Axelar
TEMPEREDBridge / Messaging · Multi-chain · $500M+ TVL · 10 contracts
Confidence 77%Z-Factor 0.78Updated 2026-05-17Cross-chain assessedPublic Score
Public risk assessment — scores are produced with the same methodology as monitored protocols
748
BRI Score
3004756508251000
Security Profile
Access Control
72
72
Economic Soundness
68
68
Oracle Integrity
75
75
Compositional Risk
55
55
Governance
58
58
Maturity
78
78
Resilience
50
50
Supply Chain
75
75
Cross-Chain Messaging
60
60
Op Security
54
54
Cascade Exposure
99
99
Access Ctrl
72
72
Economic
68
68
Oracle
75
75
Compos.
55
55
Govern.
58
58
Maturity
78
78
Resilience
50
50
Supply Ch.
75
75
X-Chain
60
60
OpSec
54
54
Cascade
99
99
Min
50
Avg
68
Max
99
Audit History
NCC Group
2022-08
Ackee Blockchain
2022-06
Oak Security
2023-09
Bug Bounty Program
$2,250,000
Max payout on Immunefi
Assessment
Cross-chain messaging protocol with 52-month track record, no exploits. D4 and D10 low due to extreme cross-chain composition surface (60+ chains). Governance concerns (D5) and validator centralization risk limit score.
Dimension Breakdown
How scores work →Access Control
Weight 16%78% conf
72
arrow_forwardGood
+24Validator set controls message relay (threshold signature)
+24Gateway contract with admin upgrade capability
+24Governance multisig can pause/unpause
-28Concerns: validator collusion threshold, upgrade key centralization
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Economic Soundness
Weight 12%72% conf
68
arrow_forwardModerate
+68AXL token staking secures network (moderate security budget)
-11No direct lending/borrowing economics to exploit
-11Bridge relay fees are minimal attack surface
-11Risk: validator slashing economics untested at scale
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Oracle Integrity
Weight 12%75% conf
75
arrow_forwardGood
+38Validators act as oracle for cross-chain state
+38Multi-validator attestation reduces single-point failure
-12No external price oracle dependency
-12Risk: validator set IS the oracle, shared trust assumption
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Battle-Tested Maturity
Weight 11%80% conf
78
arrow_forwardGood
+26Mainnet live since January 2022 (52 months)
-22No protocol-level exploit (bridge hacks are common in sector)
+26Processed billions in cross-chain volume
+26Z-factor: 0.897
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Adversarial Resiliencelock
Weight 10%30% conf
50
Concerning
- Maximum resilience under independent adversarial testing
- Comprehensive security coverage across all attack surfaces
- Active bounty program incentivizes continuous scrutiny
- No validated adversarial findings — score set to neutral baseline
Compositional Risk
Weight 9%70% conf
55
arrow_forwardModerate
+18Cross-chain message relay = extreme compositional surface
+18GMP (General Message Passing) can compose arbitrary logic
-45Connected to 60+ chains, each adds risk surface
+18Squid Router integration adds DeFi composition layer
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Governance & Upgradeability
Weight 9%72% conf
58
arrow_forwardModerate
+19Cosmos SDK governance with AXL token voting
+19Gateway upgradeable via governance proposals
-42Validator governance concerns raised by community
+19Limited timelock visibility on critical operations
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Cross-Chain Messaging
Weight 9%72% conf
60
arrow_forwardModerate
+30Core product IS cross-chain messaging
+3060+ chain connections = massive bridge surface
-20Validator-based relay model (not trustless)
-20Governance concerns about validator centralization
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Operational Security
Weight 9%60% conf
54
arrow_forwardConcerning
-9No branch protection detected
+18Active CI/CD (80% success rate)
+18Commit signing: 94% verified
+18Strong PR review culture (77% reviewed)
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Cascade Exposure
Weight 5%55% conf
99
arrow_forwardExcellent
+25Appears in 1 cross-protocol cascade chain(s)
+25Failure cascades to 1 downstream protocol(s)
+25Member of 2 dependency cluster(s)
-1Score: 99/100 (higher = more isolated from systemic risk)
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Supply Chain
Weight 4%78% conf
75
arrow_forwardGood
+19Cosmos SDK base (well-maintained)
+19Solidity gateway contracts on EVM chains
+19Multiple chain deployments increase supply chain surface
+19Dependency on relayer infrastructure
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Risk Drivers
Primary risk factors driving this score, ordered by severity.
Adversarial Resilience50
Operational Security54
Compositional Risk55
Adversarial Risk Signals
Observable security posture indicators. These signals reflect publicly verifiable information and responsible disclosure outcomes. No specific vulnerability details are exposed.
Disclosure HistoryNot Assessed
Remediation VelocityNot Assessed
Bug Bounty ProgramNot Assessed
Audit CoverageNot Assessed
Incident HistoryNot Assessed
Score History & Verification
Score provenance tracking begins with the next reassessment.
On-Chain Data
- Protocol Slug
- "axelar"
- Oracle
- BRORegistry (Base)
- Evidence
- IPFS (pinned)
- Staleness Threshold
- 24 hours
Read Score
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