I still remember the first time I heard someone seriously say “central banks are coming.” Most of us laughed. That was three years ago.
Last month in Split, nobody was laughing anymore.
Walking into Cosmoverse 2025 felt like stepping onto the set of a movie where the plot suddenly jumps ten years forward. The ancient stone walls of Diocletian’s Palace were vibrating with conversations about mesh security, CBDC roll-outs slated for 2029, and Fortune 500 companies quietly spinning up their own Cosmos-powered app-chains. It was surreal, exhilarating, and honestly a little terrifying in the best possible way.
The Moment Web3 Grew Up
For years the Cosmos community has been building in relative solitude—perfecting the art of sovereign, interoperable chains while the rest of the industry chased TVL and meme-coin pumps. Cosmoverse 2025 was the weekend the wider world finally looked over and said, “Wait… you guys actually solved this?”
And the answer, delivered across three packed days, was a resounding yes.
Central Banks Walked In—And Didn’t Walk Out Scared
Let that sink in for a second. Jürgen Schaaf from the European Central Bank and Linardo Martinečević from the Croatian National Bank flew to Croatia to sit on the same panel as Cosmos builders and Bloomberg journalists talking about the Digital Euro.
This wasn’t a polite photo-op. This was a two-hour deep dive into institutional design, privacy layers, settlement finality, and—yes—the projected 2029 launch window for a retail digital euro. I’ve been to enough conferences to know when regulators are just checking a box. These two weren’t. They asked hard questions about throughput, energy usage, and offline functionality, and the Cosmos side had answers that clearly surprised them.
“We are exploring programmable money that preserves privacy while meeting regulatory requirements. The modular approach we saw here is… extremely interesting.”
— Paraphrased from a European central-bank participant, off-record coffee chat
Cosmos Labs Dropped the Quiet Bombshells
Maghnus Mareneck’s opening keynote should be studied in crypto history classes—if we ever get that far.
In twenty calm minutes he confirmed that Cosmos Labs is currently building not one, but two live central bank digital currencies in Latin America. Not pilots. Not sandboxes. Production-grade CBDCs using the Cosmos Stack.
He also laid out the next phase for the Cosmos Hub: it’s evolving from “the secure settlement layer” into the neutral liquidity and interoperability backbone for an entire wave of institutional-grade chains. Think of it as the Switzerland of the interchain—neutral, well-defended, and quietly indispensable.
- New RPC and indexing services for enterprises
- Neutral bridging infrastructure
- Institutional staking pools
- Regulated asset issuance tooling
All launching throughout 2026. All built on ATOM economics.
The Enterprise Avalanche Nobody Saw Coming
Off-stage conversations were even wilder. Multiple sources (Fortune 500 variety) confirmed they have Cosmos chains in late-stage development. We’re talking:
- A major global bank preparing a private settlement chain
- A billion-dollar gaming franchise building their entire on-chain economy on Cosmos
- Two separate asset managers tokenizing traditional funds
- Government-grade identity and permit systems
Announcements start in Q1 2026. Mark your calendar.
Visa, Revolut, Bosch—Yes, Really
Visa’s head of crypto for Europe took the stage and casually mentioned they’re running a stablecoin liquidity pilot that leans heavily on Cosmos tech for cross-chain settlement. Revolut did a fireside where they basically admitted public blockchains are now table-stakes for any serious fintech roadmap. Bosch showed autonomous vehicle prototypes using decentralized identity and data markets—again, Cosmos under the hood.
This wasn’t “blockchain theater.” These are companies that move billions. They don’t show up unless the tech is ready for prime time.
The Split Vibe: Ancient City, Future Money
There’s something poetic about holding the “sovereign chain” conference inside a 1,700-year-old Roman emperor’s retirement palace. Diocletian built his compound to be self-sufficient and defensible. Sound familiar?
Every evening the community spilled out into the narrow marble streets—builders, regulators, VCs, and random tourists all drinking local wine and arguing about partial-set security over the sound of Adriatic waves. I’ve never felt the crypto spirit more alive than in those moments.
Hackathons, Pitches, and the Next Generation
While the main stage tackled macro questions, the Hackmos hackathon saw 100+ builders ship working prototypes in 48 hours. The winner, VALT, is a personal data vault that finally makes “your data, your money” feel real. Watching a 22-year-old explain sovereign data pods to a room full of investors who normally back Series C rounds was pure Cosmoverse energy.
Hong Kong 2026—Asia Is Next
The closing ceremony ended with one slide: Cosmoverse 2026 — Hong Kong.
If Split was Europe waking up to sovereign chains, Hong Kong will be Asia doing the same—except with ten times the capital and a regulatory environment that’s suddenly wide open to digital assets. Buckle up.
Look, I’ve been in this industry since 2016. I’ve watched hype cycles come and go. But what happened in Split felt different. It wasn’t about price or narratives or tribalism.
It was the quiet, almost boring realization that the infrastructure is ready. The builders have been right all along. Sovereign, interoperable, application-specific chains aren’t a niche—they’re the default architecture for the next decade of finance.
And the institutions? They’re not coming. They’re already here.
See you in Hong Kong.
