Hydro Blocktoberfest: Interoperability of the Hydro Platform
in·ter·op·er·a·bil·i·ty
in(t)ərˌäp(ə)rəˈbilədē/
noun
the ability of computer systems or software to exchange andmake use of information.
In this Blocktoberfest post, we are going to examine how the Hydro development community is thinking about interoperability.
First, lets establish some basic facts. Hydro is a Layer-2 platform and ecosystem built on top of core Ethereum infrastructure. Hydro consists of smart contracts, libraries, the Hydro APIs, the Hydro mobile apps, and the Hydro dApp store. When we think of interoperability, it is the ability for our platform to interact effectively with other platforms, whether they are Layer-1 or Layer-2.
Think of interoperability like your personal computer. Software that was originally created by Microsoft for a PC, such as MS-WORD, can now run on a MAC. This is no trivial fact. The two systems need to be interoperable. For a fun read, check out this LifeHacker post from 2007 to see how hard it was just 11 years ago:
What Interoperability Means to Hydro
Remember our post about our work integrating Plasma? This would allow payments and subscriptions in our dApp store to happen faster and more efficiently than ever before.
What if we can not only make those payments go faster through the Ethereum rails, but allow users to pay in any cryptocurrency built on any chain? That is the power of interoperability frameworks. Think of it like the foreign exchange market. I can buy a product produced in Spain with U.S. dollars, and the receiver gets paid in Euros. They then ship the product, it clears customs, and is delivered. This is all seamless for the end user, but there is a lot of infrastructure in place to make this happen.
Let’s take a look at how a payments interoperability could look in the Hydro ecosystem and the Hydro dApp store:
This is just one of many use cases for interoperability frameworks! Outside of payments, we could realistically open the Hydro platform to be able to interact with dApps that are built off Ethereum— on chains such as Stellar, Waves, NEM, NEO, and many more.
As the global Hydro developer community continues to work with partners on expanding the boundaries of interoperability, we will be sure to keep everyone updated!
