- A new bridge is now facilitating the connection between Polkadot (DOT) and its sister chain or “canary network” Kusama (KSM).
- Centauri is the first implementation of the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) standard employed in the Cosmos (ATOM) ecosystem.
Polkadot has taken a crucial step in its development after the launch of its bridge with sister chain Kusama. Polkadot has reaped massive benefits since the launch of Kusama which is a scalable multi-chain network for developers and projects to launch and test out early-stage development using the same codebase as Polkadot. Following the relation, Polkadot (DOT) and Kusama (KSM) are generally referred to as the DotSama ecosystem.
According to a post earlier this year, 37 parachains have joined Polkadot, with an additional 42 parachains on Polkadot’s canary network, Kusama, providing a clear illustration of their dominance. These parachains are able to fully customize their own layer-1 blockchain in an optimal way for their use cases such as DeFi, smart contracts, social media, decentralized identity, IoT, gaming, the metaverse, and sustainability.
Per the announcement, Polkadot and Kusama will be connected by a seamless bridge dubbed Centauri, through the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) standard of the Cosmos (ATOM) ecosystem.
1/❗🔊We just launched the first Polkadot<>Kusama connection via @CosmosIBC, setting a new standard for relay chain interoperability in DotSama! Check out Centauri, now live at https://t.co/tsbN9VaRTd pic.twitter.com/OzJch1MUcK
— Composable Finance (@ComposableFin) April 27, 2023
Composable FInance further confirmed that this is a major step towards blockchain interoperability as this is the first IBC implementation outside of Cosmos. The team behind Cosmos expressed optimism about the project with two non-Cosmos SDK blockchains, two parachains, from Polkadot & Kusama able to communicate via the IBC Protocol.
One of the key aspects of the integration that will revolutionize is allowing seamless transfer of funds between the two networks. In particular, it bolsters liquidity and puts Polkadot at the forefront of being a DeFi leader.
With the project now live and in open beta, there is a transfer limit of 10,000 tokens for each asset. The team is calling on users to share their feedback to ensure this infrastructure serves the mission of cross-chain strategies.
Polkadot solidifying its position
As CNF has been reporting, this is another major step in Polkadot’s quest to become a blockchain leader. Late last month, in a bid to advance blockchain interoperability, the Polkadot network announced a strategic partnership with XCM, a cross-consensus messaging protocol. This facilitates the building of apps spanning multiple chains and creating multichain DAOs in the billion-$-market.
Polkadot’s native token DOT is set to be a huge benefactor of the development of the ecosystem. DOT which is currently ranked 11th by market cap is at the time of press exchanging for $5.67. Although the asset is more than 89 percent below its all-time high, new developments recorded on the Polkadot network hint at a potential bounce back for DOT in the future.
