毫无疑问,区块链技术大规模采用的先决条件之一是安全、无缝的跨链互操作性。 许多潜在的应用程序,特别是在复杂和受监管的领域,如果没有共同的准则和接口定义,根本无法部署。
如果没有这些,就像目前的情况一样,旨在跨链的应用程序必须依赖自定义的链下组件,并自动继承伴随的风险和信任假设。 唯一的选择是继续受限于单一、孤立的网络。
当今的互操作性解决方案(或“桥梁”)已经成熟到几乎 可以 连接任何两个区块链网络。 问题在于每个桥都是临时构造,这限制了可扩展性和可用性。
当处理基础设施截然不同的网络时,这个问题会被放大,就像非 EVM 区块链的情况一样。 抛开限制不谈,桥梁显然是必要的,而且需求量仍然很高。 即使经历了熊市期间的下跌,仅以太坊上主要跨链桥的总锁定价值 (TVL)
在 2024 年 1 月就达到了
235 亿美元
。尽管总数如此华丽,但在区块链技术准备好大规模应用之前,仍有许多障碍需要克服采用。 阻碍区块链互操作性进步的三大挑战仍然存在:安全性、用户体验和兼容性。
安全
区块链互操作性最明显的障碍是始终存在的安全问题。 对市场表现和炒作周期漠不关心,设计不当的跨链桥屡屡失败,给行业留下了污点,并阻止人们参与解决方案。 由于桥被黑客攻击而遭受损失的个人自然会对所有跨链桥产生不信任。 骗我两次,等等。
很难责怪他们。 2021 年至 2023 年间,前 10 名跨链桥黑客事件估计 被盗金额达 29 亿美元 。没过多久,2024 年同样的情况也随之而来,Orbit Bridge 在
新年期间被
黑客窃取了 8000 万美元。
随着依赖安全互操作性的区块链技术的主流采用,这些趋势无法持续下去。
任何剩余的安全问题都
需要
解决。
用户体验
A seamless user experience is paramount in driving user adoption and engagement, which contributes directly to the sustainability of digital products and services. This fact is as fundamental in Web2 as it is in Web3. Cross-chain bridges are no exception.
Today’s bridges are anything but seamless. While mature solutions have abstracted the user’s direct involvement to a single transaction, the user journey is still too complex. Users would rather not transact using multiple assets while manually switching between multiple wallets and RPC servers.
This is largely caused by current limitations of blockchain technology but is exacerbated by immature interfaces. Many may be shocked to learn that there isn’t even a unified system for cross-chain solutions to identify a unique blockchain network! Without seamless interoperability, UX can only be improved incrementally unless certain unpalatable concessions relating to security and decentralisation are made. Collaborative efforts are needed, or blockchain interoperability solutions will remain fractured and mainstream adoption will remain stymied – resigned to value storage and niche financial applications.
Compatibility, or rather, the incompatibility between different blockchain interoperability protocols is one of the great ironies of our industry. As it stands, the vast majority of blockchain interoperability projects are focused on building proprietary products with custom relayers, message definitions and verification mechanisms. Too many are focused solely on growing their own products.
With so many competing approaches with shockingly little overlap, it becomes impractical, if not impossible, to properly vet the security of each. The fight to become the one-and-only solution is ultimately detrimental and poses a risk to the industry’s long-term outlook. Common infrastructure and shared interfaces are needed as these can be properly vetted and tested. Blockchain interoperability must be core infrastructure first, product second.
Underpinning security, UX and compatibility challenges is the lack of an open, unified interoperability standard. Such a standard is essential because it would provide a universally accepted framework for communication between blockchains and blockchain-like systems. This would ensure secure interoperability and seamless global connectivity, in turn preventing fragmentation across different projects.
Imagine a world without ERC-20, the de facto standard for issuing fungible tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. Every project that issues a token on Ethereum would follow its standard and one project’s token would be incompatible with another’s. Applications like decentralized exchanges could still theoretically be built, but their growth would be hamstrung by the need to follow standard-agnostic design principles.
每个令牌都代表一个临时集成,用户只能使用明确支持其令牌的应用程序。 如果没有一个定义一套规则和功能的标准,以太坊生态系统的发展将会受到极大的阻碍。这就是区块链互操作性的现状。
然而,由于 ERC-20 标准已经过审查和采用,所有应用程序都可以与未知的可替代代币交互、管理和信任。 即使在创建特定应用程序后部署的令牌也可以在不需要任何额外工程工作的情况下使用,并且令牌可以与多个应用程序兼容。 这就是开放、统一标准的力量。 这就是区块链互操作性迫切需要的。
开放、统一的区块链互操作性标准的好处可能更为深远。
遵循经过审查的标准化框架的通用即插即用架构可以跨越三个层:消息传递、函数调用和应用程序。 这将使 EVM 和非 EVM 区块链之间的安全、无缝通信成为可能。 优先考虑可互换组件还将加速由多个提供商支持的真正区块链互操作性的开发。
建立这样的标准还有一个额外的好处,那就是帮助企业和监管机构理解技术的复杂性,以制定公平、知情的监管框架。 随着技术进步的发展,创新和监管之间可以实现公平的平衡。
区块链技术有潜力让世界变得更美好。 区块链和类区块链系统之间安全、无缝的区块链互操作性是大规模采用的先决条件。 如果没有开放、统一的互操作性标准,真正的大规模采用仍然遥不可及。