Xdc protocol enables cross-network messaging and asset settlement
XIM: The XDC Interledger Messaging Protocol
Cryptography and SecurityDistributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing
Summary
Many different digital money systems and networks don't easily talk to each other or move money across their boundaries. The authors propose XIM, a new way for messages and transactions to move securely between these different systems. It keeps the message content separate from how messages are sent or verified, allowing flexible security rules for each channel. This helps banks, blockchains, and payment systems work together while keeping track of what happens to prevent fraud or mistakes.
What this means in practice
- •For blockchain developers: Build bridges and message lanes between different blockchains with customizable verification and auditability.
- •For financial network operators: Integrate multi-institution payment and asset transfer workflows with a standardized protocol that supports compliance and stablecoins.
Authors
Atul Khekade, Ritesh Kakkad, Wanwiset Peerapatanapokin, Behnam Mohammadkhani
Abstract
Distributed ledgers, privacy-preserving institutional networks, and conventional payment systems increasingly need to exchange authenticated messages and settle assets across heterogeneous trust domains. Existing interoperability systems typically optimize for one of three concerns: application-level abstraction, cross-chain message transport, or synchronized execution within a related ledger family. This paper proposes XIM, the XDC Interledger Messaging Protocol, a chain-agnostic protocol for transporting canonical messages across heterogeneous networks while allowing each communication lane to select an explicit verification policy. XIM separates message semantics from transport, verification, execution, routing, asset identity, and compliance metadata. Its cryptographic state is represented by deterministic message identifiers and commitment roots, while an append-only transition log provides auditability and replay protection. XIM introduces a Universal Asset Identifier (UAID), a pluggable adapter interface, lane-scoped security policies, and an optional policy-aware route graph for multi-hop settlement. XDC Network can serve as a coordination and settlement domain without requiring every XIM message or route to transact through XDC. We specify the protocol model, state machine, message encoding, commitment structure, verification modes, failure semantics, security assumptions, threat model, implementation architecture, and an incremental deployment plan. The design targets public blockchains, permissioned ledgers, institutional networks, and authenticated financial-system gateways, with particular attention to stablecoins, tokenized assets, trade finance, and ISO 20022-compatible payment workflows.