Cosmos is contributing its IBC interoperability protocol to Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust, which will hold protocol governance and the IBC trademark.
Key Facts
Cosmos is contributing the Inter-Blockchain Communication protocol to Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust, or LFDT, the company said.
LFDT will hold IBC's protocol governance under a public project charter, and the IBC trademark will be held by LFDT, while the code remains free and open source, according to Cosmos.
Cosmos said IBC has been used across more than 200 networks over five years and has processed more than $50 billion in transaction volume.
Cosmos said on Monday it is contributing the Inter-Blockchain Communication protocol, known as IBC, to Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust, or LFDT, bringing the protocol into a neutral governance environment.
LFDT will hold IBC's protocol governance under a public project charter and contribution guidelines, and the IBC trademark will be held by LFDT under its trademark policy. The code will remain free and open source, according to Cosmos.
"Contributing IBC to LFDT reflects our long-standing commitment to open source development and our belief that the community should shape IBC's future," Cosmos said in a blog post.
Cosmos is contributing its IBC protocol to Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust. Source: CoinMarketCap
What Changes for IBC
Cosmos will stay involved as a maintainer and contributor, and Datachain and OpenZeppelin will join as additional code maintainers, the company said. Developers will continue to contribute through existing processes such as the IBC contribution flow.
LFDT is a group under the Linux Foundation that stewards the open development of decentralized technologies, according to Cosmos. The Linux Foundation stewards projects including Node.js, Kubernetes, the Linux kernel, Hyperledger and Model Context Protocol, Cosmos said.
Cosmos said interoperability matters more as financial institutions adopt digital ledger technology for tokenization, payments and asset issuance.
Cosmos said joining LFDT connects IBC to banks, financial institutions, technology companies and governments that rely on open-source infrastructure, and gives organizations outside the existing IBC ecosystem a neutral place to adopt the protocol.
In a separate tokenization development on Monday, Ava Labs said Avalanche will power clearing for an NYSE-affiliated tokenized stock venue.
IBC's Growth
The first transaction over IBC happened on April 2, 2021, according to Cosmos. Originally built for the Cosmos ecosystem, the protocol now supports other ledgers including Ethereum, Solana and Hyperledger Besu, and 229 networks were on the public IBC network by 2025.
Cosmos said more than 500 individual contributors have supported IBC's development over the past five years.
Datachain, Succinct, Union and Althea helped extend IBC connectivity to Ethereum, according to Cosmos. In March 2025, Cosmos developers were trialing the protocol to enhance Ethereum interoperability.
ATOM traded at $1.37, up 2.7% over 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data.
This article contains links to third-party websites or other content for information purposes only ("Third-Party Sites"). The Third-Party Sites are not under the control of CoinMarketCap, and CoinMarketCap is not responsible for the content of any Third-Party Site, including without limitation any link contained in a Third-Party Site, or any changes or updates to a Third-Party Site. CoinMarketCap is providing these links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement, approval or recommendation by CoinMarketCap of the site or any association with its operators. This article is intended to be used and must be used for informational purposes only. It is important to do your own research and analysis before making any material decisions related to any of the products or services described. This article is not intended as, and shall not be construed as, financial advice. The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author's [company's] own and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinMarketCap.
