Preface to the article - Who is Hyperlane, the new cross-chain bottom-level star with many partners?
In the blockchain network world, in order to conduct transactions safely and smoothly in multiple blockchain networks, cross-chain issues have always been a concern. This article will explore how the cross-chain transmission protocol Hyperlane structures cross-chain chain communication environment and mention interaction methods.
As a cross-chain protocol, Hyperlane has a very wide business scope. Cooperation projects include multiple Cosmos modular blockchains, EVM blockchains, heterogeneous blockchains, and multiple cross-chain DeFi infrastructures such as Everclear, Khalani, Mitosis, etc. In addition, it also includes multiple protocols such as Eigenlayer and Karak in the re-staking field. It has also cooperated with another re-staking protocol Symbiotic in the future. Whether it is cross-chain service connection or cross-chain security technology research and development, these cooperations have made Hyperlane's services more complete. It is also closely related to Eigenlayer's AVS ecosystem and deserves more attention and layout.
Hyperlane brings permissionless and modular security into the cross-chain environment, and creates AVS (Active Verification System) to help integrate the security of the Ethereum mainnet into cross-chain services. Currently, the TVL of the Ethereum re-pledge agreement has reached nearly 20 billion US dollars. scale, many AVS service providers have also promoted their services to the entire Ethereum system blockchain, and Hyperlane has also become one of the important members of ecological construction.
Introduction to Hyperlane - Multi-chain cross-chain secure transmission protocol
Hyperlane is constructed in a modular manner and provides an environment where users can freely transfer and transfer tokens across chains. The connected blockchains include many EVMs (Ethereum Virtual Machine) and Solana, Cosmos, Move, etc. By constructing a blockchain and allowing developers to freely match inter-chain security modules (ISMs), Hyperlane supports multiple chains at the same time and maintains a high degree of security.
Cross-chain transmission technology-MailBox smart contract & Relayer
Hyperlane deploys the MailBox smart contract on each blockchain and provides an API interface for transmitting inter-chain information. This provides a standardized interface for communication between blockchains and greatly simplifies the difficulty for developers to build cross-chain applications. .
MailBox smart contract allows developers to send cross-chain functions, which contain the following information
Message content to be transferred
The ID of the destination chain
Recipient's address
Each transmitted function (cross-chain information) will enter the leaf node of Hyperlane's Merkel tree for fraud proof verification. Next, the relay (Relayer) will supplement this information. The supplementary part is mainly metadata. (Metadata), and then transmit the information to the MailBox smart contract on the destination chain to complete cross-chain transmission.
Explanation of key terms:
Merkle tree: A data structure that can efficiently and safely verify the correctness of large amounts of data. It is currently widely used in blockchain verification technology.
Relayer: A node or service responsible for delivering messages between different blockchains.
Metadata: timestamp, repeater identity information, or other data that helps with message verification.
Cross-chain asset transfer - Warp Routes
Hyperlane uses Warp Routes to handle cross-chain token transfers. Warp Routes allow users to transfer any ERC-20 or ERC-721 assets to any chain without permission through Hyperlane. Developers can transfer between any chain deployed by Hyperlane. Construct Warp Routes between .
The structure of Warp Routes is shown in the figure below. By mortgaging the assets to be transferred on the original chain, using cross-chain information transmission technology to transmit the cross-chain information to the destination chain, and then minting the same number of asset tokens on the new chain, the process is completed. Asset transfer, and users can also transfer their assets back to the original chain at any time.
Interchain Security Modules (ISMs)
The above-mentioned cross-chain transmission technology or cross-chain asset transfer are all protected by ISMs. ISM is a smart contract responsible for verifying that the inter-chain messages transmitted on the destination chain are actually sent by the original chain. Also because ISMs are smart contract architectures, in addition to Hyperlane developers being free to specify specific ISMs to change the default ISMs, they are also free to design and modify security standards that best suit their applications.
ISMs mainly include the following types:
Multisig ISM (Multi-sig ISM, the most commonly used ISM)
Routing ISM (routing ISM)
Aggregation ISM (aggregation ISM, you can use this to bring together many ISMs)
CCIP Read ISM (Integrated ISM)
Community ISM (including communication security deployment of many blockchains, such as Polygonn, OP, ARB and other blockchains)
Through these inter-chain security modules, Hyperlane assists developers in creating and deploying various cross-chain applications to different blockchains to complete cross-chain services.
It is worth mentioning that interchain security is actually one of the major improvements previously advocated by Cosmos 2.0.
Recent key publications - Restaked Interop
In the latest issue, Hyperlane has released Restaked Interop , providing developers with a more secure way across Rollup blockchains. Originally, Hyperlane used authoritative proofs to maintain security, but if someone violates the rules, they do not have to bear any consequences. This part is safe. Hidden risks, so Hyperlane AVS (Actively Validated Service) combines the Ethereum re-pledge protocol Eigenlayer to bring the security of Ethereum to the cross-chain environment.
Hyperlane AVS operation structure:
Operators can register or unregister Hyperlane AVS, and stakers will pledge Ethereum to Eigenlayer. Eigenlayer will use the Hyperlane AVS verification service, and anyone can be a challenger to verify the operator's behavior. To pose a challenge, this architecture forms a positive incentive verification mechanism to ensure that all parties cooperate with each other to maintain inter-chain security.
This verification method greatly improves the inter-chain security created by Hyperlane and directly introduces the powerful security of Ethereum. This announcement may drive many institutions and users who pay attention to financial security to adopt Hyperlane's services.
For more detailed information please refer to: Introducing Restaked Interop, Powered by the Hyperlane AVS
Hyperlane team background
team member
According to Rootdata, Hyperlane’s co-founders include Jon Kol, Nam Chu Hoai and Asa Oines. Jon Kol served as vice president of the crypto venture capital institution Galaxy Digital. He also previously worked in the investment department of Passport Capital and as a well-known investment bank Morgan Stanley's revenue analyst has been practicing in the financial field for many years. Nam Chu Hoai and Asa Oines are both engineers of the decentralized financial platform Celo. Nam Chu Hoai is responsible for smart contract development, Celo consensus engine and other software development.
Rootdata gave Hyperlane a social influence score of 700. It has also been followed by 72,000 people on Twitter, making it quite popular.
Financing background
Hyperlane received a total of US$18.5 million in a seed round led by Variant Fund in September 2022. Participating institutions include well-known crypto venture capital institutions such as Galaxy Digital and CoinFund, as well as Circle, a subsidiary of Circle, the second largest stablecoin issuer. Ventures and exchange-backed Kraken Ventures and other institutions participated in the investment. Hyperlane officials stated in interviews that the funds will be used for Hyperlane’s recruitment, product development and improving protocol security.
Cross-chain underlying protocol - Competitor comparison: Layerzero, Wormhole
Layerzero
Layerzero, which is also a cross-chain protocol, is highly flexible compared to Hyperlane's modular architecture. Layerzero uses oracles and relays to create a dual verification system, which is relatively standardized, has high transaction efficiency, and uses native tokens $ZRO as a cross-chain protocol. The mechanism of the chain payment tool is quite different from that of Hyperlane, but it also provides a powerful security mechanism to maintain cross-chain communication.
Layerzero's more direct integration solution may be more suitable for rapid deployment, and in terms of decentralization, Hyperlane allows anyone to become a challenger. It is more decentralized in this part, and its modular architecture also makes Hyperlane better. Scalability.
Extended reading: What is LayerZero? Ecological upgrade of the entire chain! Deployment of potential airdrops of ZRO coins - Daily Coin Research
Wormhole
The Wormhole protocol mainly verifies and signs cross-chain messages through a group of selected Guardian nodes and authoritative certificates. Like Hyperlane, it uses mortgage assets and mints new assets to handle asset cross-chains. The currently supported blockchain range It is wider, the protocol is relatively mature, and there are many applications in the ecosystem, which feels a bit like the predecessor of Hyperlane.
Wormhole had a hacker attack in 2022, which also made Wormhole attach great importance to security audits. Therefore, it can be said to be quite strict in the standardization part, but it is not as scalable as Hyperlane's modular architecture.
Hyperlane interactive teaching
Interaction 1: Cross-chain Celestia and Arbitrum
Crossing $TIA to the Arbitrum chain, and then back again, will require some Gas. Prepare in advance as follows.
Tokens: $TIA, $NTRN, $ETH (ARB)
Wallet: Keplr wallet + OKX / MetaMask wallet
$TIA and $NTRN are placed in the Keplr wallet, and $ETH (ARB) is placed in the ARB chain of the OKX/MetaMask wallet.
First, we go to the Hyperlane cross-chain bridge website and click on the upper right corner to connect the wallet. Here we need to connect two wallets, one Keplr wallet (Cosmos) and the other I use OKX wallet (Ethereum).
Connect again.
The connection is completed as shown below, and then we cross-chain $TIA from Celestia to Arbitrum, enter the quantity at the yellow arrow, enter your address at the red arrow (you can press Self), and then press OK.
Confirmation after signing in the wallet.
If the transaction is successful, you will see the picture below.
Next, we transfer the $TIA tokens that were transferred to the Arbitrum chain back. The transfer back has to go through the Neutron chain, so do the same action once, enter the number of tokens and your address, and then press OK.
After the transfer is successful, transfer from the Neutron chain back to the Celestia chain, so that the interaction is completed!
Interaction 2: Cross-chain ezETH
A few weeks ago, Hyperlane cooperated with Everclear and Renzo protocols to develop a new cross-chain bridge to extend $ezETH services in each EVM blockchain. This part of the operation is similar to the interaction. The display here will $ezETH from Arbitrum After the chain is transferred to the Ethereum mainnet and then transferred back, the preparation in advance is as follows.
Tokens: $ezETH, $ETH (ARB), $ETH (ETH)
Wallet: OKX / MetaMask wallet
Similarly, we go to the cross-chain bridge website and click on the upper right corner to connect the wallet. Here we only need to connect an OKX wallet, and then enter the number of tokens to be transferred at the yellow arrow and enter the address at the red arrow. You can press Self to automatically jump out of yourself address.
After confirming the signature twice in the wallet, the following screen appears and it is completed.
You can use the same method to transfer $ezETH from the Ethereum mainnet back to the Arbitrum chain, thus completing the interaction.
For more details, please refer to official information: Twitter , Medium
Hyperlane has not released relevant token details yet, but given Hyperlane’s financing scale and business scope, it is still worth looking forward to. Readers are welcome to seize the time to interact and obtain airdrop opportunities.
Hyperlane recent updates
In addition to the release of Restaked Interop, the most anticipated aspect of Hyperlane's progress is Hyperlane's alliance with the re-pledge protocol Symbiotic. Hyperlane has a cooperative relationship with Eigenlayer, the leader of the re-pledge protocol, and serves as one of its AVS service providers. However, after Symbiotic was quickly launched, Hyperlane It also cooperated with Symbiotic to develop ISM, because Eigenlayer and Symbiotic are competitors in the re-staking track. This subtle relationship is intriguing and shows the influence of Hyperlane.
After Hyperlane joined forces with Everclear and Renzo to launch the cross-chain bridge in June this year, a large number of $ezETH tokens have also become one of the mainstream tokens of Hyperlane’s cross-chain services. Others include $TIA, $INJ, $WETH and other popular tokens. Token.
Hyperlane has moved $2.46 billion in crypto assets to date, and its services continue to expand and transaction volumes continue to rise.
Hyperlane also participated in the EthCC technical conference this month hosted by the cross-chain settlement layer DeFi protocol Everclear. The conference also mentioned that the cooperation agreements include Everclear, Mitosis, Superform and other DeFi protocols that use a large number of cross-chain services. How to use Hyperlane’s mechanism Improve cross-chain communication and asset transfer.
Conclusion
Cross-chain communication is no longer what it was a few years ago. We often see major crypto attacks targeting cross-chain bridges. In recent years, more protocols are committed to integrating blockchain decentralization while ensuring security. The application and expansion of a larger service scope, and Hyperlane has a high degree of scalability and decentralization in this field, which is a very rare advantage.
The release of Restaked Interop has also given the market more confidence in Hyperlane's cross-chain mechanism. In the future, Hyperlane will continue to develop more mechanisms to optimize the developer environment. The blockchain world is in great need of industry promoters like Hyperlane. Let us continue to witness Let him grow!
For more cross-chain related content, please refer to our selected articles:
Further reading:
▌Research and discuss with the Biyan community. Welcome to join the daily Biyan Chinese exchange group !
▌Subscribe to the daily Coin Research e-newsletter (one article per week to quickly understand market conditions, on-chain data and potential project developments)
References
https://medium.com/hyperlane/introducing-restaked-interop-powered-by-the-hyperlane-avs-e36944a22163
https://x.com/hyperlane/status/1806010073761960056
https://www.usenexus.org/
https://docs.hyperlane.xyz/docs/protocol/economic-security/hyperlane-avs
https://hyperlane.xyz/
