CEO Of Cosmos (ATOM) Developer Company Steps Down: Will Keep Working In The Ecosystem On Virgo Project

Jae Kwon, co-founder, and CEO of Tendermint and president of the Interchain Foundation revealed in a series of tweets late Tuesday that he will step down from his role at Cosmos to work on a daughter project. Tendermint is the company that’s behind the development of the Cosmos SDK.

Cosmos Network was launched in March 2019 to act as the internet of blockchain. The project claims it provides a secure and scalable ecosystem that supports interoperability between thousands of blockchains for a new token economy. 

Since its launch, it has seemly emerged as one of the most promising in the blockchain space, with its native token, ATOM currently ranking as the 19th largest cryptocurrency in terms of market cap. 

Why Is Jae Kwon Stepping Down? 

According to Kwon, he will be stepping down from the Cosmos blockchain, so he can focus on Virgo and ensure that the ICF conduct their functions as intended. 

The ICF is a nonprofit foundation that is mandated to promote and develop technologies and DApps which focus on the Cosmos ecosystem.

AiB, on the other hand, is a software company that was contracted by the ICF for the development of the Cosmos Hub. AiB is also commonly called the Tendermint team, with Kwon as a co-founder and CEO, a role that he is about to give up. 

Kwon said he proposed that the position of the CEO is completely removed from the bylaws because the role is a problem. 

“I’m not the problem; the CEO role is. All in Bits, DBA Tendermint, will be a company that adopts radical transparency and radically new social norms that enable expression and psychological safety, be defining a new system of Process and Culture of Openness,” he said, adding that “Cosmos is good, keep it good. But don’t trust anyone, and don’t worship heroes, nor any steward without skin in the game, it’s mostly about structural incentives.” 

Not Necessarily Leaving Cosmos 

This move does not mean that Kwon is abandoning the Cosmos project. The CEO said he would step down once his transitions plans have been finalized, and after that, he will continue to serve as a council member of the ICF. 

“I’m not ‘leaving’ Cosmos,” he said, even though the project is currently working well without him. Kwon said that he believes his focus on Virgo will bring more people to the Cosmos ecosystem while helping to keep Cosmos good as a “sub-mission.”

Virgo is a foundation that aims to provide the world with the best open collaboration technology. An excerpt from their website reads:

“Virgo aims to use this new foundation to help solve the world’s greatest challenges, such as preventing catastrophic climate change and environmental destruction and providing for the basic human needs of members across the globe.”