Axelar review

Economic security instead of a signer list

Most bridges that failed were secured by a small multisig. Axelar secures cross-chain messages with its own proof-of-stake validator set, whose stake distribution is publicly measurable, which is a meaningfully better trust model at comparable coverage. Concentration within that validator set remains the question to check rather than assume.

2026: contracts around it, not the core

Two incidents hit contracts connected to Axelar rather than the validator network itself: a modified receiving contract on Secret Network was drained for $4.67m over seven days before anyone noticed, and roughly $3m was taken from CrossCurve through spoofed cross-chain messages. The distinction matters for scoring and it does not matter to a user who lost money — integration quality is part of what you rely on.

Reach

Very wide chain coverage including non-EVM networks, which is the practical reason to choose it. Transfers route through the intermediate chain, adding its finality to the total time.

Who it suits

Protocols building cross-chain functionality who want economic security rather than a signer list, and users moving assets to networks the intent-based bridges do not reach.

How to use it well

Check which contract on the destination chain receives your assets, since both 2026 incidents involved integration code rather than the validator network itself. The protocol's security does not extend to whatever someone wired to it.