Axelar and Polygon Supernets Team Up to Provide Cross-Chain Interoperability

Blockchain Interoperability Network Axelar said Wednesday it will deliver cross-chain communications for Polygon’s Supernets.

Polygon’s Supernets are customizable networks without any operational costs. This gives developers the ability to build their projects quickly on the supernets without any barriers to entry. Supernets ultimately aim to scale blockchains that are used for decentralized applications (dapps) such as gaming, decentralized finance (DeFi), and other entertainment projects.

Read more: What Is a Dapp? Decentralized Apps Explained

Axelar, which was created by the founding members behind the Algorand blockchain, is a network that gives users tools to connect their digital assets and dapps across multiple blockchains to unlock cross-chain communication. The company’s partnership with Polygon’s supernets will thus offer interoperability with other blockchains.

Polygon’s supernets are fairly new, with Polygon saying it would invest $100 million in them back in April. Avalanche also committed $290 million in March to develop its own version called “subnets.”

Read more: Polygon Commits $100M to ‘Supernets’ as Layer 1s Stand Up Application-Specific Blockchains

The Axelar/Polygon partnership “enables complex operations – for example, cross-chain borrow-lend, using NFTs as collateral,” said Parth Pathak, general manager of supernets at Polygon, in a statement to CoinDesk, referring to non-fungible tokens.

The goal for interoperability projects like Axelar is to “allow developers to build anywhere they want and still be connected to everyone else,” Axelar co-founder Sergey Gorbunov told CoinDesk. “So that's really the opportunity that we’re creating for the supernets and just the broader ecosystem.”

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