According to Blockworks, Axelar has introduced a new service called the Interchain Token Service (ITS) that simplifies the process of launching tokens across multiple blockchains. The service maintains the fungibility and properties of any ERC-20 token while allowing them to move across any of the EVM-compatible blockchains in Axelar's network, currently supporting 15 chains with more to come. ITS is permissionless to use and offers trust-minimized bridging using a 'mint and burn' mechanism, features not currently available in the industry, according to Jason Ma, Axelar's DeFi head.
ITS can be used to deploy a new token across multiple chains in one step, and also includes a 'token manager' that can unify the deployment of native tokens already on multiple chains. This puts it in the same category as Circle's cross-chain transfer protocol (CCTP) used to bridge native USDC between chains, but without the centralized counterparty. 'It's essentially a decentralized open-source CCTP that any protocol can use and deploy themselves,' Ma said. Currently, only EVM-chains are supported, but Axelar plans to expand the service to the Cosmos Interchain later this year.