Cosmos Moves IBC to LF Decentralized Trust With Google Cloud

By Tom Whitfield

IBC has processed more than $50 billion across over 200 networks since 2021, according to Cosmos, which announced on Nov. 9 that it and the Interchain Foundation were contributing the cross-chain protocol to LF Decentralized Trust. Google Cloud supports the contribution, and the Cardano Foundation separately confirmed its participation.

What changes in IBC’s governance?

The contribution places IBC inside LF Decentralized Trust’s neutral governance framework. A public project charter and contribution guidelines will govern participation, the foundation will hold the IBC trademark under its trademark policy, and maintainers will work together on the technical roadmap.

Cosmos framed the move around three objectives:

• Neutral stewardship.
• Open participation.
• Access to the Linux Foundation community of financial institutions, technology companies and governments.

The company said organizations outside its existing ecosystem could join protocol development. It also aims to attract contributors and support applications beyond networks already using IBC.

“IBC will remain free and open source, as always,” Cosmos said. Existing chains, applications and services will continue communicating and transferring assets over the public IBC network. Businesses using IBC will retain code access and can continue building products with it.

Who will maintain the protocol?

Cosmos will keep committing engineering resources through Cosmos Labs, which remains IBC’s primary maintainer. Datachain and OpenZeppelin will join as code maintainers, giving the protocol three named teams responsible for continued development. Those maintainers will work together on the technical roadmap.

The Cosmos announcement named Google Cloud as a supporter. It also identified individuals participating from:

• Wells Fargo, Figure Markets, Datachain, Injective and Cronos.
• OpenZeppelin, Cardano Foundation, Zenith Foundation and Espresso Systems.

The announcement also included other companies beyond those named participants.

What backing did Google Cloud and Cardano provide?

Google Cloud’s support accompanies an effort to give financial institutions, technology companies and developers a neutral setting for building a shared cross-chain standard. IBC allows independent digital ledgers to exchange assets and data. Cosmos wants the protocol to become a common standard for financial systems on separate networks, including tokenized assets and payments.

Cardano Foundation separately said it was joining Cosmos and 22 other sponsors to help IBC become a leading standard for finance. Its endorsement described LF Decentralized Trust as a home for open-source blockchain technology used by major banks and financial institutions.

What is Wells Fargo’s role?

Wells Fargo’s LF Decentralized Trust membership predates the IBC contribution. In a Sept. 24 announcement, the foundation named the US bank, Swift, Cosmos and the Interchain Foundation among 15 new members. CIO Chintan Mehta said the bank’s participation would support digital identity, tokenization and trusted digital infrastructure. The membership announcement establishes the bank’s involvement separately from the individuals supporting IBC.

How large is IBC’s footprint?

Cosmos reported more than $50 billion in transaction volume across more than 200 networks during a five-year period beginning in 2021. More than 500 builders have contributed code. Deployments now extend beyond transfers between Cosmos networks into finance, Web3, the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence.

Named application ecosystems include Ethereum, Solana and Hyperledger. Cosmos also identified these contributors:

• Agoric, IRISnet, Binary Builders, Chainapsis, Chorus One and Omnity Network.
• Confio, Datachain, Succinct Labs, Informal Systems, Iqlusion and Osmosis.

What still requires industry agreement?

In September, crypto.news reported on Cosmos’s institutional banking network, which brought together 17 providers across custody, compliance, security and infrastructure. Chief Commercial Officer Eran Barak said banks would select providers and sign separate contracts while retaining responsibility for compliance decisions. Barak identified a Wells Fargo cross-border tokenized-deposit project, planned for fall 2026, that uses Cosmos ledger technology.

Barak described IBC as the technical connection between separate ledgers. He said compliance standards, liquidity practices and settlement finality still required industry agreement. Those operational rules remain prerequisites for standardized institutional deployment.

How does Consensys’s alternative fit?

Consensys is one of several infrastructure companies developing connections for institutional networks. On Nov. 2, the company unveiled Sovereign Network Interoperability. Ethereum-compatible networks were available at launch, while support for Canton and IBC remained planned. The platform covers securities settlement, currency exchanges, collateral transfers and fund servicing.

The next dated institutional test is Wells Fargo’s cross-border tokenized-deposit project, planned for fall 2026, as IBC shifts from Cosmos-centered stewardship to neutral foundation governance.