Cross-Chain Bridges
Bridges move assets between blockchains. The problem: blockchains can't natively read each other's state. Every bridge is a creative hack around this fundamental limitation — and each approach makes different security tradeoffs. Bridges hold billions in TVL and have been the #1 target for exploits in DeFi history.
Bridge Architecture Types
Click each type to see an animated flow diagram of how it works.
Lock & Mint: Lock native tokens on Chain A, mint wrapped tokens on Chain B. To go back, burn wrapped tokens and unlock originals. Used by: WBTC, Multichain (RIP), Portal.
Bridge Risk Spectrum
More trust assumptions = more attack surface. Adjust the sliders to see how different bridge designs score on the trust spectrum.
Bridge Hacks Timeline
Over $2.5 billion has been stolen from bridge exploits. These are the biggest ones.
Attacker bypassed signature verification, minting 120k wETH on Solana without locking ETH. Jump Crypto backstopped the losses.
Lazarus Group compromised 5 of 9 validators (including 4 run by Sky Mavis). Drained 173,600 ETH + 25.5M USDC over 6 days before anyone noticed.
2-of-5 multisig. Attacker compromised 2 keys, drained the bridge. Absurdly low security for $100M+ TVL.
A bug in the Replica contract let anyone prove arbitrary messages. Once one person found it, hundreds copied the tx. "The first decentralized robbery."
CEO arrested in China; private keys to MPC nodes were controlled by a single person. Funds drained from bridge contracts with no exploit needed.