Developing Blockchain Interoperability Solutions with Cosmos and Polkadot

Karolina

02 Jun 2023
Developing Blockchain Interoperability Solutions with Cosmos and Polkadot

The development of blockchain interoperability solutions has taken center stage in the ongoing advancement of decentralized technologies. The limitations imposed by isolated blockchain networks have heightened the importance of interoperable systems, paving the way for increased collaboration and innovation. In this article, we delve into the creation of such solutions using Cosmos and Polkadot. With their distinctive approaches to achieving blockchain interoperability, these platforms facilitate smooth communication and information transfer among diverse chains. Harnessing the power of Cosmos and Polkadot presents an array of opportunities for businesses and developers within the decentralized domain.

Understanding Blockchain Interoperability Solutions:

The term "blockchain interoperability" denotes the capacity of various blockchain networks to interact and exchange data effortlessly. Conventional blockchain configurations operate in a standalone manner, leading to isolated ecosystems that impede cooperation and restrict innovative potential.

By instituting a framework that enables differing blockchains to communicate with one another, blockchain interoperability solutions seek to surmount these constraints. These solutions augment the effectiveness, expandability, and utility of decentralized applications by allowing data and asset exchanges between chains.

The absence of interoperability presents considerable obstacles for organizations and developers. Enclosed networks obstruct information flow, impede cross-chain transactions, and constrict the generation of substantial decentralized applications. Blockchain interoperability solutions tackle these issues by setting up standards, protocols, and infrastructure that support communication among diverse blockchain networks.

Multiple advantages arise from implementing blockchain interoperability solutions, such as heightened flexibility, superior scalability, augmented liquidity, and diversified use cases. These solutions pave the way for cooperative opportunities, enable smooth asset transitions between chains, and encourage the growth of harmonious decentralized ecosystems.

Cosmos and Polkadot: Pioneers in Blockchain Interoperability

Blockchain technology has been hailed as revolutionary, offering transformative potential across a multitude of industries. But as with any disruptive technology, achieving its full potential requires overcoming certain technical obstacles, chief among them being the issue of interoperability. This is where Cosmos and Polkadot come into the picture, as they are leading pioneers in promoting blockchain interoperability.

The Internet of Blockchains - Cosmos

Cosmos, often referred to as the "Internet of Blockchains", is a decentralized network of independent parallel blockchains, each powered by classical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) consensus algorithms like Tendermint.

It was designed from the ground up to solve the "hard" problems of the blockchain ecosystem, and interoperability stands at the forefront of these issues. To enable the seamless transfer of data and assets across different blockchains, Cosmos developed the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol. This protocol allows various blockchains in the Cosmos network, known as zones, to communicate with each other, thereby fostering an ecosystem of interoperability.

Polkadot: Enabling a Multichain Universe

Polkadot, on the other hand, is another innovative platform that is built to connect private and consortium chains, public and permissionless networks, oracles, and future technologies that are yet to be created in the Web3 ecosystem.

At the heart of Polkadot's interoperability solution is its multichain technology. This technology is underpinned by Substrate, a blockchain development framework, and it employs a number of unique components such as Parachains and the Cross-Chain Message Passing (XCMP) protocol. Polkadot's structure allows for multiple blockchains to interoperate while maintaining their own unique consensus algorithms and governance models.

In essence, both Cosmos and Polkadot are at the forefront of blockchain interoperability. They offer unique solutions to allow for seamless communication and transfer of data and assets across different blockchain networks. Developers interested in building cross-chain applications would do well to understand the strengths and capabilities of these pioneering platforms.

Developing Blockchain Interoperability Solutions: A Comparative Analysis

When it comes to developing interoperable blockchain solutions, both Cosmos and Polkadot are often the platforms of choice. While they share the common goal of connecting disparate blockchain networks, their approach, underlying technology, and features differ significantly. A comparative analysis of these two platforms can offer valuable insights for developers looking to leverage their capabilities for cross-chain applications.

Similarities between Cosmos and Polkadot

Despite their differences, Cosmos and Polkadot share several similarities in their approach to blockchain interoperability:

  • Shared Vision: Both platforms aim to create an internet of blockchains that can communicate and interact seamlessly with each other.
  • Security: Both Cosmos and Polkadot place a high priority on security, leveraging innovative consensus mechanisms and cryptography to ensure the security and integrity of transactions across blockchains.
  • Scalability: Both platforms are designed to address the scalability issues plaguing traditional blockchains. They achieve this by allowing multiple blockchains to operate concurrently, sharing the workload and improving the overall throughput of the network.
  • Governance: Both platforms have inbuilt governance mechanisms that enable network participants to propose and vote on changes to the network, fostering a democratic and decentralized ecosystem.

Differences between Cosmos and Polkadot

While they share similar goals, there are key differences in the design philosophy and architecture of Cosmos and Polkadot:

  1. Consensus Mechanisms. Both platforms use a form of Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) for consensus, Cosmos uses Tendermint BFT. Polkadot uses a hybrid consensus mechanism combining elements of BFT and Proof-of-Stake (PoS).
  2. Communication Protocol. Cosmos uses the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol to facilitate communication between different blockchains. Polkadot, on the other hand, uses the Cross-Chain Message Passing (XCMP) protocol for inter-blockchain communication.
  3. Network Structure. Cosmos operates as a network of independent blockchains called zones, each powered by Tendermint BFT. Polkadot’s multichain network consists of a main relay chain and multiple parachains, each operating potentially different consensus mechanisms.
  4. Security Model. In Cosmos, each blockchain is responsible for its own security. Polkadot, however, follows a shared security model. The security of all parachains is pooled and maintained by the validators of the relay chain.

Understanding these similarities and differences can guide developers in choosing the right platform based on their specific requirements and objectives for interoperability. Both Cosmos and Polkadot offer powerful tools and frameworks for creating interoperable blockchain solutions, and the choice between them will often depend on the specifics of the use case at hand.

Practical Applications: Blockchain Interoperability Solutions in Action

Use Cases of Cosmos

Cosmos is a highly popular choice for developing decentralized applications (dApps) due to its scalability, modularity, and interoperability. Its architecture is designed to facilitate seamless cross-chain communication, making it ideal for a range of applications:

Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs): Cosmos is well-suited for building decentralized exchanges to support trading across multiple blockchains. The Gravity DEX, for instance, is a DEX built on the Cosmos network that allows users to trade tokens across different blockchains​1​.

Gaming: The scalability and modularity of the Cosmos network make it an ideal platform for blockchain-based games that require high performance and interoperability. ChainGuardian, a game built on the Cosmos network, allows players to battle each other using different characters and weapons​1​.

Cross-Chain Payments: The Cosmos network’s interoperability can facilitate cross-chain payments, allowing users to send and receive payments across different blockchain networks. This functionality reduces friction and increases efficiency in cross-border payments​1​.

Use Cases of Polkadot

Polkadot, on the other hand, offers developers a shared platform to create decentralized applications. It employs a combination of parachains, Proof of Stake protocols, and Virtual Machine-based technologies to address the scalability issues faced by other blockchains like Ethereum. Here are some of its notable use cases:

Interoperability Through Parachains: Polkadot's parachains enable other projects to build their networks and applications on Polkadot, allowing all these networks to interact with each other without the need for additional coding. Parachains are more customizable and give developers more flexibility than competitors like Ethereum. They are connected to the overall Polkadot infrastructure via a 'Relay Chain,' ensuring cross-chain interoperability through a set of robust governance protocols​2​.

Use in DeFi Platforms: Polkadot's parachains are also being used by decentralized finance platforms like Acala. Acala, the first parachain slot winner, acts as a liquidity pool from which Polkadot finances further projects within the network. This financing method is a crucial first step for Polkadot, as it creates launch momentum for even more projects​2​.

Connecting to Ethereum: Polkadot also enables seamless cross-chain operability with Ethereum, as evidenced by the second parachain slot winner, Moonbeam. Moonbeam acts as a bridge for Ethereum developers to extend the use of Ethereum Solidity code, Ethereum Virtual Machine, and its various other tools over to Polkadot. This integration expands the scope of Polkadot's cross-chain ambitions and provides a new level of connectivity between the two blockchains​2​.

Conclusion

The advancement of decentralized technologies is significantly supported by blockchain interoperability solutions, such as those provided by Cosmos and Polkadot. Known as the "Internet of Blockchains," Cosmos employs the IBC protocol to facilitate smooth communication between parallel blockchains. On the other hand, Polkadot utilizes its multichain technology, including parachains and XCMP protocol, to establish connectivity while preserving unique consensus and governance models.

Interoperability solutions have numerous advantages like flexibility, scalability, liquidity, and a wide range of use cases. Both Cosmos and Polkadot serve distinctive requirements; hence it is essential for developers to comprehend their differences.

Practical implementations encompass decentralized exchanges, gaming, and cross-chain payments provided by Cosmos, while Polkadot offers parachains, DeFi platforms, and Ethereum integration. Through embracing blockchain interoperability solutions like Cosmos and Polkadot, businesses and developers have the opportunity to foster collaborative innovation and construct powerful decentralized applications that will shape the future of decentralization.

Would you like to create your own project on blockchain and be an innovator in your industry? Contact us!

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AI-Driven Frontend Automation: Elevating Developer Productivity to New Heights

Gracjan Prusik

11 Mar 2025
AI-Driven Frontend Automation: Elevating Developer Productivity to New Heights

AI Revolution in the Frontend Developer's Workshop

In today's world, programming without AI support means giving up a powerful tool that radically increases a developer's productivity and efficiency. For the modern developer, AI in frontend automation is not just a curiosity, but a key tool that enhances productivity. From automatically generating components, to refactoring, and testing – AI tools are fundamentally changing our daily work, allowing us to focus on the creative aspects of programming instead of the tedious task of writing repetitive code. In this article, I will show how these tools are most commonly used to work faster, smarter, and with greater satisfaction.

This post kicks off a series dedicated to the use of AI in frontend automation, where we will analyze and discuss specific tools, techniques, and practical use cases of AI that help developers in their everyday tasks.

AI in Frontend Automation – How It Helps with Code Refactoring

One of the most common uses of AI is improving code quality and finding errors. These tools can analyze code and suggest optimizations. As a result, we will be able to write code much faster and significantly reduce the risk of human error.

How AI Saves Us from Frustrating Bugs

Imagine this situation: you spend hours debugging an application, not understanding why data isn't being fetched. Everything seems correct, the syntax is fine, yet something isn't working. Often, the problem lies in small details that are hard to catch when reviewing the code.

Let’s take a look at an example:

function fetchData() {
    fetch("htts://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts")
      .then((response) => response.json())
      .then((data) => console.log(data))
      .catch((error) => console.error(error));
}

At first glance, the code looks correct. However, upon running it, no data is retrieved. Why? There’s a typo in the URL – "htts" instead of "https." This is a classic example of an error that could cost a developer hours of frustrating debugging.

When we ask AI to refactor this code, not only will we receive a more readable version using newer patterns (async/await), but also – and most importantly – AI will automatically detect and fix the typo in the URL:

async function fetchPosts() {
    try {
      const response = await fetch(
        "https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts"
      );
      const data = await response.json();
      console.log(data);
    } catch (error) {
      console.error(error);
    }
}

How AI in Frontend Automation Speeds Up UI Creation

One of the most obvious applications of AI in frontend development is generating UI components. Tools like GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, or Claude can generate component code based on a short description or an image provided to them.

With these tools, we can create complex user interfaces in just a few seconds. Generating a complete, functional UI component often takes less than a minute. Furthermore, the generated code is typically error-free, includes appropriate animations, and is fully responsive, adapting to different screen sizes. It is important to describe exactly what we expect.

Here’s a view generated by Claude after entering the request: “Based on the loaded data, display posts. The page should be responsive. The main colors are: #CCFF89, #151515, and #E4E4E4.”

Generated posts view

AI in Code Analysis and Understanding

AI can analyze existing code and help understand it, which is particularly useful in large, complex projects or code written by someone else.

Example: Generating a summary of a function's behavior

Let’s assume we have a function for processing user data, the workings of which we don’t understand at first glance. AI can analyze the code and generate a readable explanation:

function processUserData(users) {
  return users
    .filter(user => user.isActive) // Checks the `isActive` value for each user and keeps only the objects where `isActive` is true
    .map(user => ({ 
      id: user.id, // Retrieves the `id` value from each user object
      name: `${user.firstName} ${user.lastName}`, // Creates a new string by combining `firstName` and `lastName`
      email: user.email.toLowerCase(), // Converts the email address to lowercase
    }));
}

In this case, AI not only summarizes the code's functionality but also breaks down individual operations into easier-to-understand segments.

AI in Frontend Automation – Translations and Error Detection

Every frontend developer knows that programming isn’t just about creatively building interfaces—it also involves many repetitive, tedious tasks. One of these is implementing translations for multilingual applications (i18n). Adding translations for each key in JSON files and then verifying them can be time-consuming and error-prone.

However, AI can significantly speed up this process. Using ChatGPT, DeepSeek, or Claude allows for automatic generation of translations for the user interface, as well as detecting linguistic and stylistic errors.

Example:

We have a translation file in JSON format:

{
  "welcome_message": "Welcome to our application!",
  "logout_button": "Log out",
  "error_message": "Something went wrong. Please try again later."
}

AI can automatically generate its Polish version:

{
  "welcome_message": "Witaj w naszej aplikacji!",
  "logout_button": "Wyloguj się",
  "error_message": "Coś poszło nie tak. Spróbuj ponownie później."
}

Moreover, AI can detect spelling errors or inconsistencies in translations. For example, if one part of the application uses "Log out" and another says "Exit," AI can suggest unifying the terminology.

This type of automation not only saves time but also minimizes the risk of human errors. And this is just one example – AI also assists in generating documentation, writing tests, and optimizing performance, which we will discuss in upcoming articles.

Summary

Artificial intelligence is transforming the way frontend developers work daily. From generating components and refactoring code to detecting errors, automating testing, and documentation—AI significantly accelerates and streamlines the development process. Without these tools, we would lose a lot of valuable time, which we certainly want to avoid.

In the next parts of this series, we will cover topics such as:

Stay tuned to keep up with the latest insights!

The Ultimate Web3 Backend Guide: Supercharge dApps with APIs

Tomasz Dybowski

04 Mar 2025
The Ultimate Web3 Backend Guide: Supercharge dApps with APIs

Introduction

Web3 backend development is essential for building scalable, efficient and decentralized applications (dApps) on EVM-compatible blockchains like Ethereum, Polygon, and Base. A robust Web3 backend enables off-chain computations, efficient data management and better security, ensuring seamless interaction between smart contracts, databases and frontend applications.

Unlike traditional Web2 applications that rely entirely on centralized servers, Web3 applications aim to minimize reliance on centralized entities. However, full decentralization isn't always possible or practical, especially when it comes to high-performance requirements, user authentication or storing large datasets. A well-structured backend in Web3 ensures that these limitations are addressed, allowing for a seamless user experience while maintaining decentralization where it matters most.

Furthermore, dApps require efficient backend solutions to handle real-time data processing, reduce latency, and provide smooth user interactions. Without a well-integrated backend, users may experience delays in transactions, inconsistencies in data retrieval, and inefficiencies in accessing decentralized services. Consequently, Web3 backend development is a crucial component in ensuring a balance between decentralization, security, and functionality.

This article explores:

  • When and why Web3 dApps need a backend
  • Why not all applications should be fully on-chain
  • Architecture examples of hybrid dApps
  • A comparison between APIs and blockchain-based logic

This post kicks off a Web3 backend development series, where we focus on the technical aspects of implementing Web3 backend solutions for decentralized applications.

Why Do Some Web3 Projects Need a Backend?

Web3 applications seek to achieve decentralization, but real-world constraints often necessitate hybrid architectures that include both on-chain and off-chain components. While decentralized smart contracts provide trustless execution, they come with significant limitations, such as high gas fees, slow transaction finality, and the inability to store large amounts of data. A backend helps address these challenges by handling logic and data management more efficiently while still ensuring that core transactions remain secure and verifiable on-chain.

Moreover, Web3 applications must consider user experience. Fully decentralized applications often struggle with slow transaction speeds, which can negatively impact usability. A hybrid backend allows for pre-processing operations off-chain while committing final results to the blockchain. This ensures that users experience fast and responsive interactions without compromising security and transparency.

While decentralization is a core principle of blockchain technology, many dApps still rely on a Web2-style backend for practical reasons:

1. Performance & Scalability in Web3 Backend Development

  • Smart contracts are expensive to execute and require gas fees for every interaction.
  • Offloading non-essential computations to a backend reduces costs and improves performance.
  • Caching and load balancing mechanisms in traditional backends ensure smooth dApp performance and improve response times for dApp users.
  • Event-driven architectures using tools like Redis or Kafka can help manage asynchronous data processing efficiently.

2. Web3 APIs for Data Storage and Off-Chain Access

  • Storing large amounts of data on-chain is impractical due to high costs.
  • APIs allow dApps to store & fetch off-chain data (e.g. user profiles, transaction history).
  • Decentralized storage solutions like IPFS, Arweave and Filecoin can be used for storing immutable data (e.g. NFT metadata), but a Web2 backend helps with indexing and querying structured data efficiently.

3. Advanced Logic & Data Aggregation in Web3 Backend

  • Some dApps need complex business logic that is inefficient or impossible to implement in a smart contract.
  • Backend APIs allow for data aggregation from multiple sources, including oracles (e.g. Chainlink) and off-chain databases.
  • Middleware solutions like The Graph help in indexing blockchain data efficiently, reducing the need for on-chain computation.

4. User Authentication & Role Management in Web3 dApps

  • Many applications require user logins, permissions or KYC compliance.
  • Blockchain does not natively support session-based authentication, requiring a backend for handling this logic.
  • Tools like Firebase Auth, Auth0 or Web3Auth can be used to integrate seamless authentication for Web3 applications.

5. Cost Optimization with Web3 APIs

  • Every change in a smart contract requires a new audit, costing tens of thousands of dollars.
  • By handling logic off-chain where possible, projects can minimize expensive redeployments.
  • Using layer 2 solutions like Optimism, Arbitrum and zkSync can significantly reduce gas costs.

Web3 Backend Development: Tools and Technologies

A modern Web3 backend integrates multiple tools to handle smart contract interactions, data storage, and security. Understanding these tools is crucial to developing a scalable and efficient backend for dApps. Without the right stack, developers may face inefficiencies, security risks, and scaling challenges that limit the adoption of their Web3 applications.

Unlike traditional backend development, Web3 requires additional considerations, such as decentralized authentication, smart contract integration, and secure data management across both on-chain and off-chain environments.

Here’s an overview of the essential Web3 backend tech stack:

1. API Development for Web3 Backend Services

  • Node.js is the go-to backend runtime good for Web3 applications due to its asynchronous event-driven architecture.
  • NestJS is a framework built on top of Node.js, providing modular architecture and TypeScript support for structured backend development.

2. Smart Contract Interaction Libraries for Web3 Backend

  • Ethers.js and Web3.js are TypeScript/JavaScript libraries used for interacting with Ethereum-compatible blockchains.

3. Database Solutions for Web3 Backend

  • PostgreSQL: Structured database used for storing off-chain transactional data.
  • MongoDB: NoSQL database for flexible schema data storage.
  • Firebase: A set of tools used, among other things, for user authentication.
  • The Graph: Decentralized indexing protocol used to query blockchain data efficiently.

4. Cloud Services and Hosting for Web3 APIs

When It Doesn't Make Sense to Go Fully On-Chain

Decentralization is valuable, but it comes at a cost. Fully on-chain applications suffer from performance limitations, high costs and slow execution speeds. For many use cases, a hybrid Web3 architecture that utilizes a mix of blockchain-based and off-chain components provides a more scalable and cost-effective solution.

In some cases, forcing full decentralization is unnecessary and inefficient. A hybrid Web3 architecture balances decentralization and practicality by allowing non-essential logic and data storage to be handled off-chain while maintaining trustless and verifiable interactions on-chain.

The key challenge when designing a hybrid Web3 backend is ensuring that off-chain computations remain auditable and transparent. This can be achieved through cryptographic proofs, hash commitments and off-chain data attestations that anchor trust into the blockchain while improving efficiency.

For example, Optimistic Rollups and ZK-Rollups allow computations to happen off-chain while only submitting finalized data to Ethereum, reducing fees and increasing throughput. Similarly, state channels enable fast, low-cost transactions that only require occasional settlement on-chain.

A well-balanced Web3 backend architecture ensures that critical dApp functionalities remain decentralized while offloading resource-intensive tasks to off-chain systems. This makes applications cheaper, faster and more user-friendly while still adhering to blockchain's principles of transparency and security.

Example: NFT-based Game with Off-Chain Logic

Imagine a Web3 game where users buy, trade and battle NFT-based characters. While asset ownership should be on-chain, other elements like:

  • Game logic (e.g., matchmaking, leaderboard calculations)
  • User profiles & stats
  • Off-chain notifications

can be handled off-chain to improve speed and cost-effectiveness.

Architecture Diagram

Below is an example diagram showing how a hybrid Web3 application splits responsibilities between backend and blockchain components.

Hybrid Web3 Architecture

Comparing Web3 Backend APIs vs. Blockchain-Based Logic

FeatureWeb3 Backend (API)Blockchain (Smart Contracts)
Change ManagementCan be updated easilyEvery change requires a new contract deployment
CostTraditional hosting feesHigh gas fees + costly audits
Data StorageCan store large datasetsLimited and expensive storage
SecuritySecure but relies on centralized infrastructureFully decentralized & trustless
PerformanceFast response timesLimited by blockchain throughput

Reducing Web3 Costs with AI Smart Contract Audit

One of the biggest pain points in Web3 development is the cost of smart contract audits. Each change to the contract code requires a new audit, often costing tens of thousands of dollars.

To address this issue, Nextrope is developing an AI-powered smart contract auditing tool, which:

  • Reduces audit costs by automating code analysis.
  • Speeds up development cycles by catching vulnerabilities early.
  • Improves security by providing quick feedback.

This AI-powered solution will be a game-changer for the industry, making smart contract development more cost-effective and accessible.

Conclusion

Web3 backend development plays a crucial role in scalable and efficient dApps. While full decentralization is ideal in some cases, many projects benefit from a hybrid architecture, where off-chain components optimize performance, reduce costs and improve user experience.

In future posts in this Web3 backend series, we’ll explore specific implementation details, including:

  • How to design a Web3 API for dApps
  • Best practices for integrating backend services
  • Security challenges and solutions

Stay tuned for the next article in this series!