By
Steve Muchoki
April 19th, 2024
Flare has received a SupaGrant from the Algorand Foundation to “secure, decentralized interoperability between any and all chains.”
Flare and the Algorand Foundation are partnering to develop a Bitcoin (BTC) bridge. Algorand Foundation stated that the new Flare Layer 1 protocol will “connect everything” by delivering cross-chain interoperability with the security of multi-chain.”
Under the collaboration, Flare has received an Algorand Foundation Bridges SupaGrant to help develop the Bitcoin bridge. This would also aid in supporting and growing a robust, diverse, and thriving Algorand ecosystem.
The Algorand Foundation believes that a secure and centralized BTC bridge is imperative, and it is sparing no expense in this regard. A secure bridge is important considering the large sum of funds lost to blockchain bridge hacks in the last few months. Many of these bridges are often centralized and considerably less secure than the networks they serve.
Flare and Algorand Bridge – Increased Security, Interoperability, and Decentralization
The Flare and Algorand bridge in the works is set to address security issues. For starters, it will enable secure and trustless interoperability between ALGO and BTC. In addition, the upcoming Bitcoin bridge will also extend the same quality service to other non-smart contract tokens. These include Dogecoin (DOGE), Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP), and Stellar (XLM).
Speaking on the joint initiative, chief technical officer & co-founder of Flare, Sean Rowan, said:
“We have a huge amount of respect for the Algorand team, and are excited to be developing a secure and trustless bridge for the Algorand ecosystem. The simple fact is that existing approaches to bridging have time and again been proven unsatisfactory.”
In addition, Rowan also touched on the unique approach Flare was using to address the challenges of decentralized interoperability. As he put it:
“Flare’s new approach is an entirely different way, built from the ground up rather than being based on existing bridging technology – and will bring a breakthrough in secure, decentralized interoperability between any and all chains.”
Flare to Draw on Wealth of Resources in Developing Bitcoin Bridge with Algorand
Flare’s new bridging approach will draw from the Layer 1 protocol’s decentralized interoperability protocols. These include the Flare Time Series Oracle (FTSO) and the State Connector. As Rowan already mentioned, these composable technologies will enable Flare to deliver secure and universal interoperability between any two chains. In doing so, the bridge becomes upgradeable in order to also support interoperability between ALGO and any other smart contract Layer 1 platform.
The FTSO provides the Flare Network with decentralized price data that rapidly updates in real time. Meanwhile, the State Connector facilitates the security of on-and-off-chain open systems with smart contracts on Flare.
Daniel Oon, Head of DeFi at Algorand Foundation, also commented on the platform’s initiative with Flare. According to him:
“We’re excited to partner with Flare and welcome them to the Algorand ecosystem. Our grant partnership with Flare will develop key DeFi infrastructure with a bridge to Bitcoin, opening up opportunities for further collaboration and innovation.”
Back in June 2021, Flare tweeted that integration with Algorand will be immensely beneficial and well-received by its community.
About Flare Network and Algorand Foundation
Flare provides a safe connection to all blockchains via its Layer 1 protocol. The network ensures high throughput, an ultra-low carbon footprint, and universal interoperability by combining multiple decentralized protocols with EVM compatibility.
The Algorand Foundation simplifies finance and is slowly creating a truly borderless global economy by providing users with the same speed available with traditional finance transactions, but with negligible transaction costs and immediate finality. Algorand’s secure and scalable decentralized protocol went live in 2019 and has recorded no downtime since then.