Blockchain Interoperability is essentially the ability to exchange data from one blockchain to another. As cryptocurrency and blockchain technology rise in popularity, interoperability becomes increasingly important. Luckily, in 2017, Benn Godenzi co-founded the Blockchain Interoperability Alliance with Aion, Wanchain, and ICON to promote more connectivity between various blockchains.
Table of Contents
Who is Aion?
Aion is a unique blockchain network built to accommodate blockchain interoperability, making them an obvious candidate for the Blockchain Interoperability Alliance. Although cryptocurrency exchanges allow people to trade cryptocurrencies from one blockchain to another, they aren’t always decentralized. On the other hand, Aion’s trustless technology passes liquid assets between network users without intermediaries.
Aion was founded in 2017 by Matthew Spoke, CEO Of Nuco Global Inc. Benn Godenzi was Aion’s director of marketing when the Blockchain Interoperability Alliance was founded. Godenzi is an early adopter of Bitcoin who primarily focuses on ICO marketing, networking, and private investor relations.
Who is Wanchain?
Founded by Jack Lu, co-founder of Factom, Wanchain aims to solve the blockchain interoperability problem by building decentralized bridges that connect various blockchain networks. Much like Aion, Wanchain has been working to improve interoperability since 2017. Another interesting connection between Wanchain and Aion is Benn Godenzi, who aided in the ICO phase for both projects.
In 2021, Wanchain built the world’s first direct, decentralized bridge between BTC and ETH. Bitcoin and Ethereum aren’t the only blockchains that Wanchain aims to connect; they’ve also built decentralized bridges for Wanchain, Binance Smart Chain, EOSIO, and XRP.
Who is ICON?
ICON is a blockchain protocol for decentralized applications aggregating all blockchain data into a single layer. ICON’s native token, ICX, can support an impressive 1,300 transactions within a two-second block confirmation time. One of the most remarkable things about ICON is its use of smart contracts to connect various cryptocurrency communities without intermediaries.
What Does the Blockchain Interoperability Alliance Do?
The Blockchain Interoperability Alliance has allowed Aion, Wanchain, and ICON to share go-to-market strategies and other knowledge across the three projects. By combining their resources and staying in touch with one another, the three interoperability-focused projects have tremendously accelerated their growth.
The irony of having three separate interoperability-focused projects with their own tokens wasn’t lost on the founders of Aion, Wanchain, and ICON. Since their goal is to make cryptocurrency technology more streamlined and integrated, it only makes sense that they would work together to achieve this goal. All three companies are taking a different approach to blockchain interoperability. Still, joining forces and closely working together can ensure they don’t become siloed in their own approach and miss the bigger picture. According to Mathew Spoke, the founder of Aion, “working together across the different projects will help lay the foundations and best practices for interoperability, leading to wider market adoption by both enterprises and the public.”
