Orbit Bridge Update Plan

Hello, Orbit Chain community. This is Ozys, developer of Orbit Bridge service.

Following the exploit on the Orbit Bridge Ethereum Vault on January 1st, Ozys has been working towards restoring the Orbit ecosystem by announcing the [‘Orbit Bridge Exploit’ Asset Recovery and Ecosystem Normalization Plan (Draft)] on February 14, the [New Initiative: ‘Silicon’] on February 23, the [Orbit Bridge: Strategies for Service Resumption(Draft)] on February 28, and the [oAsset Lockup Incentive Plan(Draft)] on April 9.

We sincerely apologize for the delays in our planned schedule as we have been in the process of returning pending assets on Orbit Bridge and sequentially resuming the vault services after completing system upgrades and security checks.

Furthermore, we would like to explain the reasons for the delay and provide an update on the resumption of Orbit Bridge service.

1. Migration of Orbit Bridge Ethereum Vault to Silicon Network

Following the Orbit Bridge exploit, the developer, Ozys, had to find a way to protect Ethereum-based assets and restore services. After reviewing various scenarios, we decided to upgrade the existing Orbit Bridge Ethereum vault system and migrate it to the new Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) ‘Silicon’ network.

(1) Expected Benefits of Migration

The Silicon network is a zk-Rollup scalability solution built using Polygon CDK (Chain Development Kit) and Aggregation Layer (Agg Layer) technology. It maintains Ethereum’s security while providing an EVM-equivalent L2 network.

With the Ethereum vault migration, Orbit Bridge users can enjoy enhanced security and faster transactions at a promising rate. Additionally, the Silicon network offers a seamless environment with other L2 ecosystems built on Polygon’s AggLayer technology, such as Polygon zkEVM, Astar zkEVM, and X Layer (OKX).

This integration means that liquidity across the L1 and L2 ecosystems connected by AggLayer technology will be unified, allowing Orbit Bridge users to access a vast integrated liquidity pool.

(2) Orbit Bridge Policies for Migration to Silicon

◼ Network

Once the Orbit Bridge Ethereum vault is migrated to Silicon, Orbit Bridge will support the Silicon network instead of Ethereum as the [From/To Network].

Assets transferred from Ethereum L1 to Silicon L2 via zk Bridge will retain their value(1:1 pegged) as Ethereum-native assets and can be bridged to other blockchain networks through Orbit Bridge.

◼ Non-Exploited Assets

All non-exploited assets in the Ethereum vault will be automatically migrated to the Silicon vault. These assets will be treated as Ethereum-native assets. However, if these assets exist in other networks as o-assets, users will need to transfer them to the Silicon network and then back to the Ethereum network if they wish to use them there.

When users bridge these assets from the Silicon network to other networks using Orbit Bridge, they will be labeled as ‘o-assets-S’.
For example,

Silicon Network ETH ↔ Orbit Bridge ↔ oETH-S

Silicon Network ORC ↔ Orbit Bridge ↔ oORC-S

The same postfix policy applies to existing o-assets on networks other than Ethereum. Tokens that cannot change their postfix, such as ‘KDAI(Klaytn Dai)’ on the Klaytn network, are excluded.

◼ Exploited o-Assets(oETH, oUSDT, oUSDC, oDAI, oWBTC)

Users have to transfer the five types of exploited o-assets (oETH, oUSDT, oUSDC, oDAI, oWBTC) from networks other than Ethereum to the Silicon network via Orbit Bridge. These assets will exist as o-assets on the Silicon network and will be treated separately from assets in the Silicon Ethereum vault.

Users holding these o-assets can exchange them for native assets through the exchange contract in the Silicon Ethereum vault or participate in the lock-up incentive program. The exchange function will be provided through Orbit Bridge, allowing users to exchange o-assets for the original assets at the respective ratio.

Additionally, the lock-up incentive program will be available through a separate tab on the Orbit Bridge website. Detailed information about the lock-up incentive program will be provided in due course.

2. Resumption Schedule for Orbit Bridge Ripple and TON Vaults

Ripple and TON are representative non-EVM blockchains. Despite their unique structures and different development languages compared to other EVM chains, Ozys has continued research and development to ensure smooth integration with these chains.

To support convenient asset movement between chains and overcome structural differences, bridge wallet addresses for these chains have been issued in the ‘form of exchange-supported addresses’ with Tag modules and additional verification modules to prevent double withdrawals.

These modules were previously implemented in the Orbit Chain network and used in the bridge service. However, to resume services using a chain that maintains Ethereum’s security, we are working to migrate these modules to the Silicon network for a secure asset transfer environment.

We understand that many community members are eagerly awaiting the opening of the Ripple and TON vault services. Despite the delays, ensuring a safe service resumption is paramount.

Therefore, the Ethereum, Ripple, and TON vaults are scheduled to be sequentially reopened following validator agreement after the Silicon mainnet launch and system maintenance in Q3 2024.

Once again, we apologize for the delays and assure you that we are doing our utmost to safely normalize the Orbit Bridge services.

Thank you.