How Crypto WorksA VISUAL FIELD GUIDESearch
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ROUTE 10 / Go deeper

Cross from one chain to another

Follow locked assets, issued receipts, and verification assumptions.

5 ideasAbout 25 minutesRead in order, or choose a step

An asset does not physically leave one blockchain and arrive on another. A bridge coordinates records and obligations across systems that may not share the same security. Follow what is locked or burned, what is issued, and who can authorize release.

  1. 01

    Interoperability and cross-chain messages

    Describe the message

    Crosschain applications need a way to agree about events elsewhere.

  2. 02

    Bridges and wrapped claims

    Trace the asset representation

    Lock-and-mint is one model; native issuance and liquidity networks differ.

  3. 03

    Finality and confirmations

    Decide when an event counts

    A source-chain reorganization can conflict with a destination action.

  4. 04

    Multisig and shared authorization

    Inspect signing control

    A committee may authorize releases, concentrating a key security dependency.

  5. 05

    How crypto systems fail

    Combine the failure paths

    Contract bugs, signers, upgrades, and liquidity interact.

CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING

Is a wrapped token always interchangeable with the native asset?

Reveal the explanation

No. The representation may have different redemption, security, liquidity, and support assumptions. Its ticker alone does not establish equivalence.

Another route through the ecosystemUnderstand a leveraged position →