In a significant move towards enhancing cross-chain interoperability, Neutron (CRYPTO: NTRN) and Axelar (CRYPTO: AXL) have teamed up to introduce Lido's wrapped liquid-staked ETH (CRYPTO: wstETH) to the Cosmos (CRYPTO: ATOM) platform.

This initiative is expected to bolster the expansion of wstETH and other assets within the Cosmos ecosystem.

The announcement came ahead of the highly anticipated Benzinga's Future of Digital Assets conference on Nov. 14, where such groundbreaking collaborations and advancements in the digital asset space will be a focal point of discussions.

Neutron, a cross-chain smart-contracting platform for DeFi, and Axelar, a full-stack interoperability layer for Web3, have been handpicked by Lido, a prominent liquid staking provider, to spearhead this integration, a press release issued on Thursday stated.

The collaboration garnered significant interest with more than 30 projects already expressing their intent to integrate, the press release said, adding that both Neutron and Axelar have pledged 1% of their initial network genesis supply in token incentives.

This is aimed at fostering liquidity for wstETH within the inter-blockchain communication protocol (IBC) ecosystem and its subsequent expansion to other L1 ecosystems.

Avril Dutheil, a core contributor to Neutron, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration, stating, “We are excited to be part of the effort to bring one of the biggest liquid staking tokens, Lido’s staked ETH to the Cosmos ecosystem. The collaboration between Neutron, Axelar and the Lido DAO exemplifies the potential of blockchain projects uniting to champion innovation and seamless interoperability.”

Liquid staking solutions provider Lido Finance (CRYPTO: LDO) boasts a market cap of $13.8 billion for its liquid staking token, staked ETH.

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This token is available in two variants: stETH, a rebasing token, and wstETH, an auto-compounding token set to bridge to Cosmos.

The token's journey commences with its transition from the Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) ecosystem via Axelar to Neutron, making it accessible to the entire IBC ecosystem, including notable chains like Cosmos, Cronos, Sommelier and major DeFi protocols such as Osmosis and dYdX.

Sergey Gorbunov, co-founder of Axelar, commented on the initiative, "Axelar is proud to lead the launch of wstETH into the Cosmos ecosystem. Through Squid's cross-chain liquidity router, we aim to optimize asset bridging, offering a swift and secure deposit experience."

Post-deployment on Cosmos and the development of a cross-chain governance system, Axelar and Neutron plan to transfer the bridge's ownership, administration and management to Lido DAO.

If approved by governance, this will empower Lido DAO with enhanced control over the bridge, aligning with its long-term vision for stAsset bridging.

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