Announcing Orbit Bridge: the world’s first decentralized open IBC platform
Orbit Chain has worked to surpass the ever-present scalability and connectivity constraints that have limited traditional public chains. Our improvements and innovations grow user accessibility and convenience so blockchain-based protocols and services can have more real-life integration. Orbit IBC, which forms the basis of the Orbit Chain, is the world’s first open Hub Chain. It allows various chains to be linked to Orbit Chain and their digital assets can be handled and used freely within Orbit.
While many interchain platforms aim to support major public chains (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Klaytn, Terra, Tron, ICON, etc.), Orbit Chain is the world’s first and only chain to actually be able to support the operation of these various protocols.
Some key examples are Orbit’s DEX protocol, which supports asset exchange, the Divine protocol, which enables lending and borrowing using assets in the chain, and the Staking-as-a-Service protocol, which allows staking to heterogenous chains through the Orbit. Orbit Chain, having developed its own technology and services, currently hosts more than $30M USD of assets on its network.
This article explores how Orbit Chain IBC’s role has been taken one step further and introduces the new IBC Bridge, which allows different chains to communicate and enables the completely decentralized, free movement of assets.
Before going in-depth about the new IBC Bridge, let’s take a quick look at the existing chain ecosystem that Orbit IBC created.
1. The Existing Orbit Chain Ecosystem
Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) is a technology that enables communication between heterogeneous blockchains. The need for IBC technology to connect the fragmented blockchain ecosystem continues to grow as new public chains continue to emerge and more dApps are developed. As the demand for network functions such as storage of personal information and decentralized finance (DeFi) increases, IBC is becoming even more critical.
Orbit Chain developed its own Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) technology with the aim of connecting the blockchain ecosystem. Since launching, Orbit Chain has established a new ecosystem where assets of different chains can be used on a single decentralized platform. In other words, Orbit Chain has thus far focused on being a hub for heterogeneous chains — enabling a token economy with interoperability and scalability as heterogeneous assets enter Orbit Chain.
Orbit Chain has developed different decentralized IBC protocols where transactions are verified on-chain depending on the use of the assets. These decentralized IBC protocols enable a number of chains and assets to enter Orbit Chain in a reliable manner. A variety of finance protocols were made to take advantage of this newly provided liquidity.
The various IBCs that Orbit Chain has deployed and the protocols that leverage the assets through them are as follows:
1) Normal IBC: Assets received through Normal IBC are utilized in Orbit’s DEX Protocol, which supports the exchange of assets, and the Divine Protocol, which supports the lending and borrowing of assets.
2) Staking IBC: Staking IBC supports the Staking-as-a-Service protocol to enable decentralized staking of the native assets of PoS-based chains from one end-point to another chain through Orbit Chain.
3) Token Economy IBC: When an asset moves from one chain to another, it helps maintain the token economy of that asset.
Orbit Chain realized the importance of connecting the fragmented blockchain world from the beginning. With proven technology and practical services created and developed through years of researching interchain, Orbit Chain has introduced its results to the market. In the future, Orbit Chain’s interchain technology will extend beyond a single solution or service to provide flexible and seamless usability to users of a large assortment of public chains.
There is a wide variety of public platform chains in the market, and they all want plentiful liquidity in their network ecosystem so their chain is more actively used. The various tokenized assets in these networks have the goal of being recognized and holding value in a multitude of financial ecosystems including decentralized finance (DeFi). For example, USDT has been issued and used in various chains, but its utility as a stablecoin has been best recognized within Ethereum as it was used to meet the Ethereum ecosystem’s decentralized finance demands. Ethereum was able to certify the value of its network by holding USDT assets with a market capitalization of more than $16B USD. As such, free movement of tokenized assets to and from other networks is a benefit to both platforms and token foundations.
Orbit Chain aims to further push the status quo and make Orbit IBC a single, on-chain connection point for various platform chains and token projects through an open bridge platform that enables the establishment of validator sets that are separate from Orbit Governance.
2. The Upgraded IBC Bridge — Open IBC Platform
The newly upgraded Orbit Chain IBC Bridge is an open-source, trustless IBC platform designed to allow modules to be independently defined and expanded with an IBC system that facilitates smooth movement of assets between heterogeneous chains with an advanced governance configuration strategy. From the beginning, open-source code has allowed anyone to form a trusted governance group to create their own IBC. As a result, we have successfully developed a new type of bridge through which everything, including assets that are isolated in one place and limited in value, can be spread through free movement between chains.
We’ve already introduced similar concepts in the EVERYDAI project with MakerDAO and Klaytn. By connecting the Ethereum and Klaytn networks, the ERC-20 DAI stablecoin can be transferred to KCT by utilizing Orbit’s decentralized IBC bridge, which also connects DAI’s token economy.
The Orbit Bridge model, evolving since its initial application in EVERYDAI, allows seamless asset transfers and connects token economies across chains. It is different from current IBC offerings like the Ren Protocol (Ren) and WBTC, which utilize IBC technology to provide liquidity to the Ethereum ecosystem, in that Orbit Bridge has achieved complete decentralization. In the cases of Ren and WBTC, transactions related to asset movement are verified and communicated off-chain by hidden validators. How consensus is reached is not transparently disclosed. This means that their protocols have relatively low decentralization, going against the basic principle of blockchain.
Orbit Chain’s IBC is not only highly efficient, but it differentiates itself by transparently managing the consensus process without forming any components off-chain.
The Orbit IBC Bridge has been further developed from the previous model used in the EVERYDAI protocol to make it more transparent, have more finality in block creation, and make the bridge itself more scalable. It was designed not for simple token bridging, but for the establishment of an ecosystem of completely decentralized communication between heterogeneous chains. Just as locking tokens in token bridging is matched with a request and minting with execution, requests and execution are important starting points for various assets to be connected, without boundaries, between chains.
As we developed Orbit Bridge, we upgraded the IBC in two important areas:
1) Establishing governance members in the Origin Chain and Destination Chain,
2) Scaling assets for Orbit Bridge to become a single point of connection for multiple public chains.
1) Setting Governance in the Origin Chain and Destination Chain
As described above, Orbit Bridge is open-source, so anyone who wants to take the initiative in transferring assets with their own governance consensus can create a vault within that chain. The great advantage of directly setting governance is that in an IBC where governance is structured, the overall policy and direction, including asset selection, are determined by consensus and no assets can be moved unless consensus is reached.
Thus, even if Orbit Bridge has IBC governance that connects Ethereum and Klaytn, those who do not trust the established governance can create a new IBC bridge by setting their own governance. Additionally, one entity can set a different governance consensus between an Origin Chain and Destination Chain. For example, the total number of validators and minimum required signatures between the chains can be different (e.g. Terra origin governance 4-of-7, Tron destination governance 3-of-5).
This IBC platform bridge emphasizes the trustless philosophy of blockchain and open-sourced to allow anyone to build IBC to freely move assets. Bridges are secure because bridge users can trust the validators who manage and validate asset movement.
2) Scaling assets to make Orbit Bridge the connection point between many public chains
One of the most important upgrades of the new Orbit Bridge is scalability of movable assets. Scalability of assets means that any asset of a public chain can be moved to a heterogeneous chain if consensus is reached in an IBC’s governance, rather than just a specific asset like DAI in EVERYDAI.
If Orbit Bridge allows a wide range of assets to move freely, the platform chains currently growing DeFi in a fragmented state can see a variety of benefits. More than anything, liquidity issues, which are oft-cited as the biggest problem in decentralized finance, can be solved by attracting assets of heterogeneous chains, not just assets of their own chain. We also expect that by using bridges to distribute the assets that each service area, such as payment, needs, we can lower blockchain entry hurdles for operators of existing centralized services.
3. Use Cases and the Orbit Bridge Structure
The first public chains supported with the official launch of Orbit Bridge are Ethereum, Klaytn, and Terra. These three different chains will be connected through the Orbit Bridge, and each chain’s assets will be free to move to and from each other’s ecosystems.
Terra <> Ethereum, Klaytn
Terra is a blockchain protocol that supports the development of open financial infrastructure based on smart contracts. Terra supports stablecoins such as KRT and UST by stabilizing their value with algorithms. When stablecoins are used only on a particular platform, the demand for that asset is limited because of limited utility, and by extension, the scalability of the entire project is limited. Orbit Bridge is designed to help Terra’s stablecoins be used in the large ecosystems of Ethereum and Klaytn.
Klaytn <> Ethereum
Klaytn is a platform blockchain developed by Ground X, the blockchain subsidiary of Kakao. Klaytn has established an environment in which various blockchain-based services can be developed and added. ozys’s Orbit Bridge adds scalability to the Klaytn environment by connecting the utility of Ethereum’s liquidity to enable a variety of financial protocols to emerge. Additionally, Klaytn’s KLAY and KCT can now be used in the Ethereum ecosystem.
Structure Diagram
The diagram below illustrates the relationship between Klaytn<>Terra<>Ethereum. The flow of Minting and Burning by governance in each chain is displayed.
One bridge enables the movement of assets between two different blockchains through Locking/Vault, Release/Vault, Minting, and Burning contracts that exist on each blockchain. For example, suppose you send an Ethereum asset, ‘ABC’, to the Klaytn network, the ‘ABC’ asset is first sent to Ethereum’s Locking contract and as soon as verification is complete, it is then passed to the Minting contract of the Klaytn Blockchain. Afterward, a new ‘ABC’ token is issued in Klaytn, corresponding to the assets locked to Ethereum, by a set of validators verifying the Minting contract.
Please note that Terra does not have a token Minting function, so you can move your assets to a heterogeneous chain, but you cannot receive assets from other chains.
4. Systemic changes Orbit Bridge will bring
Since launching, Orbit Chain has been focusing on and researching three key concepts for the expansion of the overall blockchain ecosystem and the practical real-life use of blockchain technology.
1) Connection of the fragmented ecosystem
2) Trustless On-chain Governance
3) Addressing the liquidity problems of independent chains.
Orbit Chain uses its own IBC technology and has worked closely with trusted validators and partners to solve these three challenges.
Orbit Chain will further expand the current ecosystem by becoming a single connection point between heterogeneous chains. Orbit Chain will focus on getting rid of boundaries between chains to connect various assets and data in a decentralized way. To achieve this goal, Orbit Bridge will be an open-source, completely trustless IBC platform where anyone can set their own governance and establish IBC.
With Orbit’s IBC platform, public blockchains are no longer fragmented as they can now share any assets or data they need. This provides a source of liquidity for platforms that want to embrace a variety of assets. The projects on the application layer that want their tokens to be used as assets on multiple platforms now have a tunnel to expansion.
The Orbit Chain team has always filled in gaps in the blockchain ecosystem by solving technically difficult problems. However, blockchain is still greatly lacking in a myriad of aspects, including connectivity and utility. We will continue to challenge and solve these problems, and we will strive to become a single connection point for public chains. Beyond token bridging, we hope you’re excited as we are to see the values that Orbit Chain will connect!
[Official sites & communities]
Allbit: https://allbit.com
EveryDai: https://everydai.io
KLAY.exchange: https://klay.exchange
KLAYstation: https://klaystation.io
Orbit Chain : https://orbitchain.io
Orbit Chain Explorer : https://explorer.orbitchain.io
Orbit Chain Voting & Governance : https://voting.orbitchain.io
Orbit Chain Telegram: https://t.me/Orbit_Chain
Orbit Chain Twitter: https://twitter.com/Orbit_Chain
Orbit Chain Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/PJzE63A
