Crypto Gloss

Axelar Network

Axelar Network is a general-purpose cross-chain communication protocol built on Cosmos SDK — providing the infrastructure for any blockchain to securely send messages, tokens, and arbitrary contract calls to any other connected chain, using a decentralized validator set to reach consensus on the states of connected blockchains and relay messages between them. Unlike bridges that only transfer tokens, Axelar’s core primitive is General Message Passing (GMP) — the ability to send any arbitrary data or contract call cross-chain, enabling developers to build applications that span multiple blockchains in a single transaction. A user on Ethereum can trigger contract logic on Avalanche with one signature, for example. Axelar is secured by 70+ validators who stake AXL tokens and run light clients of connected chains to verify their state — decentralized verification vs. multi-sig bridges. The Axelar Virtual Machine (AVM) and Interchain Token Service (ITS) layer on top of GMP to provide developer-friendly primitives for cross-chain tokens and cross-chain smart contract execution. Axelar connects 50+ chains including all major EVM networks, Cosmos chains, and non-EVM chains like Stellar and Flow.

Architecture

“`

Chain A (Ethereum) Chain B (Avalanche)

Gas (ETH) Contract execution

↓ ↑

Axelar Gateway Contract Axelar Gateway Contract

(locked/approved message) (approved message → forward)

↓ ↑

Axelar Network (Cosmos SDK)

┌─────────────────────────────┐

│ 70+ Validators │

│ Stake AXL tokens │

│ Run light clients of │

│ connected chains │

│ Reach consensus on: │

│ – Chain A tx included? │

│ – Message hash correct? │

│ – Approve for Chain B? │

└─────────────────────────────┘

“`

General Message Passing (GMP)

GMP is Axelar’s core primitive — allows smart contracts to:

  1. Call contracts on another chain (callContract)
  2. Send tokens + call contracts (callContractWithToken)
  3. Receive and execute — destination contract implements IAxelarExecutable

Developer experience:

“`solidity

// Send message from Ethereum to Avalanche

IAxelarGateway(gateway).callContract(

“Avalanche”, // destination chain

“0xDestContract”, // destination contract address

payload // arbitrary bytes

);

// Pay gas fee in ETH to GasService contract

“`

Interchain Token Service (ITS)

ITS enables natively cross-chain tokens — a token that exists on multiple chains but with unified supply:

  • Deploy once, mint canonical representation on any connected chain
  • Token transfers: lock on source chain → mint on destination (or use canonical cross-chain supply)
  • Interchain Token Standard: developers extend existing tokens to be cross-chain

vs. wrapped tokens: ITS tokens have unified cross-chain canonical supply; wrapped tokens create N separate ERC-20s with fragmented liquidity

AXL Token

  • Function: Staking for validator security, governance voting, gas fee payment
  • Supply: 1 billion initial, small inflation for staking rewards
  • Gas abstraction: Users pay fees in source chain’s native token; Axelar converts to AXL internally
  • Governance: Protocol parameter changes, chain additions, fee adjustments

vs. Competing Protocols

Protocol Security Model Latency Arbitrary Calldata
Axelar PoS validators (70+) ~1-5 min Yes (GMP)
LayerZero Oracle + Relayer (configurable) ~30s-2min Yes (LayerZero message)
Wormhole 19 Guardian multisig ~15-30s Yes (VAAs)
Chainlink CCIP DON + Risk Management ~5-20 min Yes

Related Terms

Sources