Interoperability and staking hub Picasso Network has successfully integrated the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol with Ethereum.
This means that Ethereum can now transfer assets and data natively with the Cosmos Hub, Polkadot and Kusama via IBC. According to Picasso, more chains will be connected in the near future, including Solana.
Most bridging protocols today use the lock-and-mint or lock-and-burn method to transfer data across blockchains, which can pose a security risk. Other blockchains introduce trust assumptions by introducing third parties to oversee these transactions. For this reason, native bridging is often considered the most secure way for two separate blockchains to transact with each other.
Read more: Rethinking the crypto bridge after a year of hacks
IBC originated in the Cosmos ecosystem and enables native bridging of tokens, messages and accounts. To bring IBC to Ethereum, the Picasso team made changes to IBC and created an IBC stack on Ethereum.
According to Picasso, there are two light customers involved in the Ethereum and IBC connection. These relayers are responsible for transferring IBC packets between Ethereum and connected chains.
“As the first team to successfully connect Cosmos to Ethereum via IBC, we have achieved a groundbreaking breakthrough in crosschain interoperability, fulfilling the biggest milestone of our commitment we made in 2021 to bring the highest level of security to bridging ,” said Henry Love, the executive director of the underlying organization behind Picasso, Composable Foundation, in a statement reviewed by Blockworks.
Read more: Interoperability is not just a buzzword
Osmosis, one of the largest decentralized exchanges in the Cosmos ecosystem, will serve as the primary destination for Ethereum assets and liquidity within the Cosmos ecosystem.
“The shared vision is to enable a unified and secure cross-chain DeFi ecosystem, and connecting Cosmos to Ethereum is both a major technical milestone and a UX and functionality improvement for users,” said Aaron Kong, a growth and strategy officer at Osmosis.