Generally speaking, it is not difficult to issue tokens on a specific blockchain. However, issuance of tokens on multiple chains simultaneously is more challenging. Project parties often need to bridge or encapsulate the tokens on the original chain to other chains.

A new service from universal messaging protocol Axelar aims to change that, allowing projects to easily launch tokens on all Axelar-supported networks without any coding.

The new tool, called the Interchain Token Service (ITS), maintains the fungibility and related properties of all ERC-20 tokens while allowing them to be transferred on every EVM-compatible chain supported by Axelar (there are currently 15 chains, more chains will be supported in the future).

ITS can be used without permission, and tokens can also be bridged with trust minimization using a mint and burn mechanism. According to Jason Ma, Axelar’s ​​head of DeFi, “Such functionality is unprecedented in the industry.”

“Another alternative solution currently on the market isLayerZeroOFT, but it’s not a no-code solution and based on feedback we’ve heard from developers, it can take anywhere from a week to a few months to deploy,” Ma said.

Inter-chain Token Service (ITS) has the following characteristics:

1. No coding required: Only cross-chain tokens can achieve fully automated, coding-free multi-chain deployment and management.

2. No trust required: cross-chain tokens are realized through open source smart contracts running on the public chain. The public chain is protected by a dynamic set of validators and runs on the chain.

ITS can be used to automate the deployment and maintenance of new tokens across multiple chains, but it also includes a token manager that can uniformly deploy native tokens already on multiple chains and keep them consistent with native tokens on supported target EVM chains. The fungibility and functionality of the token enable the team to easily manage the total token supply.

Fraxtal (Frax’s upcoming Ethereum rollup) is one of the first projects to use ITS. Fraxtal co-founder Nader Ghazvini hopes the service will attract developers to join its new chain.

“Fraxtal Layer 2 integrates ITS from the ground up, providing seamless, code-free interoperability for the many developers joining under the hood,” said Ghazvini.

“It is essentially a decentralized open source CCTP (cross-chain transfer protocol) that can be used and deployed on any protocol.” Ma said, which puts it in the same category as Circle’s CCTP, which is often used on-chain Bridge native USDC between them, but there is no centralized counterparty. The Token Manager (for ITS) can be used by teams, for example, to link deployments of native tokens to meet compliance requirements.

“For chains that the project deems important and have high liquidity, they want to mint the original chain.” Ma said, citing Ethereum, Polygon and Arbitrum as examples. “They can use ITS directly and use the Axelar version on other chains. The token will still be fully interoperable.

Although currently only supportsEVMchain, but Axelar (itself a Cosmos chain) plans to expand the service later this yearCosmos Interchain。