Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Injective (INJ) has partnered with Wormhole to integrate “10 new blockchains” to its network.
Injective is a Cosmos (ATOM) layer-2 decentralized exchange (DEX) that offers derivatives, token swaps and sports betting prediction markets. It is also focused on interoperability via cross-chain bridging, and currently supports digital assets from Ethereum (ETH), Polkadot (DOT) and IBC-enabled chains such as Cosmos.
Injective Labs, the protocol’s developers, noted in a Wednesday announcement that the partnership will enable users to transfer and trade assets across any chain that is integrated with Wormhole.
“The Wormhole integration will vastly enhance Injective’s capabilities with respect to interoperability. Users will soon find Wormhole integrated into the backend of the Injective Bridge whereby transferring assets from distinct EVM chains or Solana (SOL) can be done with the click of a button,” Injective Labs stated.
Injective announces new integration with @WormholeCrypto ‼️
Wormhole brings ten new chains, such as @Avalancheavax and @Solana, to Injective’s already interoperable chain, making Injective the primary gateway to enter the @cosmos universe ⚛️ https://t.co/Zu8belwh7d
— Injective | Cosmos IBC | Ethereum compatible (@InjectiveLabs) May 25, 2022
Wormhole is a generic messaging protocol that interacts with different blockchains, providing services such as cross-chain application support and token bridges.
Not all of the “10 new blockchains” are named specifically. Wormhole’s website also only lists nine chain integrations which include Solana, Terra (LUNA), Ethereum (ETH), Avalanche (AVAX), Oasis Binance Smart Chain, Polygon (MATIC), Fantom (FTM) and Aurora (AOA).
With Terra falling into a heap and Ethereum already being supported, it is unclear what the other remaining chains out of the total of 10 are.
However, the project has highlighted the ability of Injective to “serve as the primary gateway for cross-chain native assets from Solana and other prominent layer-1 chains” to enter the ecosystem.
“The options for users can extend far beyond asset transfers as well. For instance, DApps on Injective could enable seamless cross-chain trading across the Cosmos and Solana ecosystems while also being able to offer yields on Solana (or any other Wormhole supported asset).”
“Builders utilizing chains such as Avalanche, Algorand or Polygon can access assets within the broader Cosmos ecosystem via Injective,” it added.
Cosmos developers will also be able to incorporate Wormhole’s generic messaging layer and add cross-chain functionalities within their dApps.
— Wormhole (@wormholecrypto) May 25, 2022
Related: Assuming Bitcoin plays nice, higher timeframe analysis points to $90 Solana (SOL) price
The announcement has done little to sway the value of Injective’s native token INJ so far, with the price dropping 2.6% in the past 24 hours to sit at $2.21, at the time of writing. The token is also down 91.1% since its all-time high of $24.89 in late April 2021, according to data from CoinGecko.