What Is Bridge?

A cross-chain bridge is a protocol that facilitates asset transfers between different blockchains using lock-and-mint or burn-and-mint mechanisms. Bridges allow users to move tokens from one chain to another, typically creating wrapped tokens on the destination chain. While bridges enable cross-chain DeFi composability, they represent significant security risks; bridge exploits have resulted in billions of dollars in losses. Users should carefully evaluate bridge security, audits and trust assumptions before transferring assets.

See also

• Wrapped token

• Smart contract

• Blockchain

• Decentralised finance

• Token