The Total Market-Cap of Blockchain Industry is between 1.8 – 2.4 Trillion Dollars, checkout fig 1. Blockchain technology is on of the fastest growing industry over the past decades. There are many different types of blockchains and there native cryptocurrencies. Blockchain technology is highly focused on financial aspects like a solving critical step in the evolution of society in decentralized finance (DeFi), dApps, supply chains and other protocols.
As of August 2024 per Defi Llama, approximately $79 billion in TVL(total value locked) is secured by smart contracts in dApps across all blockcahins. Though DeFi has been the main driver, the concept of decentralized trust offered by blockchain is being adopted for other applications and domains.
Every blockchain offers unique qualities and many offer varied and distinctive services. As the circulation of assets and value from one blockchain to other is really important, financial assets naturally need to be bridged across blockchains. Obviously because it’s becoming very clearer that DeFi is headed for multi-chain future. Hence, many people use multiple blockchain services - depending upon there requirements and fulfillments. People may use same, sometimes different or multiple chains in this ecosystem. Blockchain interoperability plays vital role in transferring assets and information from one chain to another, also has become a necessity for people.
Problem: The challenge of enabling blockchain interoperability has led to the creation of blockchain bridges, many of which are designed as multi-signature (multi-sig) bridges. These bridges typically consist of a set of staked bridge nodes that independently sign events occurring on a source chain, such as locking funds in the source chain’s currency. These signed events are then aggregated and relayed to a destination chain, accompanied by the signatures or seals of the nodes’ agreement — a “multi-sig” process. This mechanism allows for corresponding actions on the destination chain, like releasing funds in its native asset or currency. However, the security guarantee of the source chain’s Layer 1 (L1) is lost, as the security now relies on the staked bridge nodes. The “decentralized trust” of such a bridge depends on the number of independent validators in the network and the total stake involved. Unfortunately, multi-sig bridges usually have fewer validators and lower staked value than L1 blockchains, making them weaker in terms of decentralized trust.
As a result, bridges have become prime targets for attacks, both large and small. Multi-sig bridges are particularly vulnerable because their decentralized trust coefficient is often lower than that of the blockchains they connect. According to a report by Chainalysis in August 2022, bridge hacks have led to losses of around $2 billion. To ensure effectiveness and safety, bridges must avoid diluting the decentralized trust inherent in the L1 and L2 blockchains they serve. Strengthening the security of these bridges is crucial to maintaining trust and preventing further exploitation.
Solution: The key to improving blockchain interoperability lies in verifying the source chain’s consensus directly, eliminating the need for traditional bridges. However, this is no easy task. For instance, Ethereum has over 700,000 active validators, and verifying consensus involves aggregating numerous public keys to validate a block’s signature. This process can be slow and gas-intensive on the destination chain. To address this, Ethereum introduced the `Sync-Committee` in its Altair Fork. The Sync-Committee is a randomly selected sub-group of 512 validators from the full set, which is updated every 27 hours. This approach allows for more efficient verification of Ethereum’s consensus on other chains, facilitating a bridgeless model known as the Relay model.
Despite criticisms, particularly regarding the lack of slashing penalties in the Sync-Committee protocol, research from Succinct, Snowfork, and T3rn shows that the risk of a dishonest Sync-committee is extremely low. With a verification threshold requiring over 90% of validators’ agreement, the probability of a Sync-Committee being compromised is astronomically small, about once in 10³¹ years. Additionally, practical deterrents like pseudonymity and reputational damage further reduce this risk. These findings support the trustless bridging model, leading to the development of HyperNova — a trustless bridge design that enables secure asset transfers from Ethereum to Supra and other ecosystems.
Supra’s HyperNova: Bridgeless Protocol
Supra’s HyperNova aims to improve blockchain interoperability by directly verifying the consensus of the Ethereum network without relying on traditional multi-signature bridge protocols. To achieve this, Supra needs to be aware of Ethereum’s active validator set. A relay node is used to transmit Ethereum’s events to Supra, where Supra’s validators verify these events. Unlike traditional bridges that rely on multi-signature agreements, Supra cryptographically verifies Ethereum’s Layer 1 consensus.
So, how does Supra become aware of the active validator set? In proof-of-stake networks like Ethereum, consensus is required for validators to know the public addresses of the current active node operators. The existing active validators vote on adding new nodes to the network, and this transition is recorded with cryptographic proof. The shift from the old to the new set of validators is verified through a virtual hand-off, where the outgoing validators cryptographically sign off on the incoming validators.
In Supra’s HyperNova, relay nodes simply relay the source chain’s cryptographic consensus information, with the actual verification taking place on Supra. Since Ethereum’s consensus information is cryptographically secured, anyone can act as a relay node. The relay node cannot compromise safety because the destination chain independently verifies the source chain’s events. This means it’s impossible for a relay node to alter information to fraudulently release or mint assets on the destination chain without proper asset locking on the source chain.
The key requirement is having at least one honest node to ensure that relevant events are not missed during relaying. Because the relay model does not require trusting intermediary bridge nodes for information accuracy, it is considered a trustless bridge. In the HyperNova model, relay nodes are responsible for forwarding data, not verifying it. This eliminates the need for large stakes by bridge nodes, as a single honest node is sufficient to ensure liveness and censorship resistance. Furthermore, the process avoids multiple rounds of consensus, allowing for faster execution.
This approach can be extended to other blockchains as well. We are developing research prototypes for chains like Aptos and Sui, using similar methods to gather their validator set information. Relay nodes then transmit relevant events to Supra’s SMR, where they are validated.
Another crucial aspect of Supra’s Layer 1 consensus protocol is its use of threshold signatures to attest blocks. This makes verifying Supra’s blocks on any other chain as simple and efficient as verifying a single BLS signature. We are also exploring Zero Knowledge-based approaches, such as those from ScalingX and Web3 Foundation, for trustless bridging.
Supra as Web3’s Interoperability Hub
Supra stands out as an interoperability hub by offering vertical integration of various services like Oracles, Random Beacons, and Verifiable Random Functions, all built on a native Layer 1 Smart Contract platform. This integrated approach means that users can conduct most of their blockchain-based activities within Supra’s ecosystem, without needing to access external systems for data or services.
The Supra HyperNova protocol enhances interoperability by maintaining the “decentralized trust” of source blockchains, unlike vulnerable multi-sig bridges. This trustless bridging allows Supra’s services to seamlessly extend across multiple chains and networks. Thanks to its vertically integrated architecture, Supra optimizes workflows and adds value, making it a powerful hub capable of securely connecting different blockchains.
For clients, Supra offers a streamlined single-shot trigger mechanism, where the initial transaction on the source chain ensures the execution of subsequent actions across multiple chains. This transaction can include logic for asset conversion rates, timing, task scheduling, and interactions with other chains, making Supra an efficient and user-friendly solution for blockchain interoperability.
