In today’s article, I explained cross-chain bridges and provided a list of the top 5.

Cross-chain bridges enable independent blockchains to interact with each other.

Thus, you can spend your crypto irrespective of the native blockchain.

Are you ready to see how cross-chain bridges work and the ones you should start using?

Let’s jump right in!

Post Summary

1. What Are Cross-Chain Bridges?
2. How Do Cross-Chain Bridges Work?
3. List Of The Top 5 Cross-Chain Bridges
4. Are Cross-Chain Bridges Safe?
5. Conclusion

Click on any item above to read its details immediately.

1. What Are Cross-Chain Bridges?

Cross-chain bridges are protocols that connect different independent blockchains.

In other words, they allow the transfer of tokens and other relevant data from one blockchain to the other.

Cross-chain bridges are also referred to as blockchain bridges or network bridges.

Usually, blockchains cannot interact with each other because they have different rules that govern them. 

And these limits their capabilities to only what they can do. 

But with cross-chain bridges, users can enjoy the features of different blockchains at the same time.

The core benefits of cross-chain bridges are:

• Crypto assets produce extra value rather than lie dormant on one blockchain.
• Users leverage opportunities of different platforms like better security, cheaper gas fees, faster transaction finality, etc.
• Developers enjoy liquidity available on different chains.
• DApps grow faster because users can access them from different chains.

Amazing, right?

Furthermore, cross-chain bridges can be categorized according to their functions, mechanisms, and levels of centralization. 

Have a look:

Please note that a blockchain bridge can fall into more than one category. For example, wBTC is custodial, wrapping, and one-way.

Also, there are bridges that connect only two chains e.g. Rainbow and Gravity while others connect more than two chains e.g. Ren.

Moving on, let’s look at how cross-chain bridges work.

Read on!

2. How Do Cross-Chain Bridges Work?

They work like the physical bridges you know, allowing you to move from one side of the road to the other.

But here, we are looking at moving crypto from the native blockchain to a different blockchain with the intent of using it on the new blockchain.

Technically, this is how business is done in cross-chain bridges:

a. Ada sends units of Token X to a specific address on the source chain (say Ethereum). 

b. Ada’s Token X is locked up in a smart contract by a trusted validator or held with a trusted custodian. 

c. Equal units of Token Y are minted on the destination blockchain (say Polygon). 

d. Ada receives Token Y in her wallet address and can freely use it to execute transactions on the new blockchain.

e. When she’s done, Ada sends leftover units of Token Y to a specific address on the second chain, where they are burned.

f. The validator or custodian triggers the release of Ada’s Token X on the source chain. Ada then receives the released funds in her original wallet.

Impressive, right?

Notice that using cross-chain bridges does not mean you can make transactions on a blockchain with a token it does not support.

Rather, it converts your token to a supported token for the new blockchain.

That’s why you see tokens like wBTC, wETH, uBAYC, cDAI, etc.

These are called wrapped tokens because they are fashioned to operate on other blockchains that are not their native chain.

I hope it is clear.

So, we can say that cross-chain bridges use a lock-mint-burn model to transfer values to and fro chains.

Next, we’ll look at the top 5 cross-chain bridges.

Tag along!

3. List Of The Top 5 Cross-Chain Bridges

They are:

• Wormhole
• Polygon PoS Bridge
• Ren Bridge
• Synapse
• Binance Bridge

Let’s take them one after the other.

a. Wormhole

This is a non-custodial bridge that enables the transfer of assets between Solana and Ethereum.

Also, it supports other chains like Terra, Avalanche, Oasis, BSC, and Polygon.

Wormhole grants users access to Solana’s low-fee and high-throughput blockchain.

And it uses smart contracts to manage the lock-and-mint process, increasing the safety of tokens.

In addition to regular tokens, Wormhole supports NFT transfers. 

Visit Wormhole

b. Polygon PoS Bridge

Here’s another non-custodial bridge for transferring assets.

It allows users to transfer tokens and NFTs between the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains (back and forth).

Additionally, users enjoy low gas fees and security of assets due to the decentralized bridging mechanism.

Visit Polygon Bridge

c. Ren Bridge 

Ren Bridge also made my list of the top 5 cross-chain bridges.

It connects multiple blockchains including Bitcoin, Ethereum, BSC, etc. thus increasing interoperability.

Ren is the most recommended bridge for moving BTC to the Ethereum network.

And as you would expect, users enjoy full privacy on transactions on Ren (no KYC/AML)

Visit Ren Bridge

d. Synapse 

This is also a trustless cross-chain bridge for moving assets and swapping tokens.

Additionally, users earn passive income when they stake and provide liquidity on Synapse.

So, they leverage Synapse Network’s cross-chain to earn profits. Cool!

Visit Synapse

e. Binance Bridge 

The 5th cross-chain bridge on my list is slightly different from the ones mentioned earlier.

Binance bridge is a custodial bridge for transferring assets between Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum 

It offers fast processing times and cheap transaction fees.

Also, users can redeem wrapped tokens for original assets anytime. Great!

Binance bridge is best for users of popular BSC DeFi DApps like PancakeSwap, Venus, and BeefyFinance.

Visit Binance Bridge

Other cross-chain bridges that didn’t make my list of top 5 are:

• Multichain
• Celer cBridge
• Autobahn Network
• Orbit Bridge
• Umbria Narni Bridge
• WanBridge
• Relay
• Raydius
• Horizon
• Avalanche Bridge
• Tezos Wrap Protocol

[Suggested Read: 10 Blockchains With the Highest Transaction Speed in 2022]

Moving on, we’ll see how safe cross-chain bridges are.

Keep reading!

4. Are Cross-Chain Bridges Safe?

As it is with every innovation in crypto, cross-chain bridges are not 100% safe.

Some of the risks associated with cross-chain bridges are:

a. Non-custodial bridges are exposed to attackers. Once there is a flaw in the smart contract, hackers will exploit it, and investors will lose money.

For example, Wormhole lost $320 million to an attacker on the 2nd of February, 2022.

[Interesting Read: Crypto Hack – What Causes It | List Of Blockchains/ Exchanges That Have Been Hacked!]

b. On the other hand, users of custodial bridges can lose their funds to theft by the trusted company or mere carelessness.

Also, orders from a third party may affect users, such as if a government requests that the company freeze assets.

c. Cross-chain bridges also suffer transaction rate bottlenecks. 

If one of the chains involved in the transaction has low throughput, it may limit large-scale blockchain interoperability.

[You may like: Common Terms Used In Blockchain Scalability – Keep Up With Crypto Trends!]

d. Lastly, bridges may pose security problems for the underlying blockchains.

This is because the overall security of the interconnected networks is as strong as the weakest link.

Therefore, cross-chain bridges help achieve interoperability among chains but they may limit blockchain scalability. Oops!

Moreover, you should do due diligence before using any cross-chain bridge.

Gladly, you can store your assets in a hardware wallet and reduce the risks of losing funds.

[Suggested Read: Top 4 Ways To Solve The Scalability Issues In Cryptocurrency (Everything I Found Out)]

5. Conclusion

Cross-chain bridges are fundamental in building an interoperable, open, and decentralized blockchain space.

Earlier in this article, we understood how they work and saw a list of the top 5 bridges.

Also, we identified the risks of using these bridges and pointed out how they may limit blockchain scalability.

However, we cannot deny the need for blockchain bridges will likely increase especially with Web3 on board.

Hopefully, future innovations will grant higher scalability and efficiency to users and developers.

Let’s draw the drapes here. I believe reading this article was worth your time.

Please ask any questions you may have or share your thoughts on the topic in the comments section below.

Also, share this post with your friends using the icons below. Thank you!