Block Network

Celo is the latest blockchain network to strive for interoperability, with Chorus One receiving a grant to build a bridge between Cosmos and Celo.
Celo has awarded a grant to staking service provider Chorus One to build a bridge facilitating interoperability between the Cosmos and Celo networks.The proof-based bridge will allow “bidirectional communication’ between Celo and Cosmos, allowing Celo’s cUSD stablecoin to operate on the Cosmos network, and Cosmos-based assets including ATOM, BAND, and KAVA to be held in the Celo Reserve.According to a Nov. 19 announcement, the partnership will lay the groundwork for building future bridges between Celo and “chains like Polkadot, Near, and Solana.”Cosmos is also working to build numerous cross-chain bridges, including with Ethereum, Polkadot, and Kadena.The post notes that work will be split between two service agreements, and will require the implementation of a “unique light client” on each blockchain. The Interchain Foundation, a non-profit foundation formed to support the development of Cosmos, will fund a WASM-based Light Client to allow Cosmos to verify Celo transactions without undergoing a hard fork.The Celo Foundation will also fund a Tendermint Light Client allowing the Celo blockchain to verify signatures and block headers created both by Cosmos and Cosmos-SDK-based chains.Celo’s co-founder Marek Olszewski emphasized his belief that the crypto sector will come to comprise an interoperable ecosystem spanning many blockchain networks:“We believe that the industry is not zero-sum, or winner takes all. In a future with many chains, cooperation is necessary to realize our goal of a globally accessible and inclusive financial system. We view the implementation of cross-chain architecture as an act of Mutually Assured Development.”In May, Chorus One was awarded a similar grant by the Web3 Foundation to build aspects of a bridge enabling interoperability between Substrate and Cosmos-SDK-based blockchains.Cosmos and Celo are not only networks pursuing interoperability, with Near launching its Ethereum bridge and Ontology Neo and Switcheo unveiling their “interoperability protocol alliance,” Poly Network, in August.