Evmos
also invests · investor profileDefunct1 known investors
Evmos was an EVM-compatible Cosmos SDK blockchain, built by Tharsis Labs, that shut down after a governance vote.
Also known as evmOS · Evmos Network · Tharsis Labs
Investors · 1
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Evmos was a Proof-of-Stake, Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible blockchain built with the Cosmos SDK and running on the CometBFT consensus engine, positioned as the EVM chain within the Cosmos ecosystem and as the flagship implementation of evmOS, a stack for building forward-compatible EVMs. Its stated purpose was to let developers deploy Solidity or Vyper smart contracts in the Cosmos ecosystem without choosing between the Ethereum and Cosmos environments, using Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) and Interchain Accounts to move assets and interact across chains.
The chain originated from the Ethermint library, an open-source codebase enabling the EVM to run on the Cosmos SDK, developed by Tharsis Labs. Evmos launched on mainnet in the spring of 2022 (described as going live near the end of April and as launching in May 2022) and subsequently attracted DeFi, NFT and gaming applications, wallet support for both MetaMask and Keplr, custody and oracle integrations, and hackathon activity funded by its community pool.
Evmos ceased to operate following governance proposal #331, "Evmos Shutdown." Node operation and block production stopped at block height 37,318,000, with the website, block explorer and related services going offline and TVL reported at zero. Evmos was cited among a group of Cosmos ecosystem projects that closed amid low growth, weak revenue and declining developer activity.
Founding story
Co-founder Federico Kunze Küllmer studied Computer Science and Industrial Engineering in Chile and became involved with blockchain during a semester at UC Berkeley through the Blockchain at Berkeley student organization, later working on open-source projects including Tendermint and the Cosmos SDK. From 2018 the founding team contributed to core Interchain technologies such as the Cosmos SDK and IBC, then focused on integrating the Ethereum ecosystem with Cosmos, which led to the Ethermint library and the Evmos chain. Circle's founder-story interview identifies Federico Kunze Küllmer, Akash Khosla and Nic Z. as Evmos founders.
Business model
Evmos operated as an open-source public blockchain network rather than a conventional product vendor. Core protocol development was carried out by Tharsis Labs, which was initially funded by a Cosmos Hub governance grant (proposition 44) and later by a token sale, while network activity was governed by on-chain token-holder governance and a community pool that funded ecosystem initiatives.
Sources do not describe a corporate revenue model; network transaction fees were split between validators and dApp developers, and Tharsis Labs was funded by a Cosmos Hub grant and a token sale. The repository is licensed under the Evmos Non-Commercial License 1.0 (from version 13 onward), which prohibits commercial use outside designated blockchains without a separately negotiated permit.
Traction
Following mainnet launch, the network hosted DeFi protocols for swapping, lending and borrowing ERC20 and IBC tokens, plus NFT and gaming applications; wallet support included MetaMask and Keplr, with Fireblocks, Gnosis Safe, Aegis Custody and Anchorage Custody serving institutional access and Flux Protocol, DIA and Redstone providing oracles. Community proposals restored TVL above pre-Nomad-exploit levels. At shutdown, TVL was reported at $0.
Latest developments
Governance proposal #331, "Evmos Shutdown," passed with 99.8% support; nodes halted at block height 37,318,000 (approximately May 18) and a planned network upgrade was never executed, leaving the chain fully deactivated. The official website and block explorer are inaccessible.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Evmos was described as the leading EVM-based blockchain within the Cosmos ecosystem and the canonical EVM chain on Cosmos, serving as the port-of-entry between Ethereum and the Interchain. Its public repository reported roughly 1.7k stars and 898 forks. It ultimately ceased operations, joining other Cosmos ecosystem projects that shut down amid competition from chains such as Ethereum and Solana.
Evmos combined full EVM compatibility with native Cosmos interoperability (IBC, Interchain Accounts), allowing a single Solidity/Vyper deployment to compose across both ecosystems, and introduced a fee-split model that routed half of transaction fees to dApp developers rather than entirely to validators or partial burning.
Technology
Evmos was a Proof-of-Stake blockchain built with the Cosmos SDK on the CometBFT consensus engine, fully compatible and interoperable with Ethereum via the Ethermint library, which enables the EVM to run on the Cosmos SDK. It supported standard Solidity and Vyper contracts, ERC20 and IBC assets, IBC and Interchain Accounts for cross-chain asset movement and account management, and implemented a fee-split mechanism directing half of each transaction fee to the developers of the dApp being used. The codebase is written primarily in Go and includes modules such as x/erc20, precompiles, EIP-712 support and JSON-RPC services.
Go-to-market
Adoption was pursued through open-source development and documentation, developer incentives including the fee-split mechanism, community-funded hackathons such as the Evmos Momentum Hackathon (over 150 developer submissions) and the One Million Wallets Hackathon, wallet and infrastructure partnerships, and community channels including Discord, a forum and social accounts.
Application developers seeking to deploy EVM smart contracts that interoperate across Ethereum and Cosmos chains, along with end users of DeFi, NFT and gaming dApps, validators, and institutional participants served through custody and wallet integrations.
Geography
The $27M token-sale announcement was datelined San Francisco; the codebase is copyrighted to Tharsis Labs Ltd. A co-founder's background is in Chile with study at UC Berkeley. Otherwise the sources do not detail office locations.
History
Development traces to Proposition 44 on the Cosmos Hub in April 2021, when Hub governance granted funding to Tharsis Labs to build the Ethermint library enabling the EVM to run on the Cosmos SDK. Evmos mainnet went live in 2022 (reported as launching near the end of April and in May 2022), after which the ecosystem grew with DeFi, NFT, gaming, wallet, custody and oracle integrations; the network also recovered TVL after the Nomad bridge attack. In November 2022 Tharsis Labs announced a $27M raise associated with a token sale. In April 2023 the repository's license moved from LGPLv3 to the Evmos Non-Commercial License 1.0 for software from version 13 onward. The network was ultimately wound down via governance proposal #331, which halted nodes at block height 37,318,000.
Risks & controversies
Evmos was affected by the Nomad bridge attack, which reduced TVL before community proposals restored it. The network was subsequently shut down by governance vote, with services taken offline and TVL falling to zero; commentary attributes the wave of Cosmos project closures, including Evmos, to low user growth, insufficient revenue and declining developer activity.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 5
launches, deals, and filingsGovernance proposal #331, "Evmos Shutdown," passed with 99.8% support (decision reported May 15). Nodes ceased operating at block height 37,318,000, approximately May 18; the block explorer, official website and related services went offline and TVL fell to $0.
Starting April 21, 2023, the Evmos repository moved from GNU LGPLv3 to the Evmos Non-Commercial License 1.0 for all software from Evmos version 13 onward, with two files remaining under LGPLv3.
Evmos core developer Tharsis Labs announced it had raised $27M in a token sale described as seed funding, led by Polychain Capital with participation from Galaxy, Huobi, HashKey, Coinbase Ventures, Circle Ventures, Asymmetric and angel investors.
$27M source ↗
Evmos launched on mainnet in 2022 (reported as going live near the end of April and as a May 2022 mainnet launch), bringing the Ethermint library into production as a general-purpose dApp platform compatible with Ethereum and Cosmos.
The Cosmos Hub governance community approved Proposition 44, granting funding to Tharsis Labs to build the Ethermint library enabling the EVM to run on the Cosmos SDK.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Evmos do?
- Evmos was an EVM-compatible Cosmos SDK blockchain, built by Tharsis Labs, that shut down after a governance vote.
- Who are Evmos's investors?
- Evmos's investors include Coinbase Ventures.