Axelar Network: Architecture, Ecosystem, and Interchain Vision

Web3 is moving beyond isolated chains. As modular architectures gain traction and rollups proliferate, the future of blockchain isn’t about which single chain wins—it’s about how seamlessly they work together. Axelar is leading that shift by building the secure messaging and routing infrastructure that turns fragmentation into composability.

Unlike traditional bridges that simply move assets, Axelar enables programmable communication across blockchains. It lets developers build interchain applications that are faster, more secure, and ready for real-world use. Whether you’re transferring tokens or executing cross-chain smart contracts Axelar offers the foundation.

With growing integrations, support for rollups and Cosmos SDK chains, and institutional-grade compliance tooling, Axelar is becoming the interchain operating system for a connected blockchain economy. This article explores its journey, tools, tokenomics, and what’s ahead in 2025 and beyond.

Axelar is what happens when multichain stops patching things, and starts coordinating them. https://t.co/BwKZrViWjp

— Axelar Network (@axelar) August 2, 2025

Founding Vision and Team Background

Axelar was founded in 2020 by Sergey Gorbunov and Georgios Vlachos, both of whom previously worked at Algorand. Gorbunov, who earned his PhD from MIT with a focus on cryptography and threshold encryption, contributed to Algorand’s cryptographic research before launching Axelar. Vlachos served as a software engineer at Algorand, where he gained experience with blockchain infrastructure and distributed systems.

The two co-founders recognized a growing challenge in the blockchain space: applications were being built on isolated networks that couldn’t communicate securely or efficiently. They launched Axelar to address this gap by enabling generalized, secure cross-chain communication. Their vision was to create a decentralized network that could connect diverse ecosystems—EVM and non-EVM chains alike—without relying on trusted intermediaries or sacrificing security.

Core Components of the Axelar Ecosystem

• General Message Passing (GMP): GMP allows smart contracts to send and execute function calls across different chains. It powers cross-chain swaps, NFT bridging, multichain gaming logic, and more. GMP supports EVM and non-EVM chains and is the backbone of many Axelar-powered dApps.
• Interchain Token Service (ITS): ITS enables canonical token representations across chains. Instead of relying on wrapped assets, ITS routes tokens through a hub-based design to ensure consistency, security, and composability. It has already enabled canonical USDC and USDT.
• GMP Express: Launched in early 2024, GMP Express reduces confirmation latency by allowing developers to sponsor fast message delivery through verified relayers. It significantly improves UX for bridging, lending, and trading applications. GMP Express includes relayer selection, collateralized slashing, and sponsor payments that enforce delivery guarantees while optimizing for near-instant confirmations. Developers use it to boost app responsiveness without compromising security.
• Interchain Amplifier: The Amplifier is a permissionless onboarding framework that lets new chains join the Axelar network without direct core team intervention. It uses economic security guarantees and formal verification pathways to maintain trust. It decentralizes network expansion and scales Axelar’s validator reach while preserving safety guarantees. Chains such as XRPL, Flow, Stellar, and Solana have been queued for integration through the Amplifier.
• Axelar Virtual Machine (AVM): Lets developers build once and run cross-chain logic everywhere, with built-in routing and delivery handled by Axelar.
• Cosmos SDK Architecture: Axelar is built using Cosmos SDK and runs on a CometBFT (Tendermint) consensus engine. This ensures fast finality, flexible governance, and modular extensibility.
• Governance: AXL holders and validators govern upgrades, reward emissions, relay fees, and new chain onboarding through active proposals.

For stablecoins to power global payments, they can’t be stuck on a single chain.

Axelar’s Interchain Token Service (ITS) makes it simple:

✅ Launch
✅ Manage
✅ Expand across many networks

How asset issuers can unlock the global remittance market 👇https://t.co/R34jk7NlOm pic.twitter.com/sxRDbHBwVR

— Axelar Network (@axelar) August 30, 2025

The Role of the AXL Token

The AXL token is the native staking, governance, and utility token of the Axelar Network. At its core, AXL is used to secure the network via proof-of-stake, incentivize honest validator behavior, and govern critical protocol decisions.

Currently, AXL serves three primary functions:

1. Staking & Validator Security: Validators stake AXL to participate in consensus and are subject to slashing for misbehavior or downtime. Delegators can also stake AXL to share in rewards while contributing to network security.
2. Gas & Relayer Incentives: AXL is used for gas abstraction and fee payments when users interact with Axelar’s GMP and token transfer services. Relayers are reimbursed in AXL from protocol-managed reward pools.
3. Governance: AXL holders vote on proposals that affect network upgrades, parameter changes, funding allocations, and new integrations—especially those related to the Interchain Amplifier and reward emissions.

Real utility, securing connectivity.
Tokenomics that scale.

This is what a mature blockchain system looks like. $AXL https://t.co/tNp5ycPuLr

— Axelar Network (@axelar) July 21, 2025

Evolving Utility as the Network Scales

As Axelar expands across new chains and domains—like institutional finance, gaming, and CBDCs—its token utility evolves to match growing demand and network complexity:

• Interchain Amplifier Access:
  New chains must bond or pay in AXL to onboard via the Amplifier, positioning the token as a gateway for expansion.
• Relayer Bonding and Express Guarantees:
  GMP Express relayers post AXL as collateral to guarantee message delivery. If they misbehave or fail to meet latency requirements, the system slashes their stake—imposing real economic consequences and reinforcing security.
• Custom Reward Pools:
  dApp teams can deploy custom AXL reward pools to subsidize gas fees or incentivize relayer support. This application-driven demand strengthens AXL’s utility across use cases.
• Governance Over Tooling and Compliance:
  As regulated entities join the ecosystem, AXL holders govern new tooling—such as whitelisting logic, rate limits, and role-based message execution—ensuring decentralized control over compliance infrastructure.

In short, AXL is evolving from a validator incentive token to a core utility layer for interchain connectivity, economic security, and decentralized governance. Its long-term value will be tied to network volume, chain integrations, enterprise adoption, and programmable use cases that consume or require AXL for access and alignment.

Developer Tooling and Abstractions

Axelar offers tools to streamline cross-chain app development:

• AxelarJS SDK: Abstracts away message passing and token routing logic.
• AxelarScan: Explorer for cross-chain transactions and GMP calls.
• Squid Router SDK: Aggregates DEX and bridge liquidity across chains for seamless swaps.
• Mobius: A permissionless GMP integration stack.
• Gas Services: Enables sponsored gas or pay-on-behalf logic across chains.

These tools have helped Axelar onboard dApps across DeFi, NFTs, games, and RWA platforms.

Ecosystem Integrations

Axelar’s growing ecosystem is a testament to its vision of universal Web3 connectivity. By supporting over 80 chains, the network enables seamless communication, asset transfer, and logic execution across diverse blockchain environments. This section outlines Axelar’s most impactful integrations and ongoing ecosystem expansion.

Connected to 80+ blockchains via @Axelar, XRP liquidity now flows into DeFi, stablecoins & RWAs. https://t.co/XAvEtZRzLF

— Axelar Network (@axelar) September 2, 2025

Cross-Chain Interoperability Partners

Axelar supports both EVM-compatible and non-EVM chains, leveraging its GMP, Interchain Token Service (ITS), and Amplifier onboarding framework:

• XRPL EVM Sidechain: Offers full GMP support and seamless XRP asset bridging.
• Sui & Flow: Supported via the Amplifier, bringing asset flows and composability to high-throughput, developer-focused chains.
• Stellar & Solana: In-progress integrations aimed at opening up institutional and high-speed consumer finance to GMP and ITS capabilities.
• XION: A chain built for everyday consumer dApps, already GMP-enabled for native cross-chain access.
• TON (Telegram Open Network): Announced as part of Axelar’s intent to unify emerging social and gaming economies into its interchain layer.

Anything is possible #XRPLedger https://t.co/x5ZorcOUwW

— Axelar Ecosystem (@Axl_Ecosystem) September 16, 2025

Tooling and Routing Infrastructure

Axelar’s success is amplified through an extensive toolkit that makes integrations seamless for developers and enterprise platforms:

• Squid Router: Built on Axelar, this cross-chain DEX aggregator allows users to swap tokens across chains in one click — including gas abstraction and automatic bridging.
• Mobius: Enables permissionless GMP integration for developers, making it easy to plug any dApp into Axelar’s cross-chain messaging.
• Circle’s CCTP Integration: Allows native USDC to flow through Axelar’s routes, eliminating wrapped asset risks and improving capital efficiency.
• Gas Services SDK: Supports sponsor-based gas payments and “pay-for-user” models — crucial for onboarding users from non-EVM chains.

Institutional Onramps and Custody

To support enterprises and high-volume users, Axelar integrates with leading platforms in custody, compliance, and financial infrastructure:

• Crypto.com Custody: Supports AXL secure token custody for institutional clients.
• Microsoft for Startups and Deutsche Bank DLT initiatives: Axelar is part of various working groups exploring tokenized asset transfers, CBDC gateways, and enterprise-grade interoperability.

🤝 @axelar Foundation selects https://t.co/vCNztATkNg to secure institutional custody of $AXL tokens.

Read more here: https://t.co/60jganPuWp pic.twitter.com/4OCFiZfr41

— Crypto.com (@cryptocom) September 5, 2025

Scaling, Security & Decentralization

Axelar’s architecture enables secure, scalable interchain communication through modular validator design, permissionless expansion, and incentive-driven decentralization. Key components include:

• Validator Set: Over 70 active validators secure the Cosmos SDK-based Axelar chain via AXL staking, slashing, and rewards.
• General Message Passing (GMP): Decouples execution from consensus, allowing safe cross-chain routing without trusting third-party bridges.
• Interchain Amplifier: Enables permissionless onboarding of new chains using standardized validation and community-governed approvals.
• GMP Express: Introduces fast message relaying via bonded relayers, balancing near-instant execution with eventual validator finality.
• Reward Pools: Incentivize validators, relayers, developers, and ecosystem partners using configurable AXL-based emissions.
• Security Audits: Axelar’s infrastructure is continuously audited by firms like Trail of Bits and Halborn, with a transparent incident response process.

The total transferred volume through @axelar GMP has reached ~$5.2B, processed in 3.1M transactions by nearly 800k unique addresses.

Let's dive in 👇 pic.twitter.com/eE82FYXGkj

— Hess (@0xhess) September 3, 2025

This layered approach gives Axelar the flexibility to scale horizontally across hundreds of chains without compromising validator integrity or message safety.

Compliance & Institutional Adoption

• Programmable Compliance: Axelar enables chain-level whitelisting, rate limiting, and access control through GMP. This appeals to regulated entities.
• Role-Based Messaging: Developers can define roles and permissions at the smart contract level using Axelar’s General Message Passing.
• Trusted Execution: Institutions gain confidence from bonded relayers, slashing conditions, and guaranteed delivery via GMP Express.
• Institutional Rollups: Builders can launch application-specific rollups with built-in compliance features using Axelar’s infrastructure and routing.
• Governance Evolution: As compliance needs grow, Axelar governance will define rules for access, roles, and institutional onboarding.
• Partnership Momentum: Axelar continues working with major custodians, middleware providers, and developers building regulated financial products.

These features ensure that regulated entities and fintech developers can leverage Axelar’s interchain layer while meeting internal and external audit requirements.

Axelar’s Trajectory: Powering the Interchain Future

Axelar is building more than cross-chain messaging—it’s designing the operating system for a fully connected blockchain world. As rollups, appchains, and Layer 1s evolve into modular components, Axelar provides the infrastructure that brings them together. Its growing toolkit—including GMP Express, AVM, and the Interchain Amplifier—enables permissionless scaling and high-speed delivery with validator-backed security.

These new primitives unlock real-world adoption while preserving the speed and security of decentralized networks. Governance is evolving in parallel. AXL holders now shape onboarding, relay incentives, and compliance rules—all while aligning protocol growth with community oversight.

Every trend in Web3—modularity, real-world assets, cross-chain liquidity—points toward a connected future. Axelar is building that future today, chain by chain, block by block.

* Disclaimer: News content provided by Genfinity is intended solely for informational purposes. While we strive to deliver accurate and up-to-date information, we do not offer financial or legal advice of any kind. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with qualified professionals before making any financial or legal decisions. Genfinity disclaims any responsibility for actions taken based on the information presented in our articles. Our commitment is to share knowledge, foster discussion, and contribute to a better understanding of the topics covered in our articles. We advise our readers to exercise caution and diligence when seeking information or making decisions based on the content we provide.