The blockchain platform was launched in 2020 by Georgios Vlachos and Sergey Gorbunov, both part of the founding team at Algorand. While Georgios designed the Algorand consensus protocol, Sergey led the effort to standardize BLS signatures, a standard that is now adopted as a draft in CFRG and was followed by Ethereum 2.0 implementations and others.

Sergey is an assistant professor at the University of Waterloo in Canada.

One thing that sets Axelar apart is its secure cross-chain communication over a dynamic validator. While a handful of projects are using optimistic setups and federated multi-sig, Axelar claims to be the only network building these capabilities on Proof-of-Stake.

Furthermore, the blockchain project has built protocols, APIs, and developer tools that make it easy for application developers to build cross-chain, without the need to learn a new programming language. “Our value proposition to the developer is that they can build on the chain that best suits their use case and background, while letting their users access anything on the decentralized web, with one click,” said co-founder Georgios Vlachos.

Axelar has a total token supply of 1,070,075,609 AXL tokens. At the time of writing, the circulating supply is 301,937,372 AXL.

According to the company, the allocations of AXL tokens are as follows: Backers: 29.5%; Team: 17%; Company operations: 12.5%; Community sale: 5%; Community programs (incl. insurance fund): 36%.

Axelar (AXL) tokens can be purchased on numerous exchanges, including: Coinbase, Kraken, Uniswap v3, Huobi, KuCoin and more.

Keep track of AXL live prices in real-time with the CMC mobile app.

In December 2022, Axelar launched a $60 million startup funding program. The initiative, which is backed by over 15 blockchain investors, seeks to accelerate the development of decentralized applications and protocols that can replace centralized exchanges (CEXs).

Dubbed the Axelar Ecosystem Startup Funding Program, the initiative is designed to “nurture a pipeline of developers building Web3 products that are better than anything on the centralized web.”

To qualify for funding, a project must be involved in safeguarding digital sovereignty, security, and privacy, working on the mass adoption of blockchain tech, or solving global problems that the centralized internet cannot address.

Learn more about decentralized applications with CMC Glossary.

What is a smart contract? Find out with this basic guide.

Find out more about cross-chain bridges.

Learn about cross-chains contract calls and interoperability.

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