Axelar

Axelar is a blockchain network classified as a bridge and infrastructure layer whose stated purpose is to enable different blockchains to communicate with one another. It describes itself as a routing layer for cross-chain messages, allowing decentralized application users to interact with assets and applications on any connected chain through a single transaction. The problem it targets is blockchain fragmentation, where assets and users are effectively siloed within their native networks.

Axelar operates its own proof-of-stake blockchain on which validators produce blocks, participate in multiparty cryptographic signing, and vote on the state of external chains they monitor. The AXL token is used to pay network transaction fees and for governance, and tokenholders can delegate their tokens to a validator's staking pool in exchange for a share of rewards minus the validator's commission. Notably, end users of the cross-chain service do not need to hold AXL directly, because fee conversions from the source-chain token into AXL are handled automatically on the back end.

Transaction fees on the Axelar network are paid in the source chain's native token and converted into AXL, with those fees distributed to validators and staking tokenholders. Network rewards are described as inflationary, meaning new AXL tokens are issued to fund them, though the protocol notes that fee-burning mechanics could make the supply deflationary over time. With a circulating supply of approximately 1,229,365,703 AXL and a fully diluted value to market-cap ratio of 1.018823 at this point in time, the gap between circulating and total supply is small, as the supply-issued figure stands at roughly 98.15 percent and supply pending at roughly 1.88 percent.