Key takeaways:
- Flare has partnered with Algorand Foundation to develop a cross-chain Bitcoin bridge between BTC, ALGO, and a number of non-smart contract tokens
- Flare’s new bridging solution will be more decentralized than current products, which are often exploited due to the lack of security that stems from a high degree of centralization
- The new Bitcoin bridge will use Flare’s flagship multi-chain solutions, including Flare Time Series Oracle (FTSO) and the State Connector
Flare’s Bitcoin bridge will facilitate interoperability between ALGO and BTC
The Algorand Foundation has announced Flare as the recipient of its SupaGrant funds, which are awarded to blockchain projects working on ushering in the multi-chain era to boost the growth of decentralized applications and various Web3 services.
Flare’s bridge connecting Algorand and Bitcoin will increase the liquidity of the Algorand ecosystem, allows seamless interoperability between ALGO and BTC, as well as several non-smart contract tokens, including DOGE, LTC, XRP, and XLM.
The need for a better bridging solution has never been more apparent than in recent months. Due to their centralized nature, current products are often a target of malicious attacks that target security vulnerabilities stemming from the lack of decentralization. Case in point, close to $1 billion worth of digital assets has been stolen this year alone in attacks on the Ronin bridge and Wormhole bridge.
The new Bitcoin bridge for Algorand will use Flare’s decentralized interoperability blockchain infrastructure, namely the Flare Time Series Oracle (FTSO) and the State Connector. The former uses decentralized oracles to provide up-to-date pricing data to the Flare Network, while the latter can be used to power DApps that collect off-chain information to turn it into on-chain data using Flare’s smart contracts. Given the Flare team’s focus on multi-chain interoperability, the new Bitcoin bridge could support transfers of data and digital assets between ALGO and any other layer-1 smart contract platform.
Flare CTO and co-founder Sean Rowan talks about the SupaGrant partnership:
“We have a huge amount of respect for the Algorand team, and are excited to be developing a secure and trustless bridge for the Algorand ecosystem. The simple fact is that existing approaches to bridging have time and again been proven unsatisfactory.”
Rowan added that Flare’s bringing product is being developed “from the ground up” and will offer significant improvements in “secure, decentralized interoperability between any and all chains.”
Head of Defi at the Algorand Foundation, Daniel Oon, echoed Rowan’s sentiment and stated he is looking forward to the partnership and the possibility for “further collaboration and innovation.”
