Introducing Warp Routes

The Uniswap for bridges?

Bridging is scary for many reasons. Poor security. Bad UX. Long waits. Hyperlane is here to fix that. We recognize that in this market:

• New chains want ways to import value to their ecosystems without the need for centralized exchanges
• Users (you, degens) want ways to transfer value to these new chains
• Developers want to build apps that can transfer value across chains

And existing bridge solutions have some major deficiencies :

• The majority of current bridges pool bridge assets under homogenous security models controlled by the bridge teams (every bridge hacked so far had a homogenous security model).
• Current bridges bottleneck the growth of new chains because they can’t manually deploy on all of them fast enough.
• Current bridges continue to whitelist assets and gatekeep new assets from going interchain.

Despite the original misgivings against competing in the bridge wars, it’s clear that there is significant demand for bridging and current solutions are suboptimal, dangerously so in some cases. So here’s Warp Routes, Hyperlane’s take on bridging.

Introducing Warp Routes

A Warp Route is a permissionless bridge that enables anyone to transfer assets between blockchains, secured by a modular security model customizable by the deployer.

Each Warp Route is a bridge in itself, secured by customizable Interchain Security Models (ISMs) and permissionlessly deployable with our Warp API. You can think of this like each asset has its own dedicated bridge (Warp Route) with dedicated security model, and all Warp Routes are accessible in one interface. Similar to how there’s a bunch of Uniswap pools with their own varying risks, all accessible in one interface.

What makes it unique?

• Modular Security — Each asset will be siloed in in its own contract and has its own modular security model customizable by the deployer, powered by Sovereign Consensus. Deployers can use the default interchain security module (ISM) configuration secured by Hyperlane’s proof of stake economic security, or mix-and-match alternative security layers and message parameters via Hyperlane ISMs. With this siloed approach, no asset can jeopardize any other asset.
• Permissionless Interoperability — A permissionless bridge coupled with permissionless deployment of Hyperlane empowers any chain to easily open Warp Routes and start exchanging value with existing Hyperlane-supported chains.
• Permissionless interchain assets — Anyone can create and deploy interchain assets now with Warp Routes, which means the core team doesn’t need to be the bottleneck on whitelisting new assets. We envision this unlocking more long tail assets and interchain activity.
• Speed — Hyperlane’s point to point network design means most transactions should be confirmed in seconds. Finality on the sending chain, then one block on the receiving chain, and boom, done.
• Developer experience — Anyone can use our Warp API to easily spin up a Warp Route and customize its security with our plug and play ISMs. Developers can build interchain value transfer into their apps and assets more easily now.

How does it work?

• Pretty much a classic lock and mint bridge, where you lock collateral on home chain, mint wrapped version on destination chain, with the addition of siloed contracts and siloed asset security models.
• The deployer of the Warp Route specifies things like security or upgradability. Warp Routes is technically a framework for applications, and each asset is its own isolated application.

Token Lists

Due to the permissionless nature of Hyperlane Warp Routes, there can technically be multiple Warp Route contracts for the same asset, which introduces the risk of malicious actors.

Similar to decentralized exchanges, approving a malicious token contract can lead to them draining your wallet, so having trusted sources for Warp Route token contracts is critical. DEXs “solved” this problem with the use of Token lists which match token symbols (such as USDC) to contract addresses (0x..). We can piggyback on this standard by having lists of token contracts that the author of the lists deem as “trustworthy”.

The canonical interface should only default to a very small list of governance-approved tokens (like ETH and USDC) and developers who fork the Warp Routes user interface can replace the default and take responsibility over the contents of that list.

Similar to Uniswap, there can be an automated “unknown potentially risky token” pop-up warning when the user transacts with non-approved tokens. We’re not expecting there to be many competing token contracts anyways since the existence of one is only practical if the issuer of the asset builds liquidity for it.

Guardrails

Additionally, since the deployer of a Warp Route has power over the asset’s interchain security module and the contract’s upgradeability, there needs to be checks and balances on this power. Upgradeability is scary, so how does Hyperlane prevent deployers from outright rugging like in this LayerZero example?

To be completely transparent, when you opt for true permissionlessness, the spectrum of risk expands. The deployer of a Warp Route could keep their security model upgradeable, and later on upgrade (downgrade?) the security model to a simple multisig and rug. That’s the increased risk that comes along with the benefit of a permissionless bridging capability like what Warp Route provides. So what can Hyperlane do about it?

Similar to how Uniswap warns users with a pop-up “unknown token” warning, the Warp Routes UI and Hyperlane explorer can display crucial details such as:

• Which Interchain Security Module (ISM) is the Warp Route using?
• Is the Warp Route upgradeable?
• Has it been upgraded in the past or recently?
• Has the ISM ever been changed?
• ‘Token List’ functionality to warn of unknown Warp Routes

These UI features are in development and will be launched in Q2 (soon).

The Uniswap for Bridges?

We envision the permissionless design of Hyperlane Warp Routes unlocking long tail interchain assets like how Uniswap’s permissionless design unlocked long tail token liquidity. Where anyone can move any asset interchain. And that means similar risks and trust assumptions.

Yes Warp Routes can be upgradeable by the deployer, like how Uniswap shitcoins can be rugged by the deployer. It comes down to trusting the token list and UI warnings. Assume that if a warning pops up, that the Warp Route is likely a rug, and the risk is on you for degening into it.

As we all know, despite these tradeoffs Uniswap is a wildly successful product that opened a new frontier for DeFi. A permissionless system with optional guardrails is the best combination to maximize innovation while maintaining a smooth and secure user experience. And we believe Warp Routes makes similarly optimal tradeoffs to open up a new frontier for interchain activity.

More about Hyperlane

Hyperlane is the first Permissionless Interoperability layer, enabling anyone to connect any blockchain, out-of-the-box. With Hyperlane, developers can build Interchain Applications, apps that abstract away the complexity of interchain interactions and serve users on any connected chain. Additionally, Hyperlane’s modular security stack gives developers the power to customize their interchain security. Hyperlane development is open-source and led by core developers at Abacus Works.

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