Metaversal is a Bankless publication for weekly level-ups on NFTs, digital worlds, & extra!
Pricey Bankless Nation,
New L1s and new L2s proceed to proliferate.
That mentioned, the Ethereum Digital Machine (EVM) compatibility paradigm and UX strides will make shifting fungible tokens throughout chains more and more streamlined.
However what about for non-fungible tokens, what choices exist for NFTs to maneuver from one chain to a different?
Let’s reply that query by going over the fundamentals of cross-chain NFT approaches for at present’s submit!
-WMP
🙏 Sponsor: Kraken — Kraken NFT is constructed for safe NFT buying and selling ✨
There’s nobody “proper approach” per se with regards to shifting an NFT from one chain to a different, as we’ve seen a variety of various approaches used for this so far, all with their very own tradeoffs.
For me, the primary strategy that involves thoughts here’s what I’d name equal bridging, like as in shifting an NFT from Ethereum to a special chain that’s successfully equal to Ethereum on the protocol degree, e.g. the Optimism layer-two (L2) scaling answer.
Certainly, after its Bedrock improve earlier this yr Optimism boasts near-perfect Ethereum equivalence, so in the event you bridge an NFT from Ethereum to Optimism it’s kind of like bridging an NFT from Ethereum to Ethereum.
The Quix market (which grew to become community-run earlier this yr) has provided such an NFT bridge beforehand, however now it would simply be a theoretical instance — I wasn’t in a position to get it to work after I final tried. You get the thought although!
🏹 Settle, Hunt, Declare, Repeat.
Be extra bankless and turn into a Bankless Citizen at present!
Admittedly, we haven’t seen a lot equal bridging within the NFT ecosystem but. What has been far more widespread, although, is collection-wide migrations utilizing the cruder but in addition pretty sensible burn-and-mint methodology.
By burn-and-mint, I imply a course of during which a group holder can burn their NFT on one chain after which obtain an official collection-approved re-mint of it on a brand new chain. That is usually simply solid as a “bridging” expertise. An instance right here can be y00ts, which has used this methodology not as soon as however twice in migrating from Solana to Polygon after which from Polygon to Ethereum.
One other strategy that’s rising in reputation recently is the lock-and-mint methodology popularized by the omnichain NFTs of interoperability protocol LayerZero. You might need seen this in motion earlier than through the Lil Pudgys Bridge, which helps transfers to Arbitrum, BNB Chain, and Polygon.
The best way this structure works is that LayerZero presents a sensible contract system that permits you to flip a daily NFT into an ONFT, after which you’ll deploy that ONFT on LayerZero-supported chains.
To then transfer cross-chain, the ONFT turns into locked on the supply chain and minted on the vacation spot chain, and to maneuver again, the ONFT turns into locked on the brand new supply chain and the unique NFT turns into unlocked on the unique supply chain.
But LayerZero is simply one interoperability protocol. A challenge notably constructing assist for LayerZero and extra messaging protocols concurrently is Holograph.
Zooming in, Holograph has created a brand new primitive often called Holographic Property, an occasion of that are hNFTs that allow you to mint NFTs that “preserve the identical contract deal with and token ID on all EVM environments, enabling them to maneuver between blockchains with excellent provenance.”
For anybody who remembers my latest RWA x NFTs submit, be aware that Holograph is working towards hNFTs as a customary for tokenizing actual world property and “decoupling the asset layer from the blockchain layer.”
On the purpose of extra messaging protocols, although, one other one which reveals nice promise is Chainlink’s new Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP). After all, the CCIP system is aimed toward doing far more than simply supporting cross-chain NFTs, however right here it could actually excel throughout a variety of use circumstances like cross-chain video games, cross-chain NFTfi, and common NFTs. Affine, a DeFi challenge, is particularly tapping this method to energy its Affine Go NFTs, for instance.
So whereas some efforts like CCIP wish to provide a approach for every part to be made cross-chain suitable, on the flip facet some tasks are constructing their very own bespoke cross-chain options for their very own singular wants.
Towards this finish, the onchain RPG Pirate Nation involves thoughts, because it’s developed a customized Mirroring system that facilitates a Commerce on L1 / Play on L2 methodology: the unique Founder’s Pirates NFTs keep on Ethereum whereas their mirrors on Arbitrum Nova facilitate gas-free gameplay.
This idea brings us full circle to having NFTs on one chain however not having to maneuver them cross-chain in any respect with a view to “use” them on one other chain. Such a utility is made attainable by companies like UMA’s Optimistic Oracle, which might contemplate NFTs on one chain whereas imposing actions on one other.
To shut and zoom again out, then, it’s clear that the place NFTs are involved the strains between blockchains are more and more blurring as cross-chain efforts of all stripes are beginning to achieve floor. Within the close to time period, there might be varied challenges and obstacles to face on this enviornment, however there can even be new prospects, new improvements, and new experiences. Maintain your eyes peeled right here accordingly!
A Bankless Citizen ⚑ turned $264 into $6,077 final yr. A 22x ROI 🚀 in a bear market!
Kraken NFT is without doubt one of the most safe, easy-to-use and dynamic marketplaces obtainable. Energetic and new collectors alike profit from zero fuel charges, multi-chain entry, cost flexibility with fiat or 200+ cryptocurrencies, and built-in rarity rankings. Study extra at Kraken.com/nft
👉 Go to Kraken.com to study extra and open an account at present.
Not monetary or tax recommendation. This text is strictly instructional and isn’t funding recommendation or a solicitation to purchase or promote any property or to make any monetary selections. This text just isn’t tax recommendation. Discuss to your accountant. Do your personal analysis.
Disclosure. From time-to-time I could add hyperlinks on this publication to merchandise I exploit. I could obtain fee in the event you make a purchase order by way of one among these hyperlinks. Moreover, the Bankless writers maintain crypto property. See our funding disclosures right here.
