Cross-Chain Bridge
A protocol that moves tokens or messages between blockchains that cannot natively talk to each other.
- glossary
A bridge (or cross-chain bridge) is a protocol that locks an asset on one blockchain and mints a representative token on another, enabling value and data to move across networks that share no native communication channel. The most common pattern is "lock-and-mint": you deposit a token into a bridge contract on the source chain, and a custodian or decentralized oracle instructs a matching contract on the destination chain to issue a wrapped equivalent. Bridges connect Ethereum mainnet to layer-2 rollups like Optimism or Base, and to entirely separate chains like Polygon or Solana. Because bridges hold large pools of locked assets, they are high-value attack targets — several have suffered nine-figure exploits. For tokenized domains, bridging enables an NFT issued on Ethereum to move to a cheaper layer-2 for low-cost transfers, then back to mainnet for DeFi collateral.
Related keywords
- bridge
- cross-chain
- interoperability
- token bridge
- multi-chain
Contributors
Namefi is a collective of engineers, designers, and operators who obsess over building tools that make managing your onchain domain names effortless.
Victor Zhou is a technology founder and standards editor focused on digital identity and trust. He founded Namefi, edits Ethereum Improvement Proposals, and previously led smart-contract architecture work at Google Labs.
His work sits at the intersection of naming, ownership, and the systems people use to establish identity online. That perspective makes him especially interested in the way names move between personal meaning, public recognition, and digital infrastructure.
For Namefi, Victor edits and writes about domains as durable digital identity: how names become ownable onchain assets, how tokenization changes custody and trust, and what naming can learn from the systems people use to establish identity online.