Interoperability between blockchains became a hot topic a few years ago. The concept was hailed by many as a necessary pre-condition for mass adoption. Crypto projects could not exist in their only little islands, they needed to be connected to have increased utility and value in the real world.
Nowadays, we have several cross-chain projects like Polkadot, Avalanche, and Cosmos building bridges within dApps and the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. However, and despite their best efforts, the currency level of interoperability is still insufficient.
Communication channels between blockchains are still scarce, and liquidity remains fragmented. However, a new solution is poised to change the current landscape, solving these issues and making the whole crypto space increasingly connected.
Enter deBridge
deBridge is a promising cross-chain infrastructure platform that allows developers to connect components of their protocols into different blockchains. In doing so, developers can ensure that any protocol being developed can leverage higher scalability, bridge its token so it co-exists in different blockchains, and build new types of cross-chain applications.
The deBridge protocol offers much more than just cross-chain interoperability and liquidity transfers. deBridge offers the infrastructure necessary for projects to be built on top of, while also allowing for other innovative functionalities such as passing arbitrary data between blockchains, interconnecting smart contracts in different chains, and performing cross-chain invocation of smart contracts.
How does it work?
Cross-chain communication between different blockchains is achieved through a network of elected validators, who independently run oracle nodes to perform various validations and data relays between networks. All oracle services used by deBridge are provided by industry leader Chainlink, the most trustworthy and time-tested decentralized oracle network in the crypto sphere.
The whole deBridge network is governed by its community through a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization), allowing token holders to vote on proposals regarding protocol parameters, management of the treasury, and the overall future trajectory of deBridge.
Finally, a mechanism for delegated staking and slashing was also put into place. Validators are required to stake assets as collateral, which may then be used for slashing and compensation if validators’ choices incur financial losses for users. This ensures validators act in the users’ best interests, as their capital is at risk if they fail to do so.
Overall, the delegated staking and slashing mechanism serve as a backbone for the deBridge protocol security, preventing network validators from exploiting any collusions or loopholes in its economic model.
Closing thoughts
With only six months of existence, deBridge is already showing tremendous potential. After winning the Chainlink Global Hackathon in 2021, among a list of more than 140 rival teams, deBridge has recently closed a $5.5 million funding round and also received a generous grant from the Polygon foundation.
The deBridge decentralized infrastructure will soon go live on the mainnet. Once it’s available, blockchain developers will have an exclusive opportunity to leverage the groundbreaking cross-chain solutions offered by deBridge, thus building the most efficient and fast dApps and protocols possible.
