EVM Module: Ethereum-Compatible Chain Integration Layer

The EVM module connects Axelar to every supported Ethereum-compatible chain. It manages the on-chain Axelar Gateway contract for each EVM network, assembles and signs batches of commands (token deployments, mints, burns, and operatorship transfers), and orchestrates the end-to-end confirmation flow for EVM events. Validators observe external chain events and vote on them through this module before commands are signed and sent back to the gateway.

Gateway Management

Registers and tracks the AxelarGateway contract address per EVM chain and builds ABI-encoded command batches for execution.

Command Batching

Aggregates pending gateway commands — deployToken, mintToken, burnToken, transferOperatorship — into signed CommandBatch objects.

Event Confirmation

Validators submit confirmation transactions for EVM gateway events; votes are tallied before commands are queued.

ERC20 Token Lifecycle

Supports creating, confirming, and managing ERC20 tokens on EVM chains with versioned burner code hashes.

Key Concepts

AxelarGateway Contract

The AxelarGateway is the on-chain contract deployed to each EVM chain. It receives signed command batches and executes them. Axelar validators produce a signed CommandBatch that is submitted to the gateway’s execute(bytes input) function.

// AxelarGateway execute ABI (from types.go)
const axelarGatewayABI = `[{
    "inputs": [{"internalType": "bytes", "name": "input", "type": "bytes"}],
    "name": "execute",
    "outputs": [],
    "stateMutability": "nonpayable",
    "type": "function"
}]`

CommandBatch

A CommandBatch is the unit of work signed by the multisig module and submitted to the gateway. It may contain multiple commands in a single ABI-encoded payload, reducing the number of on-chain transactions needed.

Command Types

Command	Description
`deployToken`	Deploys a new ERC20 token contract on the destination chain
`mintToken`	Mints tokens to a recipient address on the destination chain
`burnToken`	Burns tokens from a deposit address (bridging back to source)
`transferOperatorship`	Rotates the operator key on the gateway contract

BurnerInfo & ERC20Deposit

Burner contracts hold deposited funds until they are confirmed and bridged. Axelar tracks multiple burner versions by their code hash:

const (
    BurnerCodeHashV1 = "0x70be6eedec1d63b7cf8b9233615e4e408c99e0753be123b605aa5d53ed4a8670"
    BurnerCodeHashV2 = "0x49c166661e31e0bf5434d891dea1448dc35f6ecd54a0d88594df06e24effe7c2"
    BurnerCodeHashV3 = "0xa50851cafd39f2f61171c0c00a11bda820ed0958950df5a53ba11a047402351f"
    BurnerCodeHashV4 = "0x701d8db26f2d668fee8acf2346199a6b63b0173f212324d1c5a04b4d4de95666"
    BurnerCodeHashV5 = "0x9f217a79e864028081339cfcead3c3d1fe92e237fcbe9468d6bb4d1da7aa6352"
)

The current active version is validated on chain registration and gateway migration.

EVM Chain Lifecycle

Add Chain

Set Gateway

Once the AxelarGateway contract is deployed on the target network, record its address: axelard tx evm set-gateway [chain] [address].

Confirm Transactions

Validators submit confirm-gateway-txs to trigger voting on observed EVM events. Polls are created per event.

Sign Commands

After events are confirmed, sign-commands bundles pending commands into a CommandBatch and starts a multisig signing session.

Execute on Gateway

The signed batch is broadcast to the EVM chain and submitted to AxelarGateway.execute().

Event Confirmation Flow

# 1. Confirm gateway transactions observed on a chain
axelard tx evm confirm-gateway-txs ethereum \
  --from <proxy-key> \
  --chain-id axelar-dojo-1

# 2. Sign the pending commands into a batch
axelard tx evm sign-commands ethereum \
  --from <proxy-key> \
  --chain-id axelar-dojo-1

Once sign-commands is submitted, a multisig signing session is created (see the Multisig module). Validators submit their individual signatures, and the threshold-aggregated batch can then be queried and sent to the gateway.

If an EVM event fails to reach quorum, it can be retried with axelard tx evm retry-event [chain] [event-id]. Use this only after investigating why the event did not confirm.

Token Deployment

Deploy a new ERC20 token on an EVM chain that maps to a registered asset:

# Create a deploy-token command targeting Ethereum for the USDC asset
axelard tx evm create-deploy-token ethereum \
  --asset ibc/9F4CBD1BDED0... \
  --symbol USDC \
  --name "USD Coin" \
  --decimals 6 \
  --capacity 0 \
  --from <gov-key> \
  --chain-id axelar-dojo-1

# Confirm the ERC20 token deployment after it appears on chain
axelard tx evm confirm-erc20-token ethereum \
  --origin-chain cosmoshub \
  --origin-asset uusdc \
  --tx-id 0xabc... \
  --from <proxy-key>

Module Parameters

EVM Parameters (per-chain)

Chain

ChainName

required

The Axelar chain name this parameter set applies to (e.g., ethereum).

ConfirmationHeight

uint64

required

Minimum block confirmations required before an EVM event is eligible for voting. Default: 1.

Network

string

required

The EVM network label (e.g., mainnet, ganache). Used to select the correct chain ID from the Networks list.

VotingThreshold

Threshold

required

Fraction of voting power required for an EVM poll to reach quorum. Default: 51/100.

VotingGracePeriod

int64

required

Number of blocks after a poll expires during which late votes are still accepted. Default: 2 blocks.

RevoteLockingPeriod

int64

required

Number of blocks during which validators cannot change a submitted vote. Default: 75 blocks.

MinVoterCount

int64

required

Minimum number of voters required for a poll to be valid. Default: 1.

CommandsGasLimit

uint32

required

Gas limit applied when estimating execution of a command batch on the EVM chain. Default: 5000000.

EndBlockerLimit

uint64

required

Maximum commands processed per block in the end blocker. Default: 50.

TransferLimit

uint64

required

Maximum pending transfers processed per block. Default: 50.

The RevoteLockingPeriod default was updated to 75 blocks (15 × 5) with the introduction of 1-second block times in v1.3.0. The VotingGracePeriod default is 2 blocks. Ensure your vald configuration reflects these values.

CLI Reference

Query Commands

# Get the AxelarGateway address for a chain
axelard query evm gateway-address ethereum

# Query a specific batched-commands object by ID
axelard query evm batched-commands ethereum [batch-id]

# Get the latest batched commands
axelard query evm latest-batched-commands ethereum

# List commands not yet added to a batch
axelard query evm pending-commands ethereum

# Get info about a specific command
axelard query evm command ethereum [command-id]

# Get an event by chain and event ID
axelard query evm event ethereum [event-id]

# List ERC20 tokens registered on a chain
axelard query evm erc20-tokens ethereum

# Query token info by symbol, asset, or address
axelard query evm token-info ethereum --symbol USDC

# Get minimum confirmation height
axelard query evm confirmation-height ethereum

# List supported EVM chains by status
axelard query evm chains --status active

# Fetch burner bytecode for a chain
axelard query evm bytecode ethereum burner

# Query an EVM address associated with a linker
axelard query evm address ethereum [address]

# Show EVM module params for a chain
axelard query evm params ethereum

Transaction Commands

# Add a new EVM chain (governance)
axelard tx evm add-chain \
  --name polygon \
  --key-type ecdsa \
  --params '{"chain":"polygon","confirmation_height":10,"network":"mainnet"}' \
  --from <gov-key>

# Set the gateway address after deployment
axelard tx evm set-gateway ethereum 0xABCD... \
  --from <gov-key>

# Confirm gateway transactions (run by vald)
axelard tx evm confirm-gateway-txs ethereum \
  --from <proxy-key>

# Sign pending commands into a batch
axelard tx evm sign-commands ethereum \
  --from <proxy-key>

# Create a deploy-token command
axelard tx evm create-deploy-token ethereum \
  --asset uusdc --symbol USDC --name "USD Coin" \
  --decimals 6 --capacity 0 \
  --from <gov-key>

# Confirm an ERC20 token deployment
axelard tx evm confirm-erc20-token ethereum \
  --origin-chain cosmoshub --origin-asset uatom \
  --tx-id 0xabc... \
  --from <proxy-key>

# Create a transfer-operatorship command
axelard tx evm transfer-operatorship ethereum \
  --from <gov-key>

# Confirm a transfer-operatorship transaction
axelard tx evm confirm-transfer-operatorship ethereum \
  --tx-id 0xabc... \
  --from <proxy-key>

# Retry a failed EVM event
axelard tx evm retry-event ethereum [event-id] \
  --from <proxy-key>

Use axelard query evm pending-commands ethereum to inspect what commands will be included in the next sign-commands batch before it is initiated.

Get Started

Running a Node

Core Modules

Governance & Operations

EVM Module: Ethereum-Compatible Chain Integration Layer

Gateway Management

Command Batching

Event Confirmation

ERC20 Token Lifecycle

Key Concepts

AxelarGateway Contract

CommandBatch

Command Types

BurnerInfo & ERC20Deposit

EVM Chain Lifecycle

Event Confirmation Flow

Token Deployment

Module Parameters

CLI Reference

Query Commands

Transaction Commands

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Running a Node

Core Modules

Governance & Operations

Documentation Index

Gateway Management

Command Batching

Event Confirmation

ERC20 Token Lifecycle

​Key Concepts

​AxelarGateway Contract

​CommandBatch

​Command Types

​BurnerInfo & ERC20Deposit

​EVM Chain Lifecycle

​Event Confirmation Flow

​Token Deployment

​Module Parameters

​CLI Reference

​Query Commands

​Transaction Commands

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Key Concepts

AxelarGateway Contract

CommandBatch

Command Types

BurnerInfo & ERC20Deposit

EVM Chain Lifecycle

Event Confirmation Flow

Token Deployment

Module Parameters

CLI Reference

Query Commands

Transaction Commands