According to Bloomberg News, app and centralized exchanges are offering bridge-like features. In the past month, the value locked in the Ethereum bridges dropped by 17%. The high-profile hacks on the crypto bridges that allow users to swap across the blockchain digital tokens have created opportunities for the exchanges and other business entities to deal with more secured alternatives.
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The crypto exchanges Coinbase Global Inc and FTX offer greater capabilities of providing bridge-like services on the various blockchain platforms so that the investors interested in investing in Ethereum and Bitcoin can participate in gaming apps and other apps of gaming networks. FTX, for instance, set up a marketplace in the past year that will allow customers to trade non-fungible tokens and swap the chain’s leading Sol coin against Ethereum. An Ethereum-based NFT can be deposited by the users instead of a bridge.
More and more app developers like Maple Finance, which is an institutional lending marketplace, are migrating to new blockchains, thereby bridging the gap for transactions that are not necessary. While some of the measures have been before the breaches, the urgency and appeal have surged after hackers have siphoned out $1 billion cryptos or perhaps more out of Wormhole and Ronin, especially in March and February. Wormhole and Ronin are crypto bridges.
Bloomberg News reports that a survey comprising 500 adults in the US carried out by OnePulse indicated that 80% of the respondents have no trust in crypto networks that will enable them to safeguard their funds. Whereas the Ethereum connected bridges continue to contain about $17.4 billion in value locked, it is down by 17% in the last 30 days, as per tracker Dune Analytics. The decentralized bridges that are operated through software do not offer a clear picture about who runs them, who is allowed to access the fund and how, and whether the users will be able to enjoy a reimbursement in a hack. On the contrary, at the other end of the spectrum, a centralized alternative may include being run by a regulated and licensed company and will be accountable if any such problems arise.
Going on to and using various blockchains although it offers many advantages. There is a lot of potentials for crypto apps to grow rapidly if there is an increase in the usage of the underlying blockchain.
According to Bodhi Pinkner, who is associated with Arca, a digital asset management company, a portfolio manager states that the primary objective is to reach out to various consumer bases. However, the bridges will not disappear sooner. With over 18,800 tokens and more than a thousand blockchain, they are essential for companies like Arca, heavy users.
