Connecting blockchains with Connext

Connext is a L2 communication protocol which allows you to send values and invoke contracts across Ethereum compatible chains and L2, with possible plugin support for non-Ethereum systems. Unlike other approaches, Connext does this without compromising economic security by introducing third-party validators — instead, it has the same trust considerations as the underlying network or networks.

In a nutshell, this is a bridge between blockchains where different layers are not required.

Imagine that users can access all the functions of various ecosystems, without having to purchase a token of this network. Now you do not need to look for a million bridges, or transfer tokens from CEX, simply to use a network. For Aurora it is ETH in the Aurora network, for BSC it is BNB, Near is Near. This is very inconvenient, plus it adds large commissions. In Ethereum, for example, for almost the entire 2021, it was a surprise to see a commission below a couple of tens of dollars for the simplest operation.

Recently, such concepts as NFT and DeFi have been added to ordinary transfers, not to mention the emergence of new blockchains, which further increase the need for cross-chain operations. This simply complicates both the interaction with the entire ecosystem, and with individual applications in particular. At the same time, developers need to constantly evaluate the pros and cons in choosing a blockchain. They also need to try to make the application as accessible as possible on other networks, which requires additional time and resources.

This all means that an application on one blockchain may not work with another. Like an Ethereum token, it cannot interact with Cosmos.

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of Connext.

Unlike other communication protocols, Connext does not use third-party tools to communicate between networks. This means that Connext is only as secure as the underlying networks.

Also, I would like to emphasize that Connext works the same way in different ecosystems, which allows rapid expansion to other networks and their different features.

Routers do not block their liquidity, nor do they need to use L1 protocols when interacting with L2 networks, often making transactions much cheaper.

Let’s move on to numbers.

Since launching in early 2021, the Connext network has grown by 50% every week, recently hitting $40 million a week and over 40,000 unique users. By the way, around the same time, the team raised a $2.2 million round from Polychain, Huobi. So far, 1.3 billion has been moved across the bridge over 700k transactions, with a liquidity of 45 million.

They also raised $12mln from ConsenSys Mesh, Coinbase Ventures, OkEx Ventures and Hashed. These funds will be used to expand the team and increase liquidity as the team rolls out the next phase of its network.*

As a result, it turned out that almost half was collected from funds and a quarter from ecosystem partners.

With this money, the team is going to bring in key stakeholders who will cement Connext’s position as the leading non-custodial interoperability protocol for Ethereum-compatible networks.

Overall, they believe they can create a better ecosystem for this kind of purpose. Such partnerships, which not only bring in capital, but also help with Connext’s key R&D of protocols and network launch, will greatly help in the development of the system.

As you could already understand, they are now in search of talents. If you think that you can help them and, most importantly, want to do it, then visit the page with open positions.

This money will also be needed to implement route auctions, a mechanism for rapidly increasing liquidity across all networks. More on this in one of the following articles.

Connext has been in development ever since it received a grant from the Ethereum Foundation in 2018. In the summer of 2020, the team noticed the fragmentation of the pooling space and created a prototype for instant and cheap transfer of value between testnet implementations of Optimism, Arbitrum, SKALE, Polygon, and others.

Conclusion

Think of Connext as the foundation for Web 3, the glue of this ecosystem, when you no longer have to choose between networks. You will be able to use everything without any noticeable restrictions, which is now a huge problem.

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