Cosmos devs test IBC protocol between Hub and Ethereum to boost interoperability

Cosmos developers have been working to extend the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol, a cornerstone of the Cosmos ecosystem, to Ethereum.

On Wednesday, Maghnus Mareneck, co-CEO of Cosmos core contributor Interchain Labs, said the firm tested an IBC transaction from Cosmos Hub to Ethereum in what appears to be an effort to boost native interoperability of tokens between these two networks.

The move is part of the upcoming Eureka upgrade for IBC by teams, including Interchain Labs, and is planned for release as part of IBC-go v10 this year.

This upgrade builds on the developers' vision of making IBC a universal standard for blockchain communication, extending its reach beyond Cosmos to major networks like Ethereum and Solana. The first step would be connecting Ethereum to the Cosmos' central chain, Hub.

IBC is a standardized protocol that enables communication between independent blockchains, allowing them to transfer assets and data seamlessly. It does so using light clients and relayers.

According to Cosmos developers, expanding IBC could potentially open new opportunities in decentralized finance and cross-chain applications.

There have been past efforts to bring IBC to Ethereum by specific projects, although these were limited to protocols rather than the broader Cosmos stack.

In 2024, Picasso announced an integration of IBC with Ethereum. The team at Union also made progress on an IBC connection to the Ethereum mainnet, achieving a testnet with fully working light clients on both Cosmos and Ethereum's Sepolia testnet.