Cross-chain bridge

A cross-chain bridge is a service that lets you move value from one blockchain to another, for example from Ethereum to Base or from BNB Chain to Solana. Strictly speaking, nothing travels. Chains cannot read each other directly, so the bridge creates a matching claim on the destination chain instead.

Most bridges work in one of two ways. In lock-and-mint, you deposit tokens into a contract on the source chain, and the bridge mints a wrapped version on the destination chain. To go back, the wrapped token is burned and the original is released. In liquidity-based designs, the bridge keeps pools of the native token on both chains and pays you from the destination pool while the source pool grows. Either way, something has to confirm that your deposit happened, whether that is a validator set, a multisig, or an on-chain proof system.

This matters because a token is only useful to you if you can get funds onto the chain where it trades, and many small projects launch on cheaper chains. It also matters because a bridge is a vault holding everything users have deposited, which makes it a large target. Bridge exploits have produced some of the biggest thefts in crypto history. When a lock-and-mint bridge is drained, the wrapped tokens on the other side lose their backing and can drop sharply or become worthless.

Use the bridge that the chain or project officially links to, and open it from a bookmark instead of a search ad or a link someone sent you, since fake bridge sites are a common phishing trick. Look at how transfers are verified and whether the contracts have been audited, keeping in mind that an audit reduces risk but does not rule out bugs. Send a small test amount first and expect delays on the larger ones. Confirm that you are receiving the native token and not a wrapped lookalike, make sure you hold some gas token on the destination chain, and revoke the bridge's token approval when you are done.