Vortex Bridge Public Testing Now Live!
Vortex is now OPEN for public testing at https://test.vortexbridge.io/!
(This is a guest post drafted by the Vortex team)
Public testing operates on the Koinos Harbinger testnet and the Ethereum Sepolia testnet.
We encourage everyone to help test and provide feedback on the official Koinos Telegram and/or Discord.
Recap
Our mission is to give $KOIN holders a decentralized tool that can improve liquidity and accessibility of $KOIN. To do this, we took the Wormhole Protocol design from Solana and re-engineered it specifically for Koinos to take advantage of its zero gas design.
The result of our hard work is Vortex, which offers the lowest cost option for traders in the entire blockchain ecosystem simply because it gives cryptopians access to all of the Koinos Blockchain’s features!
At launch, our users will have access to three assets that can move between Koinos and Ethereum; $KOIN, $USDT, and $ETH. This will result in more $ETH & $USDT on KoinDX and more $KOIN on Uniswap!
How Does Vortex Work?
Vortex is operated by 7 independent guardian nodes that individually monitor state on both Ethereum and Koinos at all times. Whenever a user transfers assets with Vortex, 5 of 7 guardians must first validate deposits on the host chain before bridging to the destination chain. This setup ensures optimal decentralization and transaction reliability.
Upcoming Features and Improvements
- Automatic Claiming: While manual claims are the focus for now, we plan to introduce automatic claiming sometime before or after the mainnet launch. This will undergo thorough testing to ensure smooth operation.
- WalletConnect for Koinos: We are adding WalletConnect support for the Koinos side soon, making it possible to connect your mobile Koinos wallets.
- Validator Nodes: The current test will use 2 guardians, but this will eventually expand to 7 guardians, mirroring the setup we plan for the mainnet launch.
- Admin Portal: We are developing an admin portal to handle essential administrative functions for the bridge, ensuring smooth operations before the mainnet launch.
Our future plan is to extend Vortex to other blockchains like Solana and other EVM blockchains.
How Do I Participate?
Participate now by going to https://test.vortexbridge.io and sending $tKOIN, $ETH-Sepoli and $USDT-Sepoli through our bridge. You will need a Koinos Wallet and an Ethereum Wallet to participate. We’ll run through an example transaction where we transfer $tKOIN from Koinos Harbinger to Ethereum-Sepoli using Kondor and Metamask.
Wallet Setup:
- With Kondor, ensure that your wallet is pointed to Koinos-Harbinger.
2. With your Ethereum wallet, Metamask for example, ensure that your wallet is pointed to Sepoli.
Obtain Tokens:
- To receive $tKOIN, go to the official Koinos Network Discord channel (see koinos.io for official links) and use the public faucet.
- To receive $ETH-Sepoli, there are many sources available on the internet but you can try https://www.infura.io/faucet/sepolia. If all else fails, we can distribute sepolia in limited quantities (0.01 $ETH-Sepoli) per person. You will need $ETH Sepoli to pay for gas fees on Ethereum.
- To receive $USDT-Sepoli, you can use the faucet at Aave here: https://staging.aave.com/faucet/
IMPORTANT!
Remember that we cannot control gas fees on other blockchains and can only offer zero gas experience on the Koinos blockchain!
That means whenever $ETH or $USDT is first deposited into Vortex on Ethereum, you will need to pay an Ethereum gas fee, but the redemption of these assets on Koinos will be free.
This also means that when $KOIN is first deposited into Vortex on Koinos, these transactions are free, but redemption of $KOIN on Ethereum will require you to pay a gas fee.
Step-by-Step Instructions:
- Select the networks and assets you would like to bridge and click connect. You will need to click connect twice. Once for Koinos wallets and again for Ethereum wallets. Once you do this, you’ll notice that your receiving address is automatically populated. It is strongly recommended to verify this address is correct!
2. Select the token you wish to transfer and the quantity then click submit. This transaction deposits your tokens into the Vortex smart contracts located in the “From” blockchain. Two popups will appear to confirm this, one stating “Transaction Submitted”, the other stating “Transaction Success” which means the transaction has been processed by the blockchain itself. The Guardian nodes will be observing and confirming that these transactions have reached finality, which takes around 3 minutes when moving assets from Koinos and 15 minutes from Ethereum.
3. Next, click on the “claim” button which will take you to the section where you can redeem your assets on the destination blockchain. If you enter this page before the Guardians have completed their validation, then you will simply wait until the “Tx status” indicates “signed”
4. Lastly, click “redeem” to request your assets on the destination chain. For this example, the redemption will trigger a transaction request using our Ethereum Wallet. Notice that there will be a gas fee required here since we are now operating exclusively the Ethereum blockchain.
5. Lastly, to see your $KOIN on Ethereum-Sepoli, also known as $wKOIN, you will need to input the following custom contract address: 0x7A348BD7461593C66CB6876BDE70B96CC8393605.
6. For $wETH on Koinos use: 14Ha3UZnrjyXE5F9mvEfS28QhaNY1ehWXw — you can add this as a token in Kondor and it will be visible there.
Join Us in This Exciting Journey
This public testing phase is the result of countless hours of hard work and dedication from our team of community members. We are excited to see Vortex Bridge in action and are grateful for the support and feedback from our community.
Thank you for being a part of the Koinos journey. Together, we are building a decentralized future with limitless possibilities.
Are you ready? Here’s the link again: https://test.vortexbridge.io/bridge!
