would like to highlight that 
I have sent my single digit airdrop to WhisperNode for safe keeping :)
I tried to connect with the project in their official discord but was not able to receive a response in time for publication. I will update the article if a response is provided. I had specific questions around security as when I connected there was a request to "Send" a native token of the wallet I was connecting to which I didn't have any at the time. I would also like to know how the project defends against potential hacks and any UI updates as I found the UI to be clunky and not easy to use getting lost in it on a number of occasions.
Learning how to claim the air drop also took some time as I found it overly complicated but I managed to get there in the end.
I am interested in how this project plays out, is it something I will use? not sure of the future but currently most likely now but then I do not have a lot of assets across the cryptosphere.
What are your thoughts on Desmos, will it make life easier on the block chain?
Image sources provided supplemented with Canva Pro Subscription. This is not financial advice and readers are advised to undertake their own research or seek professional financial services.
