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Blockchain Bridge
"A 'blockchain bridge' is a link that provides communication and interaction between two blockchains.
Bridges linking two blockchain networks help dApps take advantage of both systems. For example, a DApp hosted on Ethereum and linked to the DecimalChain blockchain can use the functionality of Ethereum smart contracts, as well as the scalability of DecimalChain.
Thanks to blockchain bridges, any data, information and tokens can be transferred between two blockchain platforms.
Blockchain bridges are regulated by the Mint-and-Burn protocol. The token transfer does not take place literally; rather, when a token is needed to transfer from one blockchain to another, it is burned on the first, and an equivalent token is minted on the other.
How blockchain Bridges Work
As for public and private blockchains, blockchain bridges are divided into two categories - "Trustless" and "Federated".
The 'Trustless-bridge' works more or less like a public blockchain network where anyone can join the platform without any permission. Just like Ethereum miners, users get an incentive to confirm transactions.
Similar to a private blockchain, a 'Federated-bridge' requires a user to meet certain criteria and requirements set by the federation in order to be part of the bridge.
Advantages of blockchain bridges
The emergence of decentralized finance can significantly reduce the gap between cryptocurrency and the traditional financial system. Moreover, according to experts, DeFi solutions are able to close the issue of cryptocurrency integration into the financial world even faster than the leaders of the payment industry, such as PayPal or Coinbase.
Blockchain bridges help reduce network traffic by distributing it across other, less loaded blockchains, thereby solving scalability problems.
Instant payment processing is also a very useful blockchain bridge application.
Ultimately, teams do not need to limit themselves to one blockchain if they want to strengthen the community of one with the performance of the other.
Results
The existing bridges have been functioning in their current form for too little time, so they are still at the stage of adoption.
Given the relative immaturity of this nascent field, it is inevitable that some bridge implementations are experiencing problems.
Nevertheless, it seems inevitable that with the current focus on scalability and interoperability, bridges will become an integral part of the blockchain landscape of the future.