Hub Weekly Update #7: June 25, 2026

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This is the seventh of Hub Weekly Thursday recaps, straight from the Hub Unit team, per the cadence we committed to in the From Chaos to Stability to Growth post.

Every Thursday, we will call out significant Cosmos Hub updates on the forum, with a short companion thread on X, recapping announcements, live events like validator or community calls, and ecosystem updates!

For more info, see the linked posts, and contact @RoboMcGobo on telegram to submit news for the weekly.

This week: an Injective USDC timeline update, a tokenomics research milestone, the Q3 delegation cycle, and the Mad Scientists hackathon enters judging.

  • An update on the Injective USDC integration: the ecosystem migration timeline is now tracking toward September, and we are working to bring it forward

  • A milestone on the tokenomics research with Gauntlet: Phase 1 is wrapping up, and the full report and findings are coming to the community soon

  • A note on the ATOM delegation program: the Q3 cycle is the first to require Cosmos Hub testnet participation, plus a change we are weighing to how governance participation is measured

  • Mad Easy on Cosmos, the Mad Scientists hackathon, closed submissions this week, with 15 experiments now live in the public showcase and winners landing soon

Injective USDC: The Ecosystem Migration Path Is Currently Targeting September

We have a timeline update on the Injective USDC integration this week, following continued design work with the Injective team.

The current expectation is that the ecosystem migration path opens up around September, driven by an Injective chain upgrade requirement that can’t be implemented until that time. We are actively exploring options to bring that forward, and we will share a more comprehensive public update on how the migration will work once the path is finalized.

For ecosystem teams, the practical guidance has not changed:

  • There is still no urgency to migrate. Noble USDC continues to function exactly as it does today, and no deadline is being imposed on teams currently using it.

  • The ecosystem migration path is currently tracking toward September. This is paced by Injective’s upgrade timeline.

  • If your team needs to migrate sooner than September, reach out. Some teams may have timelines that do not line up with that window. If that is you, we want to know early so we can work through options with you directly.

  • The USDC migration working group remains the coordination point for tooling, timing, and updates as the path firms up.

If your team wants in, or needs to move on a faster timeline, reply to this thread or reach out on Telegram (@RoboMcGobo), and we will keep you in the loop and work with you on next steps.

Tokenomics Research: Phase 1 Is Wrapping Up, and We Will Share the Full Findings with the Community

A milestone update on the ATOM tokenomics research we have been running alongside Gauntlet. The goal of this work, as a reminder, is to understand how ATOM moves, why, and when, so that any future change to ATOM’s economics is grounded in evidence rather than assumption.

Phase 1 is now wrapping up. The final research report is being prepared for release soon, and we will share the Phase 1 results in full with the community when it is ready.

Once the report is published, we will review the findings openly before Phase 2 work begins, so that the community review can help shape what Phase 2 looks at. More to come.

The ICF Delegation Program: Q3 Brings a Testnet Requirement, and We Are Weighing How Governance Participation Is Measured

The ATOM delegation program runs on a quarterly cadence, and the Q3 adjustment cycle is now in progress.

Q3 is the first cycle in which participation in the Cosmos Hub testnet, run by Hypha, is a requirement to receive delegations from the default tranche. This was flagged in advance when the program was overhauled earlier this year, and it now takes effect. The intent is straightforward: concentrate delegations on validators who are actively engaged in governance and in testing the software that keeps the Hub healthy, which supports a more engaged and more resilient validator set over time.

A change we are considering: moving to a rolling one-year governance window.

Today, governance participation for the program is measured over the full history of the current chain, starting at cosmoshub-4 genesis in February 2021. A validator that participated inconsistently years ago can find it very hard to climb back above the threshold, even after a long recent stretch of consistent voting. Recent improvement in voting practices counts for less than we think it should and somewhat defeats the purpose of the governance requirement.

We are evaluating a move to a rolling one-year window, where eligibility would be based on governance participation over the most recent year rather than all-time history. The reasoning:

  • A real path back for validators who improve. A rolling window rewards a validator’s current behavior, so a team that has been voting consistently for the last year can qualify regardless of a weaker record several years ago.

  • The program stays focused on current engagement. The program exists to encourage active participation today, and measuring the recent window keeps the criteria pointed at exactly that.

  • The bar stays meaningful. The goal is to keep the program selective while making it fairer. This is about whether a validator participates, never about how they vote.

This is under consideration, not decided. If we do make the change, it would apply to a future cycle rather than the current one, so that no validator’s eligibility shifts under rules that weren’t already published. We want validator input before we settle it.

If you are a validator, how you can help:

  • Join the Cosmos Hub testnet program run by Hypha if you are not already participating

  • Keep your governance participation up, which remains a core eligibility criterion

  • Weigh in on the forum if you have a view on the rolling-window idea, or on how participation should be measured more broadly

  • Review the program overview for the full criteria and cadence, and reach out if anything is unclear

Mad Easy on Cosmos: Submissions Are Closed, 15 Experiments Are Live in Judging

Mad Easy on Cosmos, the Mad Scientists hackathon on the Hub, wrapped up its build phase this week. Submissions closed on June 22, and 15 experiments are now archived in the public showcase, where anyone can browse every entry before winners are announced.

Judging is underway. The showcase window runs through June 29, with finalist badges and awards added to the gallery once judging wraps up.

Prizes go to the top five experiments: $1,000 in ATOM and Odin Scan credits for first, $300 in ATOM for second, $200 in ATOM for third, and Mad Scientists NFTs for fourth and fifth. We’re also planning to showcase some of the more exciting projects, whether they won prizes or not. We’re especially excited about showing projects that plan to continue as live apps after the hackathon closes.

If you want to follow along, how you can help:

Hypha’s Testnet Funding Proposal Is Live: Support Is Strong, but It Needs Your Vote to Reach Quorum Before June 29

Hypha operates the Cosmos Hub’s public testnet. Their community spend proposal to fund that work for 2026 and 2027 went live on June 22 as Proposal 1043, and it is in its voting period now.

Support so far is strong, with roughly 98% of votes in favor. Quorum currently sits just under 20%, short of the threshold the proposal needs to pass..

Voting closes on June 29. Validators and stakers: please get your votes in before then.

That’s all for this week - thanks to everyone engaging across the forum, validator channels, and Telegram. Looking forward to next week’s update! Please let us know if you like the Weekly format, and what else you’d like to hear from us.

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