ON–231: Bridges 🌉

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Reading https://ournetwork.substack.com/p/on231-bridges

TLDR :bridge_at_night:

This article provides an in-depth analysis of the current state of the crypto bridge ecosystem, highlighting the growth and trends in bridge volumes, key players like LI.FI, Synapse, and Across, as well as insights into transaction-level data.

Key Points :key:

  • Bridge volumes have increased by ~70% in Q1 2024, reaching $300M weekly
  • Across Protocol has seen impressive growth, now accounting for ~20% of total bridge volume
  • LI.FI, a multi-chain liquidity aggregator, has crossed $7B in all-time volume and 9M transactions
  • Synapse Protocol has surpassed $50B in volume and $15M in annualized fees, with its RFQ feature offering better quotes than competitors
  • Across Protocol’s daily volume has reached new highs in 2024, with the protocol generating over $10M in fees for LPs and relayers

In-depth Summary :memo:

The article starts by highlighting the growth in bridge volumes across the crypto ecosystem, with Artemis data showing a 70% increase in weekly flows from $178M to $304M. This growth is attributed to the overall improvement in crypto sentiment and user optimism.

The article then delves into the performance of individual bridges, with Across Protocol seeing impressive growth, now accounting for around 20% of total bridge volume. Other bridges like Base and Wormhole have also seen fluctuations in their market share based on changing narratives.

The article also covers the performance of LI.FI, a multi-chain liquidity aggregator that has processed over $7B in volume and 9M transactions to date. LI.FI’s distribution network is growing, with over 250 projects now integrating the platform, including major names like Robinhood, MetaMask, and OpenSea.

Synapse Protocol is another key player in the bridge ecosystem, having crossed $50B in volume and $15M in annualized fees. The article highlights the launch of Synapse RFQ, which offers significantly better quotes and speeds than traditional liquidity-based bridging.

Finally, the article examines the growth of Across Protocol, which has seen its daily volume reach new highs in 2024, regularly crossing the $30M mark. Across has also generated over $10M in fees for its LPs and relayers.

ELI5 :hugs:

This article is all about the bridges that help move crypto assets between different blockchain networks. It shows that the use of these bridges has been growing a lot, with weekly volumes reaching around $300 million. Some specific bridges, like Across, LI.FI, and Synapse, have been doing really well, with increasing usage and fees. The article dives into the details of how these bridges work and the benefits they offer to users.

Writer’s Main Point :bulb:

The main point of this article is to provide an in-depth analysis of the current state of the crypto bridge ecosystem, highlighting the growth, trends, and key players in this important area of the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. The article showcases the increasing adoption and usage of bridges, as well as the innovative features and capabilities being developed by leading protocols like LI.FI, Synapse, and Across.