Osmosis Co-founder Doesn’t See Cosmos and Polkadot as Competitors

Osmosis’ latest integration will enable swaps between Cosmos, Polkadot and Ethereum

article-image

Sunny Aggarwal, co-founder of Osmosis Labs | Source: Osmosis

share

key takeaways

  • Polkadot’s native token will be the first to move between the ecosystems
  • “Our goal is to provide the best DEX possible for the entire crypto ecosystem and the interchain world that is coming into reality,” Sunny Aggarwal said

Osmosis, a cross-chain automated market maker on Cosmos, has expanded its services to Polkadot and Ethereum-based tokens through integration with Axelar and Moonbeam. 

Cross-chain swaps allow decentralized finance (DeFi) dApp developers to expand their reach between different blockchain ecosystems. 

Osmosis’ latest integration, which enables transactions via Inter-Blockchain Communication, will support one-click swaps between the different blockchains, starting with Polkadot’s native token DOT.

“Our goal for Osmosis is not just to be a Cosmos DEX, our goal is to provide the best DEX possible for the entire crypto ecosystem and the interchain world that is coming into reality,” Sunny Aggarwal, co-founder of Osmosis Labs, told Blockworks.

Aggarwal wanted to make sure that Osmosis had a single canonical bridge to connect different networks. This would give the team capability to execute more functionality in a timely manner. 

A governance voting process that involved four other bridge providers was motioned. Blockchain interoperability startup Axelar was chosen as the primary cross-chain infrastructure.

“Axelar’s UX was very similar to what we were looking for and much more seamless than a lot of the others,” Aggarwal said, adding that Axelar had faster connectivity and a better security model. 

Polkadot and Cosmos are often considered competitors, but Aggarwal hasn’t thought of the two projects in that way. Rather, they’re simply different frameworks for building dApp chains, he said. 

Indeed, this latest collaboration between the two blockchains demonstrates a commitment to deeper integration. 

“The point of building these interoperability protocols is not just to interoperate within tiny ecosystems,” Aggarwal said. “Polkadot is a big ecosystem that has a lot of interesting assets. Our plan is to be able to continue to connect every ecosystem possible.”


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

  • Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
  • Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
  • Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
  • 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
  • Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
  • The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
  • Supply Shock: Tracking Bitcoin’s rise from internet plaything worth less than a penny to global phenomenon disrupting money as we know it.
Tags

Upcoming Events

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates.jpg

Research

Bluefin possibly stands at an inflection point. The token is near an all-time low yet the protocol’s spot volume market share and derivatives exchange usage have been increasing month over month since its November launch. Given its current market position and the upcoming upgrades (for both Bluefin and SUI), there may be upside potential before the increased supply growth in December. However, strong opposition from existing competitors (like Cetus and Suilend), as well as new entrants (like Aftermath), pose key challenges to Bluefin’s medium-term success.

article-image

Top Committee Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren in her opening statement accused Atkins of “helping billionaire CEOs like Sam Bankman-Fried”

article-image

Introducing garbled circuits for enhanced privacy and regulatory compliance

article-image

Ross Ulbricht was a freedom maximalist building freedom tech, powered by Bitcoin

article-image

Solana validators can reap benefits including payments, votes and community clout

article-image

Sponsored

WalletConnect is cementing itself as the essential connectivity layer, ensuring wallets remain the entry point for billions of users

article-image

According to a legal filing, Galaxy Digital helped boost the price of LUNA while quietly selling its tokens