Leading blockchain interoperability platforms have joined forces to form a new alliance to develop industry standards, collaborate on research and design, and foster broader adoption of blockchain technology.

Aion, Wanchain, and ICON have announced the formation of the “Blockchain Interoperability Alliance” at Consensus: Invest in New York City. The key objective is to collaborate on research and design for cross-chain transactions and communication.

“We believe that collaborating across projects will help set best practices for blockchain interoperability and encourage broader market adoption across enterprises and the public,” said Aion Founder Matthew Spoke.

One of the key obstacles for the mainstream adoption of public and private blockchain networks is the inability of independent blockchain protocols to communicate in a decentralized and scalable way.

A number of projects have launched in the recent months to address this problem. As these projects build their protocols, test designs and hypothesis, the need arises for them to collaborate to ensure that the solutions are being developed in a way that supports interoperability between different protocols. Aion, Wanchain, and ICON have formed the Blockchain Interoperability Alliance with this objective in mind.

“The ICON project was first started at the request of our enterprise blockchain clients to interconnect with other blockchain networks,” said JH Kim, ICON Foundation Council Member. “The goal of this alliance is to create a globally accepted standard for connecting blockchains, and to bring innovations together.”

“The Blockchain Interoperability Alliance will play a crucial role in increasing the connectivity of our digital assets and our lives,” said Wanchain President Dustin Byington.