✅ Master Cosmos IBC
Understand IBC architecture, handshakes, and packet flow
Enable inter-blockchain communication protocols
Your Progress
0 / 5 completedKey Takeaways
You've learned how Cosmos IBC enables trustless cross-chain communication through light clients, cryptographic proofs, and a layered protocol architecture. Let's review the key concepts before testing your knowledge.
🌐 IBC Fundamentals
IBC is a trustless protocol connecting sovereign blockchains through light clients and cryptographic proofs, not trusted bridges.
- •Light clients verify block headers and state commitments without full blocks
- •Each chain maintains sovereignty—own validators, governance, security model
- •50+ connected chains with $2.8B TVL and 15M+ transfers completed
🏗️ IBC Architecture
Three-layer design separates concerns between transport, application, and relay:
- •IBC/TAO (Transport): Light clients, connections, channels, packet commitments
- •IBC/APP (Application): ICS-20 (tokens), ICS-27 (interchain accounts), custom apps
- •Relayer Layer: Permissionless packet delivery with optional fee incentives (ICS-29)
🤝 Connection Handshake
Four-step bidirectional handshake establishes connections between chains:
- •ConnOpenInit: Chain A initializes connection with Chain B's client ID
- •ConnOpenTry: Chain B verifies Chain A's state and creates TRYOPEN connection
- •ConnOpenAck: Chain A acknowledges, moves to OPEN state
- •ConnOpenConfirm: Chain B confirms, both chains OPEN, ready for channels
📦 Packet Flow
Packets are the fundamental unit of cross-chain communication with guaranteed delivery or timeout:
- •SendPacket: Source chain commits packet with sequence, data, timeout
- •RelayPacket: Relayer fetches merkle proof and submits to destination
- •RecvPacket: Destination verifies proof, executes application logic
- •Acknowledgement: Destination writes ack, relayed back to source for cleanup
- •Timeouts trigger onTimeoutPacket callback to reverse state changes
🚀 Real-World Impact
IBC powers the Internet of Blockchains with production applications:
- •Osmosis: Leading DEX with 52 IBC connections, $8.3M daily volume
- •ICS-20 Token Transfers: Most popular app, enables cross-chain asset movement
- •Interchain Accounts (ICS-27): Control accounts on remote chains
- •Interchain Security: Cosmos Hub validators secure consumer chains
- •200+ active channels, 15M+ transfers, trustless cross-chain communication at scale