Namaste 🙏 🙏 all of you. I learned a lot about blockchain technology after participating in the Steemit Crypto Academy Contest posts.

Today I get a chance to share my knowledge regarding the Blockchain Bridge.

This is my entry for the #SteemitCryptoAcademy community contest Blockchain Bridge.

We are well familiar with the word Bridge in our real life too. "Bridges" means it's a structure for connecting two areas or places for our easy move from one place to another. Similarly, in the crypto space, we have a lot of blockchains. But each blockchain works in its own way based on its design.

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But users want to move their projects from one blockchain to another blockchain. In this situation, Blockchain Bridges helps them a lot to achieve their needs.

In today's post, I go into more detail about Blockchain Bridges.

Let's start

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What do you understand by a blockchain bridge? This is why blockchain bridges were required.

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A blockchain bridge is a digital ledger that helps connect different blockchain networks. It allows for the transfer of data and assets between different blockchain platforms without the need for a central authority.

This makes it an important tool for businesses that are looking to use blockchain technology to streamline their operations.

By creating a shared record of data across multiple networks, a blockchain bridge can help facilitate communication and collaboration between different systems. By doing so, a blockchain bridge has the potential to unlock new value for businesses and new use cases for the technology.

This can potentially save businesses time and money and make it easier for them to collaborate.

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Bridges Are Necessary for the Blockchain?

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A bridge is necessary for a blockchain because it allows for communication between the chain and an outside network. This is important because the blockchain world has its own unique set of problems and solutions that don’t easily translate to other types of technologies.

This is critical for the development of new and innovative applications that can benefit from the data and information stored on different blockchain networks.

That is why blockchain bridges also help to ensure the security of data and information stored on different blockchain networks. By allowing different blockchain networks to communicate and transact with each other, blockchain bridges help to create a more secure and reliable environment for data and information.

That's, why Blockchain Bridges are necessary for us to interact with other blockchains without taking a centralized platform, help.

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What are the benefits of the blockchain bridge? How does the bridge work?

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The benefits of blockchain bridges are numerous and various. Perhaps most importantly, they provide a way to connect different blockchains and allow for the transfer of data and value between them. This is hugely important for the interoperability of the blockchain ecosystem as a whole.

In addition, blockchain bridges can help to improve scalability and speed transactions. They can also help to reduce costs by eliminating third-party involvement.

Along with that, blockchain bridges can provide increased security and privacy. The potential applications of blockchain bridges are vast and varied. They have the potential to revolutionise the way we interact with the digital world.

Like the different types of benefits, we get from Blockchain Bridges.

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How does the bridge work?

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A blockchain bridge is a digital transaction system that allows for the transfer of value between two different blockchain networks.

The most common type of blockchain bridge is a Cross-Chain Atomic Swap. An atomic swap is a type of smart contract that enables the exchange of one cryptocurrency for another without the need for a third party.

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For example, if you wanted to exchange Bitcoin from the Bitcoin chain to the Ethereum chain, you would need a blockchain bridge to do so without taking any third-party help. By using Bridges' help, we can bridge our assets very easily.

The most notable thing about blockchain bridges is that they offer a "Trustless way to exchange value between two different blockchain networks".Here Transactions execute based on Smart contracts that's why here data is stored on the blockchain itself. That's why we don't get some kinds of risks that come with traditional, centralised exchanges here.

Based on Smart Contracts, most bridges work but it is different from their design.

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Highlight the types of blockchain bridges by category. Pick an example of a blockchain bridge, which is existence and explain how it works.

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If we divide blockchain bridges based on their category, we have three types of bridges in the present market.

• Bridges Based On Trust

• Bridges Based On Function

• Bridges Based On Mechanism

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Bridges Based On Trust :

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There are two different kinds of bridges in this category.

They are referred to as Trust-Based
Bridges and Trust-Less Bridges.

Centralized platforms manage "Trust-based Bridges." So to have any interactions here, we need permission from them.

Concerning Trust Less Bridges, they are open source, so we can interact with them as we need, with no third-party involvement.

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Bridges Based On Function

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Here we also have two types of bridges in this category. They are the Wrapped Assets Bridge and Side-chain Bridge.

The Wrapped Assets Bridge provides interoperability between the bridges. This means that if you have Bitcoin in your wallet but need it on the ERC 20 network, we can easily wrap Bitcoin into the ERC 20 network by using those bridges.

Coming to Side-chain Bridges, give support to the native main blockchain for making connections between blockchains. It works in the background.

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Bridges Based On Mechanism

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Again, here also, we may categorise Blockchain Bridges based on their mechanism into two types. They are the Unidirectional Bridge and the Bidirectional Bridge.

Using a Unidirectional Bridge, we may move assets from one blockchain to another blockchain, but not back to resend assets to the native blockchain.

But, by using Bidirectional Bridge, we may bridge assets from one blockchain to another also allowing them, back to their native chain.

Those are the types of blockchain bridges we have available based on their category.

But here we need to choose the correct blockchain bridge based on our needs. It's very important, then only possible to full fill our needs.

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Example: Polygon Bridge

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Polygon also has its own Native Bridge. For use, just go through this link: https://wallet.polygon.technology/.

Now we see this page. Now click on the Connect Wallet tab for connecting our Metamask.

Now we get this window. Here I select Metamask.

Here I connect my wallet by giving my wallet password and Giving the needed Permission.

Here you may see my wallet address. This means I connect my Wallet successfully.

But before starting the connecting process, add Polygon Network to Metamask.

To add a network, go to Network and then the Add Network Tab in Metamask Wallet.

Now we get to this page. Here you enter the below-given details.

Polygon Network Details:

Polygon	Network Details
Network Name	Polygon Mainnet
RPC URL	https://polygon-rpc.com/
Chain ID	137
Currency Symbol	MATIC
Block Explorer URL	https://polygonscan.com/

After giving, click on the Save tab.

, we can add any network to Metamask by giving its Network details.

Here I already added Polygon Mainnet in my Metamask wallet. That's why it showing like that.

Now select the Polygon Bridge tab. Now we get this screen.

Using Polygon Bridge, we can transfer all available assets from Polygon to the Ethereum Chain at the same Vice Versa too. Just by selecting which coin we need to transfer,

When I show a demo for Deposite, which means moving funds from Ethereum Chain to Polygon Chain it shows a fee of around $8. Due to insufficient funds, I didn't do this transaction.

It shows a fee of around $6 for withdrawal, which means moving funds from the Polygon Chain to the Ethereum Chain.
You should check here.

My transaction is not yet finished due to insufficient balances.

Using "Polygon Bridge," we can easily transfer assets from the Polygon Chain to the Ethereum Chain using our Decentralized Wallets.

In my opinion, besides these native bridges, cross-chain bridges like Zapper and Hope Bridges,Etc are good choices. Because they support all major networks, transaction fees are also very less.

Along with within 4 to 5 minutes, our transaction also executes without issues.

For example, here I am describing the Hop Bridge.

To get started, go to https://app.hop.exchange/ and then click on the Send tab for bridging needs.

Now we get this screen. Now connect your Metamask by selecting the Connect Wallet tab.

Here you may see my wallet connected successfully. I recently assigned an ENS domain name to my wallet. That's why it looks like this instead of an address.

At present, it supports five major networks. From this, we may choose which we need.

For example, here I'm bridging My ETH from Arbitrum to Optimism. That's why I select networks like this.

Then, after filling in all the needed details, I finish my transaction.

Here it took hardly 5 minutes to complete the transaction.

Here you may see my updated ETH balance in optimism.

Like that, we can bridge all available assets from one network to another very easily.

Note:All Images are Mine has taken While Doing Transactions on Polygon Bridge & Hop platforms, Then after editing as per Requirements

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Do blockchain bridges have any limitations? What do you think about the future of blockchain bridges?

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Blockchain bridges are still in their early stages, and many challenges need to be addressed before they can be widely adopted.

One of the biggest challenges is creating a standard protocol for blockchain bridges. Without a Standard Protocol, it will be difficult for different blockchain networks to interoperate with each other.

Another challenge is Scalability. Blockchain bridges need to be able to handle a large number of transactions quickly and efficiently. This is a challenge because blockchain networks are often slow and can become overloaded.

Blockchain bridges need to be secure. They need to be able to resist attacks from hackers and malicious actors. This is a difficult challenge because blockchain networks are often targeted by hackers.

Like those limitations, we have with blockchain bridges.

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Future of blockchain bridges

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In my opinion, there is a bright future for blockchain bridges. Because blockchain bridges play a big role in increasing the efficiency of the technology, by allowing different blockchains to communicate with each other, they can share resources and process transactions more quickly. This can help to reduce the costs associated with running a blockchain-based application.

This is important for the development of more sophisticated applications that can run on multiple blockchains.

But here we have a lot of features with Blockchain Bridge but also have a risk. More development is required for this wide adoption.

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Conclusion

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Blockchain bridges play a big role in Blockchain Technology's wide range of adoption. Because they are used to link different blockchain networks together and facilitate communication and transactions between them.

There are many different types of blockchain bridges, each with its own unique features and functions. Without blockchain bridges, the different blockchain networks would be isolated from each other and would not be able to communicate or transact with each other.

But it's still under development and needs more improvement to get secure, risk-free transaction needs.

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I Would like to invite my friends to participate in this contest @ikmalhariamuna, @ripon0630 ,@ternuritajessi @zulhendra, @msdbitco, @shohana1,@simonnwigwe, @chiabertrand, @nevlu123 and @harferri.

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Thank you very Much For Stopping My Post And Spending Your Valuable Time On My Publication