Axelar Governance, Explained

At Axelar, decentralization is not a philosophy. It is the foundation of Axelar’s approach to network security. In this post, we’ll describe Axelar governance over critical network parameters and how it is decentralized.

Decentralization is also not an absolute, but a process. Axelar begins with technology that is capable of decentralization, and progresses toward increasing the network’s decentralization over time. The same applies to decentralization of governance.

A screen shot of the validators page on Axelarscan.io.

Beginning with a permissionless validator set running delegated proof-of-stake consensus, Axelar ensures it is more secure than any other cross-chain option. For more on Axelar’s security approach, read “Security at Axelar Core,” on the Axelar blog — or the very brief summary provided on the Axelar governance forum.

Axelar provides a number of tools for staking holders of AXL to select validators and participate in governance, including the Axelar forum at community.axelar.network, the Axelarscan block explorer (pictured in the screen shot above, including the proposals page) and a dashboard provided by Metrika.

Key network parameters covered by Axelar governance include:

• Base inflation rates and amounts of other rewards for validators and stakers of the AXL token. (Read more on fees and rewards for validators and stakers of AXL.)

• Network gas fees and formulas for estimating gas on connected chains. (For an explanation of how cross-chain gas fees work on Axelar, read this blog post. Axelar documentation includes a gas fee calculator for reference.)

• Validator thresholds for connecting new chains.

• Rate limits (a security feature).

• Upgrades to Axelar network and smart contracts.

• Disconnecting compromised chains.

• Adding new EVM chains.

Most of these parameters are set via on-chain, decentralized governance, i.e., a vote of the Axelar validators and AXL stakers. Some are set via governed multisig, and will be transitioned to on-chain, decentralized governance over time.

The following table lists each specific governance parameter and the governance method used to set it. The table will be updated as needed.

Axelar governance for network parameters