As we advance through this era of web3, it's necessary that we find proper and safe ways to transfer value through the net. That is, of course, the essential point of web3; the transfer of true value online, whatever that be denominated in. As it stands, blockchain can execute that seamlessly and in some cases, instantly. The only problem here is that assets only transfer seamlessly and instantly on the same blockchain. That's all fine and dandy, but just in the top 10 cryptocurrencies assets according to coingecko.com, there's 7 different blockchains that cannot send value to one another on standing on their own! This concept is called "cross chain operability."

     Typically, I use Kucoin, a centralized exchange that holds custodial wallets, with deep liquidity on hundreds of tokens. I can send earned AVAX to Kucoin, and instantly swap it to USDT without a fee, then buy whatever cryptocurrency I'd like, Bitcoin for instance, then send that Bitcoin to my wallet. 

      Pros- Liquidity is deep, fees are minimal, and transactions within the exchange take place instantly. 

      Cons- NOT decentralized, you essentially give the exchanges permission to view and facilitate your transactions- and as we've seen this year, not even CEXs can be trusted not to go to 0.

    The decentralized option would be using bridges, such as Wormhole, a cross bridge between Solona and Ethereum, or RenBridge, which allows for the transfer between Bitcoin networks and  ERC-20 tokens. Each bridge has a different mechanism of transfer, but essentially each one work in a similar method- the tokens you would like to transfer are locked into a smart contract, and then unlocked onto the desired network. 

    Pros- Transaction is decentralized, KYC is not required as this method never reaches a US dollar standard. 

   Cons- More than one time these bridges have suffered exploits, including Wormhole for $320,000,000 and the Nomad Bridge, which was drained for $190,000,000.

     In comes Algorand State Proofs- essentially this creates an Algorand light ledger that operates close to how the name suggests! The same consensus mechanism that confirms new blocks on Algorand presents a proof of the current state of the Algorand blockchain to the outside world-i.e., other blockchains. In a non technical nutshell, Algorand has developed a way to roll up their blockchain into a small form that can easily communicate with other ledgers in foreign turf. 

   How it works - Mr. A on Algorand wants to send tokens to Mr. E on Ethereum.  Mr. A locks his tokens into a smart contract on Algorand. From here, now Algorand can use State Proofs to prove to another chain that these tokens are safe from double spend. Ethereum is able to quickly and safely check the state of Algorand blockchain, verify lock, then mint the same on Ethereum. It can work bi directionally; smart contacts on Algorand can use Contact to Contact calls to as an oracle technology to check the state of contact on another network- So that Mr. A. from Algorand can verify that Mr. B has also deposited value into a smart contract to be bridged. 

   This technology is considered post quantum security, as it provides such a present and immutable picture of a blockchain, that powerful quantum computing can not confuse and distort network transactions. 

     This is actually a really exciting development. It's a bit over my usual tech understanding, but I dove as deep into and tried to simplify as much as I could- feel free to comment with any questions if you're unsure. If you are tech savy and would like to know more, click the medium articles in the referenced links. 

   Thanks for reading! Dont't forget to follow me!