BridgeRadar
Messaging protocol

Axelar

Axelar is a separate blockchain that passes messages between Ethereum-style networks, Cosmos networks and others. Most people use it indirectly, for example through Squid, a service built on top of it. In December 2025 Circle agreed to buy the team and own technology of Interop Labs, the company that first built Axelar. The Axelar network, its foundation and the AXL token stay independent and community-run, and Common Prefix, another long-time contributor, takes over Interop Labs’ role.

Official website

How it works

  1. 1Axelar’s watch special contracts on each connected network. When they agree a message is valid, they sign it together.
  2. 2A feature called General Message Passing (GMP) lets apps on one network trigger actions on another.
  3. 3The Interchain Token Service lets a token be issued on several networks and moved between them. Cosmos networks are reached through IBC, the standard link that Cosmos networks use with each other.

Trust model

You are trusting Axelar’s validators. They put up stake (a deposit of coins), and enough of them must sign together before a message is accepted.

Strengths

  • The main link between the Cosmos world and Ethereum-style networks.
  • Can carry instructions for apps, not only token transfers.

Limitations

  • Tokens wrapped by Axelar (for example axlUSDC) are not the official version on most networks, so they can be harder to use or sell.