Union x Stargaze: Enabling Cross-Chain Transfer of Blue-Chip Ethereum NFTs to Cosmos Ecosystem

New York, NY — Union, the Modular Interoperability Layer, is teaming up with Stargaze, the zero-gas NFT app chain, to facilitate the transfer of blue-chip Ethereum NFTs to the Cosmos ecosystem through its trustless, decentralized zkIBC bridge.

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The integration promises significant advantages for collections in both realms. Following the completion of this partnership, Stargaze's NFT collections, including Bad Kids, will gain exposure to the Ethereum ecosystem by featuring on Ethereum marketplaces.

Conversely, blue-chip Ethereum NFTs such as CryptoPunks, BAYC and Pudgy Penguins will find a new home in Stargaze. Moreover, NFT collections minted on Stargaze, such as the Celestine Sloth Society, will benefit from expanded reach into Ethereum. This expansion is expected to amplify trading volume across both ecosystems, resulting in higher royalty fees for creators.

Stargaze, distinguished by its zero gas fees and carbon-neutral footprint, empowers creators to effortlessly launch permissionless collections using no-code solutions. With its minimal fees and enhanced user experience, Stargaze offers a more efficient trading environment for NFT enthusiasts.

The partnership between Union and Stargaze will establish an IBC channel between their testnets to implement interoperability between ERC-721 and SG-721 standards in the coming months. This process aims to facilitate seamless NFT transfers across chains with minimal effort required from Stargaze, other than supporting Wasm light clients included in the new Cosmos SDK. Union's upcoming integration with the AggLayer will further facilitate the transfer of NFTs between Polygon and Stargaze.

Shane Vitarana, Co-Founder of Stargaze, expressed enthusiasm for the collaboration, stating:
"We're excited to work with Union to bring some of the top Ethereum NFTs to IBC for the first time. This partnership isn’t just about moving assets; it's about connecting communities and simplifying the blockchain experience for everyone. As we bridge these ecosystems, we’re tackling the challenge of fragmentation head-on. It’s about making Stargaze not just a platform, but a community hub for the best NFTs out there, regardless of where they started."

Shane Vitarana, Co-Founder of Stargaze
Among the projects eagerly anticipating this integration is Hedgies, a series of 4,200 unique collectible avatars distributed to the dYdX community at its inception. Following dYdX’s move to the Cosmos ecosystem in October 2023, Hedgies' owners have long awaited the ability to transfer their NFTs to the Cosmos ecosystem.

To demonstrate the capabilities of this new cross-chain NFT communication, Union plans to launch an exclusive collection across both the Ethereum and Stargaze networks to commemorate its upcoming mainnet launch, with further details to be shared in the coming months.

Cor Pruijs, CTO at Union, emphasized the significance of trustless interoperability, stating, "With Union’s zkIBC connection to Ethereum, we support general message passing, allowing us to securely provide merkle-inclusion proofs for NFTs. Because Stargaze is a dedicated appchain, NFTs can be traded in an extremely efficient manner. I foresee more Ethereum protocols offloading computation to appchains, and using Ethereum as a settlement layer."

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About Union

Union is the first modular interoperability layer pioneering trustless bridging between appchains, L1s, and L2s without relying on trusted third parties, oracles, multi-signatures, or MPC. Founded and backed by leaders from Composable Finance; Consensys; Tokensoft; and Polygon, Union’s consensus framework and flagship product, ETH to IBC, are charting a new era of interoperability, remedying the cost and security issues plaguing the industry.

About Stargaze

Stargaze is an L1 blockchain designed to empower creators, traders, and developers. Offering real yield to stakers and enforcing royalties on-chain for creators and developers, Stargaze provides a suite of apps that compose well with each other, from NFT minting and trading to more advanced NFT-Fi apps. As an app chain secured by a validator set consisting of 140 nodes, Stargaze supports IBC and pioneers ICS-721, the Interchain NFT transfer standard. Stargaze is also the home of Bad Kids, a top NFT collection popular among crypto builders.