"XCM: The Cross-Consensus Message Format", by Gavin Wood

As the final Polkadot 1.0 release, complete with Parachains draws close, the Cross-Consensus Messaging format, XCM for short, is approaching its first production-ready release. This is an introduction to the format, its goals, how it works and can be used to achieve typical cross-chain tasks.

One fun fact to begin with… XCM is the “cross-consensus” messaging format, rather than just “cross-chain”. This difference is a sign of the goals of the format which is designed for communicating the kinds of ideas sent not just between chains, but also smart-contracts and pallets, and over bridges and sharded enclaves like Polkadot’s Spree.

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