(1/10) There exists a certain type of DApp for which no ETH L2 is (currently) suitable...something that requires fast finality, high TX throughput, and multi-party interaction.

For this type of project, Cosmos is an ideal fit. At least, that's been our experience at ShapeShift.

(2/10) Microtick ( http://microtick.com ) is a ShapeShift R&D project that will soon launch as a mainnet chain. It's a decentralized oracle that achieves price discovery through short-term options trading.

MT was originally designed to run on ETH L1. That got crypto-kittied.

(3/10) Subsequently we explored many of the innovative ETH L2 solutions. These are exciting platforms being built by *insanely* smart, think-outside-the-box teams. However, all current L2's have some degree of trade-offs that prevented us from moving forward.

(4/10) So the ultimate trade-off we decided on was to sacrifice the shared security of ETH for the more limited security of a bespoke validator set. This feels tenable for the intermediate-term; Cosmos's take on POS is working nicely so far.

(5/10) On the other hand, we're launching a project that's one step removed from the vibrant ETH DeFi world. This is OK for now, since we just want to test out the game theory. But to scale, we'll need to find clever ways to bridge the gap between the two chains. IBC will help.

(6/10) Eventually, when sharded ETH is a thing, Microtick will be able to exist on that chain as well. But this is years off. Cosmos has given us the ability to launch a scalable, reasonably secure, self-sovereign chain; just what we need to take this thing out of the R&D sandbox

(7/10) At the end of the day, this is a perfect example of how crypto ecosystems can collaborate and communicate. Once IBC is stable, we'll be able to bring Microtick's free price feed into the ETH world. And other ETH DApps will be able to use Cosmos zones as an L2 of sorts.

(8/10) For many DApps, some flavor ETH-native L2's (starkware, zk-sync, OVM rollups, state channels) will offer an excellent scaling solution. For those that aren't able to handle the inherent trade-offs, Cosmos zones could offer a viable alternative.

(9/10) On a more "community vibes" note, I can't stress how cool the Cosmos ecosystem is. It reminds me a lot of Ethereum back in the day, when ETH was the scrappy underdog and big egos weren't so prominent. It's just a lot of fun working with people in this space.

(10/10) Cosmos zones may also offer a preview of what scalable DApps will look like. Scalable ETH is coming; in the meantime, we can use these zones to fine-tune elements like UX.

Once everything starts talking (IBC, wrapped value like tBTC, etc.), things will get really fun.