HBAR Foundation, Stacks, Moonriver, & Iron Fish Unite To Fast-Track Web3 Interoperability

We’re excited to announce that the Hedera Network, Stacks, Moonriver, and Iron Fish are among the first to join a devnet-phase pilot of Interchain Amplifier, the first service of its kind to enable permissionless connectivity across major blockchain networks including Bitcoin, Ethereum, EVM chains, IBC, Hedera (EVM compatible) and 64 more chains. 

Interchain Amplifier, now available on Axelar devnet, is a smart-contract-based developer toolkit developed by Interop Labs for the Axelar network that makes new-chain integrations permissionless and easy. 

Once integrated with Axelar mainnet, Amplifier will automate routing and translation across Axelar’s growing, open network of interconnected blockchains. 

Designed to run via on-chain smart contracts, Amplifier will leverage the security guarantees of the Axelar network to quickly bootstrap new cross-chain paths, expanding use cases, liquidity and user base. 

“The excitement around Bitcoin L2s and other novel blockchain approaches now has an outlet,” said Sergey Gorbunov, CEO of Interop Labs and co-founder of Axelar protocol. “I’m thrilled to see such a diverse group of consensus mechanisms leading the move to interoperability that’s fast, open and permissionless.”

Early Integration Partners Showcase the Interchain Amplifier's Versatility

Interchain Amplifier is attracting some of the most innovative protocols and networks in the industry, via a pilot program run by Interop Labs to support early adopters. 

Hedera, an open source, leaderless proof-of-stake network, is built on the hashgraph consensus algorithm. Known for its unmatched performance, security and compliance, Hedera facilitates the smooth tokenization of both physical and digital assets at scale.

“Interoperability is a foundational piece to Web3’s mass adoption because it optimizes the UX for everyone from dApp developers to end users," said Elaine Song, VP Strategy at The HBAR Foundation. "Our collective goal is to make all the benefits of DLT accessible to billions. Axelar and Interchain Amplifier's multichain reach will be key, both in progressing the Hedera ecosystem’s institutional DeFi strategy and connecting the network’s speed, scalability and low fixed fees to institutions, creators and consumers around the world.”

Stacks is a layer-2 (L2) smart-contract platform built on Bitcoin, maintaining strong security and supporting a wide range of applications, from financial services to gaming. 

“Unlike traditional approaches that confine interoperability within a single ecosystem, Axelar adopts a modular framework, breaking down barriers between disparate blockchains,”  said Mitchell Cuevas, executive director at the Stacks Foundation. “Axelar’s integration with Stacks will bring the leading layer 2 to users and builders across ecosystems, further expanding the Bitcoin economy and creating access for all.” 

Moonriver is a Polkadot parachain that serves as a testing ground on Polkadot’s Kusama network for Moonbeam, allowing developers to test new applications in real-world economic conditions before they go live.

"This program is a unique opportunity for the Moonriver Network to be integrated with Axelar's next-generation Interchain Amplifier architecture," said Aaron Evans, Head of Operations for the Moonbeam Foundation. "Axelar shares Moonbeam's vision of fostering a rich and interconnected blockchain ecosystem. We couldn't be more pleased with our community's overwhelming approval of this initiative that will address a fundamental need for Moonriver.”

Iron Fish is a chain-agnostic privacy layer for all assets, built on zero-knowledge (ZK) proof cryptography and proof-of-work consensus. It provides multi-asset functionality for private transactions across its encrypted network and a platform for developers to build complex, secure applications.

"With the connection of Iron Fish into Axelar's Interchain Amplifier, we’re able to bring a comprehensive privacy layer to every chain supported by Axelar,” said Elena Nadolinski, founder and CEO at Iron Fish. “Iron Fish is a full privacy chain that encrypts sensitive user data using zero-knowledge proofs for validation and is capable of providing privacy for all other assets. Amplifier stood out in its flexibility and advanced capability of connecting and supporting all different chain types with one another.” 

The Interchain Amplifier would be a vital addition to Axelar’s development stack. Now on devnet, it is designed for full integration to Axelar mainnet, subject to on-chain vote and approval. Amplifier significantly enhances the potential scale of an interoperable Web3 by enabling easy connections across all blockchains and beyond. 

For more information, read the Interchain Amplifier documentation.

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About Axelar Network

Axelar unifies Web3, delivering the shortest path to scale applications across many blockchains: developers “build once, run everywhere”; adopters already include Uniswap, Microsoft and natively cross-chain startups.

Imagine a global transport hub where anyone can build an application to reach all blockchain users at once – 10X as many active users as the leading Web3 application environment. Axelar supports smart contracts at the cross-chain layer, giving blockchain developers super powers to scale their applications with ease. Backers include Binance, Coinbase, Dragonfly, Galaxy and Polychain. Learn more: axelar.network.

About The HBAR Foundation

The HBAR Foundation supports the creation of Web3 communities on the Hedera network by empowering and funding builders. The Foundation's six funds - focused on the Crypto Economy, Consumer Engagement, Sustainability, Fintech, Privacy, and Female Founders - enable entrepreneurs, developers, and enterprises of all sizes to tackle human problems while creating and controlling their own economies. Whether you're building something new or migrating an existing EVM-based application and community, the HBAR Foundation is here to support development on the Hedera public network. For additional information, please visit https://hbarfoundation.org/

About Interop Labs
Interop Labs is a leading developer of blockchain interoperability technology, used by Web3 infrastructure protocols to support scaling the next generation of internet applications to billions of users. Interop Labs is the initial developer of Axelar network. Learn more at interoplabs.io.

About Stacks 

Stacks is a Bitcoin L2 that enables smart contracts and decentralized applications to use Bitcoin as a secure base layer. The 2024 Nakamoto and sBTC releases will bring faster speeds and transactions backed by 100% Bitcoin finality. Stacks is the current leading Bitcoin L2 by developer traction and market cap and is poised to help unlock Bitcoin and its $500B in passive capital as a fully programmable, productive asset. The Stacks (STX) token, used as gas on the L2, was the first to undergo an SEC-qualified sale in the United States. The project explicitly decentralized with the mainnet launch in 2021. In the Stacks ecosystem, there are currently 30+ contributing entities including a non-profit Stacks Foundation, a developer tooling company Hiro, Xverse, Trust Machines, Mechanism, Bitcoin L2 Labs, ALEX, Bitcoin Frontier Fund, and more. 

About Moonriver

Moonriver is a companion network to Moonbeam and provides a permanently incentivized canary network. New code ships to Moonriver first, where it can be tested and verified under real economic conditions. Once proven, the same code ships to Moonbeam on Polkadot.

About Iron Fish

Iron Fish is an L1, PoW chain, with only private ZKP-based transactions. Mainnet launched on April 20th, 2023, it's the only mainnet privacy chain to support custom assets,  and is built to be the biggest unified privacy pool for all crypto assets across all transparent chains with upcoming bridge integrations. Iron Fish aims to bring safe privacy to crypto assets with robust view key support and trusted bridge partners to bring the best level of privacy to every single crypto asset across any chain while deterring bad actors and illicit activity. Iron Fish is a fully decentralized project and has recently undergone a community-voted hard fork to change out its hashing algorithm to better suit the GPU community.