Comprehensive analysis of cross-chain infrastructure protocol Xbridge

Introduction

There are many cross-chain technology tracks Cross-chain bridges have been attacked and suffered heavy losses, which has become the focus of security risks in the blockchain field. This track is often ignored by investors due to safety issues. However, with the continuous advancement of technology, a number of emerging cross-chain protocols have begun to break away from the limitations of traditional cross-chain bridges and adopt innovative cross-chain architectures to solve core problems in cross-chain technology, the so-called "impossible triangle". The Xbridge protocol is an example of such an effort. This article will provide an in-depth analysis of Xbridge, a new cross-chain infrastructure protocol, from its underlying protocol to cross-chain bridge applications.

Background‍

Cross-chain interoperability protocols, often called bridges, play a vital role in blockchain infrastructure and are also one of its most vulnerable links. This vulnerability mainly comes from security issues and centralization risks. Bridges serve as hubs that connect different blockchain networks and are often targeted by attackers because they often involve the transfer of large amounts of assets. Additionally, if the design or implementation of the bridge is flawed, funds may be lost or stolen.

With the rise of modular blockchains, L2 rollups, and application-specific chains, the number and diversity of blockchains is growing rapidly . These chains have facilitated significant growth in applications within the ecosystem by leveraging their unique advantages. However, this growth has also brought fragmentation among liquidity, decentralized application (dApp) services, and users. This fragmentation creates significant friction between the ecosystem and the main chain network. In a multi-chain future, the mobility of data and value between chains is critical as it allows for more efficient asset utilization, enhances interaction between different ecosystems, and supports broader innovation and user participation.

Xbridge protocol is designed to address these challenges. It not only aims to solve the problem of fragmentation in the blockchain ecosystem, but also focuses on improving the security and stability of the bridge. By bringing together users, liquidity and interactive activities from various blockchain ecosystems, Xbridge is committed to solving the fragmentation problem of liquidity, application services and user participation in the Web3 multi-chain environment. It promotes the development and innovation of the entire blockchain industry by creating a more secure, efficient and user-friendly bridging environment that enables data and value to flow smoothly across multiple blockchains.

Solution‍

Xbridge is an innovative decentralized cross-chain infrastructure. It not only provides standard cross-chain bridge applications, but also introduces intent-centered technical solutions to achieve more advanced "intention cross-chain". chain" function. The core of this function is not only to transfer assets, but to allow users to transfer complex operational intentions and logic between different blockchains.

Compared with traditional cross-chain bridge applications, Xbridge is unique in its two-layer structure:

The underlying cross-chain protocol and the application layer built on the protocol. This layered architecture makes cross-chain operations more flexible and secure, allowing users to achieve complex cross-chain interactions while maintaining the security of funds.

The underlying protocol is responsible for handling the secure cross-chain transmission of assets and data, ensuring that transactions between different blockchain networks can be fast and Do it safely. On this basis, Xbridge's application layer focuses on realizing users' specific intentions and operations, such as transaction execution, smart contract interaction, etc., which further enriches the application scenarios of cross-chain technology.

In addition, Xbridge’s innovative architecture effectively separates capital flow from cross-chain operation logic, which not only improves transaction security , and also provides users with a richer and more flexible cross-chain interaction experience. In this way, Xbridge not only solves the limitations of traditional cross-chain bridges, but also opens up a new realm of blockchain interoperability.

1. Decentralized cross-chain protocol

There are currently three types of solutions in the field of cross-chain protocols:

• Cosmos's IBC consensus light client with high security and minimum trust

• Validator-based systems — the approach taken by most protocols such as Wormhole, LayerZero, and Axelar — have a group of validators verify messages off-chain

• Optimistic messaging systems — of which Nomad bridge is the most prominent — are available down the dependency chain during the dispute window Sexuality check, similar to Optimistic Rollups

Each method has its advantages and disadvantages, in terms of speed, cost However, they still face the challenge of improving cross-chain efficiency and reducing costs while ensuring sufficient security.

Xbridge protocol came into being in this context, aiming to solve the above-mentioned balance problem more effectively. Xbridge Protocol is a cross-chain protocol using Arbitrary Message Passing (AMP). This protocol determines the execution party and specific Calldata of the target chain on the source chain. The traditional AMP protocol faces the challenges of large data transmission volume, high cross-chain transaction costs and underlying security verification issues, especially when it comes to trust issues in Oracles and Relayers.

To address these challenges, Xbridge has introduced the restaking mechanism, a new cryptoeconomic security primitive. This mechanism enables Xbridge to leverage the Ethereum mainnet consensus to achieve decentralized, safe and reliable cross-chain data transmission and verification at the consensus layer. In addition, Xbridge has built an Ultra Light Node in the AVS layer of the Restaking architecture to achieve end-to-end data transmission, simplifying the deployment process and improving transmission efficiency. Ultra-light nodes inherit the security of the Ethereum network due to the underlying consensus based on Restaking.

Xbridge further improves cross-chain efficiency and reduces costs by introducing intent-centered solutions. The protocol creates a unique working framework (image below) that includes two key roles: a decentralized market maker (DMM) and a solver (Solver). Xbridge decouples the DMM and Solver of the target chain from the protocol. After the user's intention is uploaded to the chain, the Solver provides specific Calldata on the target chain. This approach significantly reduces the amount of data transferred, thereby reducing the fees for cross-chain transactions. In addition, the intervention of Solver on the target chain makes the cross-chain protocol more efficient, allowing user operations to be completed at a lower cost.

2. Integrated Account Abstraction (AA) function cross-chain bridge application

Xbridge cross-chain bridge application provides a unique and innovative cross-chain solution by integrating the Account Abstraction (AA) function. Unlike traditional cross-chain bridges that rely on their own capital pools, Xbridge abandons this model and instead introduces a decentralized market maker (DMM) to provide multi-chain liquidity. This design not only improves the efficiency of capital flow, but also significantly reduces the risk of hacker attacks on the capital pool.

Advantages of using account abstraction

• Personalized cross-chain transactions: AA allows Xbridge to achieve a high degree of programmability in cross-chain execution, providing users with a customized cross-chain experience.

• Flexible asset management: Through account abstraction, Xbridge enables asset management and cross-chain The transaction logic is completely decoupled, increasing the flexibility and security of the system.

• Improve user experience: users can enjoy a smoother and more personalized cross-border Chain operations without worrying about complex fund pool management or security risks.

Cross-chain use cases‍

The innovation of Quickly receive cross-chain assets. This method greatly improves the execution efficiency of cross-chain transactions. In addition, the programmable features of Give different DMM executions to optimize liquidity usage and reduce costs. This design not only reduces users’ costs when performing cross-chain operations, but also greatly improves the overall user experience.

Industry Innovation‍

Xbridge is not only the industry's first bridge application that integrates account abstraction to achieve cross-chain execution, but also can connect any information or assets through the combination of its protocol and bridge application and is programmable . This intent-based interoperability solution provides the ability to program cross-chain logic in a cross-chain environment, which is a groundbreaking advanced practice in the current field of cross-chain technology.

Xbridge not only provides more The efficient and more secure cross-chain solution has also achieved remarkable results in improving user experience and reducing operating costs. This separation of capital flow from cross-chain protocols and the implementation of programmable cross-chain logic mark a major breakthrough for Xbridge in solving existing cross-chain technology challenges.

Xbridge has demonstrated its unique advantages in comparison with prominent cross-chain protocols such as LayerZero and Chainlink. LayerZero uses a combination of oracles and relayers to confirm the validity of cross-chain transactions, which requires applications to be built based on its protocol rather than just connecting to existing blockchain applications. Although LayerZero provides the option of customizing verification libraries, oracles, and relayers, this still relies on specific implementations to achieve decentralization. In addition, the processing speed of LayerZero is limited by the execution time of cross-chain Relayer and Verifier, which may affect the user experience on the target chain.

Chainlink has proposed Chainlink CCIP, a cross-chain interoperability solution that has not yet been launched. Similar to LayerZero, CCIP relies on multisig to authenticate, order and deliver inter-chain messages. The core of CCIP relies on Chainlink’s oracles, which allow data to be included in Chainlink’s price reference feed.

In contrast, Xbridge uses a restaking mechanism and ultra-light nodes, which not only improves the decentralization of its protocol, but also Achieving a level of security comparable to that of the Ethereum network. This mechanism allows Xbridge to achieve secure consensus in a lighter way. Compared to the complex consensus layers required to be built by LayerZero and Chainlink, Xbridge provides a more efficient and secure solution. This gives Xbridge a significant advantage in the competition of cross-chain protocols, especially in providing a fast, secure and user-friendly cross-chain experience.

Summary‍

Xbridge breaks traditional boundaries in the field of cross-chain technology, not only providing revolutionary solutions in terms of security, cost and efficiency, but also adding to cross-chain programmability by introducing an intent-centric working framework new dimension. This innovation greatly improves users' cross-chain interoperability experience and paves the way for the widespread application of Web3. Xbridge’s modular roadmap further enhances the flexibility and ease of use of its protocol, decomposing core components (including the verification layer, communication layer, execution layer, settlement layer and application layer) into independent modules, making it easier for other applications to integrate and Take advantage of its protocols. This design is conducive to the construction and development of its ecosystem.

In addition to its efficient cross-chain bridge application, Xbridge's underlying protocol also has significant business scalability. Developers can build various applications on top of its protocol, such as cross-chain transactions, cross-chain grid transactions, cross-chain quantitative transactions, etc. This scalability not only provides developers with a wide range of space for innovation, but also allows Xbridge to flexibly adapt to new needs and opportunities in the market. Taken together, Xbridge not only optimizes existing cross-chain bridge applications, but also explores new possibilities for future blockchain innovation and applications.