From: thepipeline_xyz
This article discusses the collaboration between Axelar and Monad Labs, highlighting the motivations, benefits, and future implications of this partnership for cross-chain interoperability.
Introduction to Axelar and its Role in Interoperability
Axelar is an interoperability network structured as a blockchain that connects 56 different blockchains and counting [00:03:30]. Founded by Georgios and Sergey, who previously were part of the founding team of the Algorand blockchain, Axelar addresses the scalability and security issues prevalent in earlier centralized bridges [00:00:34], [00:03:55]. Georgios was inspired to enter the blockchain space by Bitcoin’s censorship-resistant financial system, particularly during Greece’s financial crisis when sending remittances was nearly impossible [00:01:11].
Axelar is designed as a messaging platform rather than a simple bridge, allowing the creation of cross-chain applications like DEXs, money markets, and NFT marketplaces [00:03:36], [00:04:38]. Its key differentiators include:
- Many-to-many connectivity: As a central blockchain, Axelar enables a single connection point to access all other connected blockchains, unlike competitors that often offer only pairwise connectivity [00:05:22].
- Decentralization and Security: Built on the Cosmos SDK, Axelar has a fully decentralized validator set of 75 validators, making it almost as secure as the chains it connects to [00:06:07], [00:06:18]. This mitigates the common attack vector seen in centralized bridges, which have resulted in billions in losses [00:23:20]. Additional security layers include rate limiting and joint approval mechanisms, as seen with Lido’s decision to use both Axelar and Wormhole for asset minting [00:23:46], [00:24:51].
Why Monad? The Partnership’s Genesis
The inspiration for Axelar’s design, and a key reason for its excitement about Monad, stems from the challenges faced when launching Algorand, particularly onboarding users and developers to a new virtual machine and dealing with liquidity silos on Ethereum [00:07:42]. The need for robust bridging infrastructure that goes beyond simple asset transfers to improve user experience became evident [00:08:18].
The partnership with Monad has been in discussion for almost two years, initiated by a mutual investor, Dragonfly [00:28:27].
Technical Alignment
Axelar sees strong technical alignment with Monad. Monad’s high throughput, EVM compatibility, and instant finality are crucial for building efficient cross-chain applications [00:10:06], [00:16:55].
“Monad’s instant finality is actually crucial for building cross-chain applications because today one of the limiting factors of some of these cross chain message passing use cases is that nobody wants to wait like 20 minutes for a command to be passed… when you’re building like these message passing use cases on chains with instant finality such as Monad, the messages are much faster, right? It could be anywhere between like 60 to 90 seconds so the the user experience is substantially better.” [00:16:57]
Community and Developer Demand
The strong community excitement and demand from builders are significant factors. Developers consistently ask Axelar when they will launch on Monad, making it evident that Axelar needs to be present on Monad as soon as possible, ideally from day one [00:29:50].
Impact and Future Outlook
The collaboration between Axelar and Monad is poised to significantly impact the blockchain ecosystem.
Enhanced User and Developer Experience
Axelar enables developers building on Monad to have the “brain” of their application on the fast EVM chain while allowing users from other networks to interact seamlessly [00:10:09]. This means users won’t need a separate bridging step; an application can, for example, directly accept USDC deposits from Arbitrum and open a position on Monad [00:11:31]. This “plug and play” approach reduces application logic complexity and prevents liquidity fragmentation by bringing users to the Monad ecosystem [00:12:00].
Axelar’s Interchain Token Service (ITS), currently in beta, further enhances this by providing a code-free, permissionless tokenization and bridging solution [00:18:28]. This allows anyone to launch a token that is cross-chain from day one with robust security, illustrated by partnerships with projects like Frax Finance [00:19:07], [00:19:39].
The Future of Cross-Chain Applications
While asset transfers currently dominate cross-chain use cases, the industry is moving towards a future where interoperability is embedded in every application [00:13:30], [00:31:12]. As gas costs decrease and new chains launch daily, cross-chain transactions will scale exponentially [00:14:05].
“I think everything we see today on a single chain there will be a cross-chain version of it and on top of that there’ll be like new unique use cases that we haven’t really even thought of yet.” [00:14:58]
The conversation among builders has shifted from being single-chain focused to planning multi-chain deployments from the outset [00:15:52]. In this future, users ideally won’t need to be aware of which specific blockchain an asset or application resides on, with wallets abstracting away the complexities using interoperability infrastructure like Axelar [00:31:33].
The collaboration between Axelar and Monad was publicly announced on the podcast release date, marking an early commitment from Axelar to support Monad [00:28:01].
Final Alpha: Conviction and Community
The “Final Alpha” shared emphasizes the importance of conviction in technology and a strong community in the long run of crypto, rather than chasing short-term narratives [00:34:21].
“Ignore the noise if you’re in it for the long run and look for projects with amazing Tech and a very uh strong community.” [00:34:48] Monad is highlighted as an example of a project possessing both strong technology and a dedicated community [00:34:38]. For founders and individuals in the space, maintaining personal convictions amidst market hype is deemed critical for sustained focus and building in the right direction [00:35:58].