On September 8, 2021, Dmitriy Berenzon, research partner at early-stage crypto fund 1kxnetwork, published a detailed research post on blockchain bridges. Berenzon asserts that after years of research and development, the crypto space has finally entered a multi-chain market structure, where bridges make a myriad of blockchains compatible and interoperable.
The Multi-Chain Market Structure Has Arrived
Berenzon emphasizes that cross-chain interoperability unlocks innovation: users gain access to new platforms, protocols can interoperate with each other, and developers collaborate to build new products. He lists benefits such as external validators, federations, light clients, relay protocols, and liquidity networks. However, he also warns that cross-chain technology is an incredibly difficult distributed systems problem, requiring solutions for finality, rollbacks, NFT provenance, and long-term stress testing.
Bridge TVL Surpasses $7.7 Billion
Data from Dune Analytics' dashboard 'Bridge Away' confirms the rapid growth. As of September 16, 2021, eight major bridges to Ethereum held a combined $7.79 billion in total value locked (TVL), spread across 42,997 unique addresses. The Polygon ERC20 Bridge leads with approximately $2.4 billion (32.5%), followed by Arbitrum Bridges ($2.45 billion, 31.5%), and the Avalanche Bridge ($1.65 billion, 21.2%). Other contributors include Solana Wormhole (6.7%), Fantom Anyswap Bridge (6.6%), Harmony Bridges, Optimism ERC20 Bridges, and Near Rainbow Bridge.
Asset Distribution: ETH/WETH Dominates, Stablecoins and Bitcoin Follow
Among assets held in bridge TVL, Ether and Wrapped Ether (WETH) account for the largest share at $2.9 billion. USDC ranks second with $1.2 billion, while Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) holds just over $1 billion. These figures illustrate that users are leveraging bridges to efficiently transfer value between Ethereum and other blockchains, accessing unique features across diverse ecosystems.
Berenzon's research and on-chain metrics paint a clear picture: cross-chain bridges are no longer experimental concepts but mature infrastructure carrying billions in assets. As more blockchain ecosystems mature, bridges will grow in importance, solidifying the multi-chain future that is already unfolding.