Axelar (AXL): how it works, supply and reviews
In short
- Type
- Cross-chain interoperability network; a gateway contract on each connected chain passes messages to and from Axelar
- Inflation
- Network rewards are inflationary; the rate was 4.8% as of 25 February 2025
- Risks and caveats
- Cross-chain transfers depend on Axelar validators, which jointly hold the gateway keys and vote to confirm transactions on other chains.
- Checked
- 31 October 2026
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Key facts
- Ticker
- AXL
- Official site
- axelar.network
Key facts checked on 31 October 2026 against official sources.
What is Axelar
Axelar is a proof-of-stake blockchain built to connect other blockchains: its validators verify activity on connected chains and jointly control gateway contracts that pass messages and tokens between them. AXL is the native token used for staking, governance and transaction fees.
Network and consensus
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Type | Cross-chain interoperability network; a gateway contract on each connected chain passes messages to and from Axelar |
| Consensus | Proof of stake with an open validator set |
| Runs on | Cosmos SDK-based chain (mainnet chain ID axelar-dojo-1) |
| Cross-chain voting | Cross-chain requests use quadratic voting: each validator's votes equal the square root of its stake |
| Validators | Active set of 75 validators (as of August 2023) |
| Launched | Public mainnet rolled out in February 2022 |
Supply and issuance
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Inflation | Network rewards are inflationary; the rate was 4.8% as of 25 February 2025 |
| Fee burn | Since the Cobalt upgrade (v1.2.1), 98% of AXL gas fees go to a burn address and 2% to the community grant pool |
| Verifier rewards | Newly connected chains fund AXL reward pools for Verifiers instead of extra inflationary rewards |
| Initial distribution | About 3% (around 30 million AXL) was expected to circulate on the first day of trading |
On 31 October 2026: 1,252,244,828 AXL in circulation, 1,258,877,271 AXL in total (source: Axelarscan API (total and circulating supply endpoints)).
What AXL is used for
- Staking: validators and delegators stake AXL to secure the network
- Governance: staked AXL holders vote on software upgrades, parameter changes, community pool spending and contract calls
- Transaction fees on the Axelar network
Who develops and governs Axelar
- Developer
- Interop Labs is the initial developer of the Axelar network
- Founders
- Sergey Gorbunov (CEO and co-founder) and Georgios Vlachos (co-founder, director at Axelar Foundation)
- Foundation
- Axelar Foundation runs the official website; its terms of use are governed by Cayman Islands law
- Governance
- On-chain proposals by AXL holders with a sufficient deposit; gateway upgrades on EVM chains run through timelocked governance contracts
- Open source
- Network code and contracts are open source (GitHub: axelarnetwork)
History
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| January 2021 | Axelar whitepaper (draft 1.0) is published. |
| February 2022 | Public mainnet rollout, connecting Ethereum, Cosmos, Terra, Moonbeam, Fantom and Avalanche. |
| October 2023 | Axelar Foundation proposes sending AXL gas fees to a burn address. |
| 25 February 2025 | The v1.2.1 "Cobalt" upgrade goes live after an on-chain vote, burning fees and introducing Verifier reward pools. |
Security and audits
- Axelar publishes audit reports on GitHub, including Code4rena (July 2023 and August 2024), Least Authority (October 2023), Halborn (May 2024), NCC Group and Ackee Blockchain (2024-2025) and OtterSec (2024-2025).
- A bug bounty runs on Immunefi, with a separate disclosure address for issues outside its scope.
- Gateways rate-limit how much of each routed asset can move in a given time interval, and validators must rotate their signing keys periodically.
Security incidents
| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 19 June 2026 | Exploit: On 19 June 2026 Axelar said it had identified an incident affecting assets bridged over IBC from the Axelar chain to Secret Network, with approximately $4.67M worth of tokens taken. It said the issue was isolated to the Secret-side ICS-20 smart contract, and later that neither Axelar nor IBC was compromised and that the exploited contract was not developed, deployed or maintained by Axelar. Funds returned: not stated | x.com |
Risks and caveats
- Cross-chain transfers depend on Axelar validators, which jointly hold the gateway keys and vote to confirm transactions on other chains.
- Validators need at least 2% of total bonded stake to take part in the multi-party signing protocols, which limits who signs.
- AXL supply grows through inflationary rewards; fee burning is meant to offset this over time.
- Native AXL and wrapped wAXL use different addresses; sending tokens to an incompatible address can lose funds.
Official links
- Website: www.axelar.network
- Docs: docs.axelar.dev
- Whitepaper: docs.axelar.dev/axelar_whitepaper.pdf
- Source code: github.com/axelarnetwork
- Block explorer: axelarscan.io
- Audits: github.com/axelarnetwork/audits
- Governance forum: community.axelar.network
Questions and answers
What is Axelar?
Axelar is a proof-of-stake blockchain that connects other blockchains, passing messages and tokens through gateway contracts controlled jointly by its validators.
What is the AXL token used for?
AXL is used for staking, governance votes by staked holders, and transaction fees on the Axelar network.
What is the supply of AXL?
AXL has no fixed maximum; the Axelarscan API showed about 1.259 billion AXL total supply on 31 October 2026. Inflation was 4.8% in February 2025, offset in part by fee burning.
Who created Axelar?
Axelar was co-founded by Sergey Gorbunov and Georgios Vlachos; Interop Labs is its initial developer and Axelar Foundation supports the network.
Has Axelar been audited?
Yes. Axelar publishes audit reports on GitHub from firms including Code4rena, Halborn, NCC Group, Ackee Blockchain, Least Authority and OtterSec, and runs an Immunefi bug bounty.
Sources
- Axelar — Home
- Axelar Blog — An introduction to the Axelar network
- Axelar Docs — Learn
- Axelar Docs — Security overview
- Axelar Docs — Stake AXL tokens
- Axelar Docs — EVM contract governance
- Axelar Docs — Bug bounty
- Axelar Docs — Mainnet contract addresses
- Axelar — Whitepaper (PDF)
- Axelar GitHub — Audits
- Axelar Blog — Mainnet rollout (January 2022)
- Axelar Blog — Cobalt tokenomics upgrade
- Axelar Blog — AXL token FAQs
- Axelar Blog — AXL token post summary
- Axelar Blog — What is wAXL
- Axelar — Team
- Axelar — Terms of use
- Axelarscan API — Total supply
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