Cosmos Hub Wallet: Stake ATOM, Memos and the Unbonding Period

Cosmos addresses: one key, many prefixes

Your Cosmos Hub address starts with cosmos1, followed by a bech32-encoded hash of your public key with a checksum. Keylo derives the key on m/44'/118'/0'/0/0, coin type 118, which is the default for Keplr, Leap and most Cosmos wallets. Importing the same phrase into any of them shows the same cosmos1 address.

Many Cosmos chains share coin type 118, so the same key produces addresses on each of them that differ only in their prefix: cosmos1 on the Hub, osmo1 on Osmosis, celestia1 on Celestia and so on. They are separate accounts on separate chains, each with its own balance. A deposit made to the wrong prefix is not lost, because you control that key too, but it arrives on a different chain from the one you expected.

How to create a Cosmos Hub wallet with Keylo

Coming from Keplr or Leap? Import their 12- or 24-word phrase and your cosmos1 address will match, along with any delegations it already has, since staking positions live on chain rather than in the wallet app. If Keylo shows a different address, the other wallet probably used a non-standard path or account index, and the funds remain reachable there.

1. 1

   Visit Keylo in a current browser on your phone or computer. No extension is required.

2. 2

   Register with your name, email, phone and password, then confirm your email address.

3. 3

   Keylo's page generates a 12-word recovery phrase on your device and encrypts it with your password-derived key. Only the ciphertext is stored.

4. 4

   Open Cosmos Hub in your assets to see your cosmos1 address, labelled with the network name.

5. 5

   Back up the phrase: Settings reveals it after you re-enter your password. Write it down and keep it offline.

How to receive ATOM

IBC tokens from other Cosmos chains can also arrive at your cosmos1 address. Their on-chain denominations begin with ibc/ followed by a long hash, and Keylo shows them as tokens alongside ATOM. Because anyone can send IBC tokens to anyone, an unfamiliar one in your balance is not proof that someone paid you; check where it came from on Mintscan before doing anything with it.

1. 1

   Open ATOM and tap Receive.

2. 2

   Copy your cosmos1 address or show its QR code.

3. 3

   Ask the sender to withdraw on the Cosmos Hub network, often labelled ATOM or Cosmos. Your own address does not need a memo.

4. 4

   Watch Activity. Transfers usually confirm within a few seconds and link to Mintscan.

How to send ATOM with a memo

Most exchanges receive ATOM for all customers at one shared address and use the memo to identify you. Leave it out and the ATOM still reaches the exchange, but crediting it can take a support ticket and days of waiting. The memo is plain public text; never put anything private in it. For transfers between personal wallets, leave it empty.

1. 1

   Open ATOM and tap Send.

2. 2

   Paste a cosmos1 address or scan its QR code. Keylo checks the prefix and checksum.

3. 3

   If you are depositing to an exchange, paste its memo into the Memo field exactly.

4. 4

   Enter the amount, or tap Max.

5. 5

   Choose a fee speed and review the summary, which lists the recipient, memo, exact amount and network fee.

6. 6

   Confirm to sign in your browser.

Cosmos Hub fees: gas and the fee market

A Cosmos transaction declares a gas limit, the most computation it may use, and pays a fee equal to that limit multiplied by a gas price in uatom, where 1 ATOM equals 1,000,000 uatom. Wallets estimate the gas a transaction needs and add a small safety margin. Unlike some chains, Cosmos does not refund unused gas, which is why accurate estimates matter.

The Hub runs a fee market that sets a minimum gas price based on how full recent blocks have been, with a floor of 0.005 uatom per gas unit at the time of writing. When blocks are busy the minimum rises, and transactions offering less are rejected. A normal transfer still costs only a small fraction of an ATOM. Fees go to the network, and Keylo adds nothing to normal sends.

How to stake ATOM in Keylo

Delegating does not send your ATOM to the validator; the coins stay in your account, bonded to that validator's stake, and only you can move them. Rewards build up continuously and are paid out when you claim them. The Cosmos SDK also pays out pending rewards automatically whenever you change a delegation with that validator. Delegators inherit their validator's governance vote unless they vote themselves, so a validator's voting record is worth a look before you commit.

1. 1

   Open ATOM and switch to its staking view.

2. 2

   Pick a validator. Compare commission and reputation, check uptime and voting power on Mintscan, and consider validators outside the top few to help decentralization.

3. 3

   Choose Delegate, enter an amount and leave some ATOM unstaked for future fees.

4. 4

   Review the summary and confirm. Your delegation starts earning rewards from the next block.

5. 5

   Return any time to claim rewards, redelegate to a different validator or undelegate.

The 21-day unbonding period, redelegation and slashing

When you undelegate, your ATOM enters a 21-day unbonding period. During those three weeks it earns no rewards, cannot be transferred and can still be slashed if the validator misbehaved while you were bonded. After 21 days it returns to your available balance automatically. If you think you may need the money soon, keep it unstaked.

Redelegation moves stake from one validator to another instantly, with no unbonding wait. The catch is that ATOM you just redelegated cannot be redelegated again from its new validator until 21 days have passed, and you can have at most seven unbonding or redelegation entries in progress between any pair.

Validators can be slashed for breaking protocol rules, and delegators share the penalty. On the Hub, double-signing currently costs 5% of the stake and excessive downtime 0.01%, and governance can change these numbers. Spreading ATOM across a few reliable validators limits the impact of any single one.

Swap ATOM for BTC, ETH and more

ATOM is one of the assets THORChain supports natively, and Keylo uses THORChain for in-wallet ATOM swaps. You can trade ATOM for native BTC, ETH and other coins on their own chains without wrapped tokens. Keylo builds the transaction, including the swap memo THORChain needs, and the quote lays out THORChain's route, the amount you can expect, the lowest amount you will accept and every fee along the way, Keylo's included. More on swap and bridge.

If a swap cannot complete, THORChain refunds the ATOM to your sending address, minus network fees. Only unstaked ATOM can be swapped, so undelegate first, and wait out the unbonding period, if your ATOM is staked. The ATOM leg finalizes in seconds, but the outbound leg waits on the destination chain, so a swap into BTC takes longer than one into a faster network.

Cosmos Hub safety tips

• Always include the exchange memo when depositing ATOM, and re-check it on the review screen.
• Ignore IBC tokens that appear unexpectedly with names like claim or reward. They are bait for phishing sites.
• Be wary of messages from validators or their supposed staff asking you to restake through a link.
• Never enter your recovery phrase on a website promising airdrops for ATOM stakers.
• Turn on two-factor authentication and set an anti-phishing code, explained on Keylo security.
• Keep a little unstaked ATOM so you can always pay fees to claim, redelegate or undelegate.

Frequently asked questions