Bridging

How bridging works on AppLayer.

There are inherent flexibility issues with native and application-specific chains when compared to traditional EVM chains. An application-specific chain is limited as it can not support a complete service that involves interaction between more than one application. Those problems could heavily damage the reputation of a project built on them.

Our solution to this issue is to allow AppLayer-enabled blockchains to natively communicate with each other by using the Chain Abstraction Network (hereby denominated CAN) as a middleman, where AppLayer serves as an intermediary between two dApp chains trying to communicate with each other. We call that bridging.

It's possible to bridge arbitrary data and tokens, both between AppLayer nodes and between AppLayer and external networks.

How is safety ensured?

The Validator and Sentinel nodes that read from a given chain are determined using RandomGen, the trustless decentralized randomness generator developed by AppLayer Labs. We ensure to keep a fair selection of nodes, however, there is a possibility of a 51% attack.

For example, in a network with 100 nodes, if a malicious user controls 51 of them, and all of them get selected for driving a cross-chain request and a block, they could collude and forward any message they want.

We avoid this by introducing Sentinels to the network. Sentinels are AppLayer Labs-powered Validators that ensure this collusion does not happen. Sentinels can not create new blocks, but rather work together with Validators to fortify the network’s security.