A bridge (or bridge) in blockchain is like a gateway that connects two different networks.

Imagine that you have money in one country and you want to use it in another that has a different currency.

The bridge helps you “cross” and use your money from the first country to the second, without having to change it manually.

In blockchain, this allows you to move cryptocurrencies or information between different blockchains, such as Ethereum and Bitcoin, automatically and securely.

Un Bridge blockchain is a cryptographic and programmatic infrastructure that allows transfer of assets, data or instructions between two or more independent blockchains, thus facilitating interoperability between ecosystems that cannot natively communicate with each other.

This mechanism is key for the operation of decentralized multichain applications and for the mobility of capital across different environments such as Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Avalanche, Solana or Bitcoin.

The most common way in which a bridge operates is through a system of locking and minting (lock-and-mint) or burn and unlock (burn-and-release).

For example, when transferring an asset from Ethereum to another network, the bridge Blocks the original tokens in a smart contract on Ethereum and issue a wrapped token equivalent in the destination network.

This token represents the value of the original, allowing it to be used without physically moving the funds.

There are different types of bridges: Custodial (managed by a centralized entity) and non-custodial (decentralized through smart contracts and oracles), as well as bidirectional or unidirectional, depending on its architecture.

Although they are essential for interoperability, they also represent one of the most critical vectors of security in Web3, since they concentrate large volumes of liquidity and have been the target of multiple attacks.

Modern bridges, such as LayerZero, Axelar, Wormhole or Chainlink CCIP, seek to improve this layer with secure cross-chain messaging, distributed validators, and cryptographic tests advanced such as ZK Proofs or multi-party consensus.

In short, bridges are a strategic component for scaling and connecting the global blockchain infrastructure.

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