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The XRP Ledger just got a passport. XRPL and its EVM Sidechain are now live on Axelar’s interoperability network, letting users move XRP and other supported assets across more than 80 blockchains without juggling multiple bridges.

The integration, announced on July 20, represents the culmination of a partnership that’s been building since at least 2024, when Axelar was first tapped as the bridge provider for the XRPL EVM Sidechain. That sidechain itself only went live on June 30, 2025. So in roughly three weeks, the team moved from “EVM compatibility exists” to “here’s connectivity to basically every major chain.”

How the plumbing works Axelar operates as a decentralized network that connects disparate blockchains. Its Interchain Token Service handles the actual mechanics of wrapping and unwrapping tokens as they move between chains. You send XRP from the XRP Ledger, and it shows up as a usable asset on Ethereum, Avalanche, Polygon, or whichever of the 80-plus supported chains you’re targeting.

Axelar serves as the exclusive bridge for wrapped XRP moving to and from the XRPL EVM Sidechain.

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The cross-chain transfer experience is powered in part by Squid, which provides the user interface layer for moving assets. Squid abstracts away the complexity of selecting routes, estimating fees, and confirming transactions across chains.

The collaboration roster includes Ripple, Peersyst, which developed the XRPL EVM Sidechain, and the Axelar Foundation.

Why EVM compatibility changes the game for XRP The XRP Ledger has historically been somewhat isolated from the broader DeFi ecosystem. Most DeFi protocols run on EVM-compatible chains. The XRP Ledger doesn’t natively speak that language.

The EVM Sidechain solves this by giving XRPL an Ethereum-compatible environment that runs alongside the main ledger. Ripple CTO David Schwartz has emphasized the importance of EVM compatibility for expanding XRP’s reach into institutional use cases.

Axelar co-founder Georgios Vlachos has pointed to institutional applications as a key driver behind the integration. Ripple has long positioned itself as the crypto company that targets enterprise clients, and connecting XRPL to 80-plus chains through a single verified bridge fits that narrative.

What this means for investors The most immediate implication is increased utility for XRP. An asset that can seamlessly move across 80-plus chains has more potential use cases than one confined to a single ledger.

Cross-chain bridges have historically been double-edged swords. The Ronin bridge exploit alone cost over $600M. Axelar’s position as the sole bridge for wrapped XRP concentrates risk in a single point of infrastructure.

Investors should monitor adoption metrics in the coming months: how much wrapped XRP flows through Axelar, which destination chains attract the most volume, and whether DeFi protocols begin building XRP-specific products.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

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As part of our ongoing effort to ensure the right incentives are in place for verifiers and to direct Axelar’s resources toward the ecosystems delivering the most value, we are proposing a governance vote to discontinue three Amplifier chain integrations: Flow, Berachain, and Plume.

BackgroundCommon Prefix’s 2026 roadmap for Axelar has been centered on institutional adoption, strengthening economic security, enabling compliant and privacy-aware infrastructure, and building institutional products up the stack.

A central part of this has been strengthening economic security and improving verifier and broader ecosystem incentives, as well as focusing the network on ecosystems where real activity exists, where interoperability creates tangible value, and where security assumptions are aligned with Axelar’s long-term standards.

That direction requires a disciplined approach to network expansion: doubling down on key ecosystems we have high conviction on and that we believe are here for the long run, while winding down connections whose cost, associated security risks, and operational overhead are no longer justified.

Why These Three ChainsEvery chain connection introduces operational, economic, and security considerations. Flow, Berachain, and Plume were integrated into Axelar through the Amplifier framework and, since launch, have not generated meaningful transaction volume or sustained usage. At the same time, each one requires ongoing verifier infrastructure, which carries real operational costs and dilutes focus across the network.

The foundation has been subsidizing verifier costs across these three connections, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. An internal review of interchain transfer activity across these integrations found effectively no sustained economic activity. While some legitimate assets had been registered on these chains, little to no transfer activity was identified across the connections.

How This Will Be ManagedThis proposal will go through Axelar’s standard governance process. Token holders will have the opportunity to review the full proposal and cast their votes within three days.

We have already been in direct communication with the teams behind all three chains ahead of this proposal going public. If this governance proposal passes, a one-week notice period will begin before the integrations are formally discontinued.

Given the lack of meaningful transfer activity across these connections, we do not expect material impact to users, asset holders, or application developers.

Next StepsWe encourage the community to carefully review this proposal and cast their vote.

Find the governance proposal here.

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Blockchain interoperability network Axelar on Friday disclosed a security incident impacting assets bridged over IBC from the Axelar chain to Secret Network, resulting in the loss of approximately $4.7 million in tokens.

We have identified an incident affecting assets bridged over IBC to Secret Network from the Axelar chain, with approximately $4.67M worth of tokens taken. Based on current information, the issue is isolated to the Secret-side ICS-20 smart contract of the Cosmos IBC connection…

— Axelar Network (@axelar) June 19, 2026

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Secret Network is a standalone blockchain designed for privacy-by-default smart contracts, where transaction data is encrypted while code remains verifiable on-chain. Through its integration with Axelar, it enables private cross-chain communication, allowing applications to support use cases like confidential DeFi trading, private NFT transactions, and anonymous governance.

Axelar said early findings suggest the issue is isolated to the Secret-side ICS-20 smart contract used in the Cosmos IBC connection between Secret and Axelar for assets transferred from Axelar to Secret.

As an immediate precaution, the Axelar emergency committee disabled the Secret and Secret-SNIP connections. The team has also contacted relevant exchanges and law enforcement authorities.

The company stated that the incident is isolated to assets on Secret bridged from Axelar and that no other IBC connections, Secret tokens, or Axelar integrations appear to be impacted. Axelar’s core protocol was not affected, according to the team.

Axelar said it is continuing its investigation and plans to release a detailed post-mortem.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.