DeFi users who frequently jump across blockchains to improve their earnings yield or purchase NFTs must inevitably rely on cross-chain bridges. Bridging technology enables a token designed for one blockchain to be used on another blockchain, making it a crucial component of blockchain interoperability.
Today, few DeFi users rely solely on bitcoin or the Ethereum network to conduct transactions. Instead, they’re using more inexpensive networks like Solana, Polygon, and the Cosmos Network. If you’ve ever transferred crypto tokens onto an exchange, you’ll recognize the recent emergence of these chains. Failure to lose the correct network for a transaction can result in the loss of tokens.
It’s important to note that while each network has a representative coin, these coins are termed tokens when they reside on another network. Hence, while ETH is deemed a coin on Ethereum, a Cosmos Network representation of the same coin is termed a token. At first glance, such terminology differences hardly appear to be worth mentioning. But understanding the differences is essential to understanding blockchain bridges.
Why do blockchain bridges exist?
If we understand tokens to be mere representations of a native coin, then the ERC-20 MATIC token purchased on a cryptocurrency exchange is not the same as the MATIC native coin. Instead, it is simply a different version of the coin. Bridges help resolve this dilemma.
In a nutshell, bridges allow us to use isolated blockchain coins like bitcoin or Dogecoin on other protocols. By bridging coins, the representation of the native coin can gain smart contract capabilities, which considerably increases its utility. For instance, when users bridge bitcoin on Ethereum, they can use it to access the ever-expanding DeFi ecosystem and benefit from advanced financial instruments like lending, liquidity mining, and staking.
Moreover, Ethereum users rely on bridges to improve access to Layer-2 networks, particularly Polygon. And since Polygon is less secure than Ethereum, bridges help alleviate this concern.
Finally, since each cryptocurrency network is configured differently, bridges enable users to move from chain to chain. With the implementation of bridges, scalability issues suddenly become a secondary concern.
An Exemplary Example: The Dogechain Bridge
Dogechain is an EVM-compatible blockchain that aims to complement the original Dogecoin. It will achieve cross-chain compatibility by relying on a bridge to ‘wrap’ Dogecoin, sending it back to the Dogecoin network when needed.
When users peg their Dogecoin to the Dogechain, the Dogechain protocol mints a wrapped $DOGE token ($wDOGE). Likewise, when a user destroys a $wDOGE (wrapped Dogecoin) token, they can withdraw a Dogecoin from the Dogechain chain using a ratio of 1:1. In this context, a cross-chain bridge protocol module will be utilized to achieve cross-chain transactions.
As an added benefit, Dogechain developers will be able to customize bridge functionality with existing plugins.
Concluding Remarks
As you can see, crypto bridges are quickly becoming an essential feature in the blockchain world. As noted above, Dogechain’s crypto bridge will enable Dogecoin users to participate in gaming, NFTs, and Defi. And as bridge technology progresses, Dogecoin users can expect to enjoy even greater functionality and interconnectivity within the digital world.
Dogechain is bringing DeFi & long awaited utility to Dogecoin. Join the family!
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