1. Please describe your project. What is it doing to improve Cardano?
Wanchain’s wide area network of blockchains is a decentralised system of direct, non-custodial cross-chain bridges that connect both EVM and non-EVM networks without requiring any centralised intermediaries. Wanchain recently deployed several bridges to Cardano, connecting the Cardano mainnet to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Arbitrum, Astar, Avalanche, BNB Chain, OKT Chain, Optimism, Polygon, and Tron. Users can now access ADA on Ethereum, and BTC, ETH, USDC, USDT and WAN on Cardano.
Wanchain’s goal is to increase interoperability between Cardano and other networks (both EVM and non-EVM).
2. What is the token(s) policy ID? How much USDC, USDT and BTC have been bridged to Cardano?
Policy ID: 25c5de5f5b286073c593edfd77b48abc7a48e5a4f3d4cd9d428ff935
USDC on Cardano is a wrapped token backed 1:1 with native USDC issued by Circle. There is currently more than 400k USDC on Cardano. New USDC is minted on Cardano only when users bridge USDC to Cardano from other networks. Today, users can bridge USDC to Cardano from Ethereum, Arbitrum, Avalanche, BNB Chain (Binance-pegged USDC), Optimism, Polygon, Tron and Wanchain.
USDT on Cardano is a wrapped token backed 1:1 with native USDT issued by Tether. There is currently more than 5k USDT on Cardano. New USDT is minted on Cardano only when users bridge USDT to Cardano from other networks. Today, users can bridge USDT to Cardano from Ethereum, Arbitrum, Astar, Avalanche, BNB Chain (Binance-pegged USDT), OKT Network, Optimism, Polygon, Tron and Wanchain.
BTC on Cardano is a wrapped token backed 1:1 with native BTC on Bitcoin. There is currently more than 2 BTC on Cardano. New BTC is minted on Cardano only when users bridge BTC to Cardano from other networks. Today, users can bridge BTC to Cardano from Bitcoin, Ethereum (WBTC), Avalanche (BTB.b), BNB Chain (BTCB) and Wanchain.
The bridge can be accessed here: https://bridge.wanchain.org/
3. How does Wanchain’s Cardano Bridge work?
In brief, Wanchain’s cross-chain bridges are powered by a group of permissionless Bridge Nodes, meaning there is no central authorisation needed for someone to deploy a bridge node. At any given moment, there are 25 active Bridge Nodes. Together, they form the Bridge Node Group. The Bridge Node Group is re-elected monthly.
To execute cross-chain transactions, the Bridge Node Group uses a combination of multi-party computation (MPC) and Shamir’s Secret Sharing. To oversimplify, the Bridge Nodes each generate a secret share/shard. Once sufficient secret shares are collected and verified, the Bridge Node Group can jointly sign a transaction. This approach is superior to a multisig for several reasons, not least of which is that the private key is never collected as a whole on a single device at any point. In other words, there is no single point of failure that can be targeted by either potential external hackers or insiders that could compromise the bridge.
4. A note about bridge hacks/incidents
After reviewing every major bridge hack that has plagued the blockchain industry in the past few years, it is Wanchain’s position that these hacks have not been caused by issues with cross-chain technology itself. Rather, they are caused – without fail – by a combination of execution/implementation deficiencies and human error. There has yet to be a bridge hack that was caused by a generalisable risk or something unique to cross-chain technology.
In Nomad Bridge’s case, the Nomad Bridge smart contract did not properly validate the transaction’s input. Any user could withdraw an arbitrary quantity of assets from the Nomad Bridge without first proving that an equivalent deposit was made on the source chain. In other words, a hacker was able to deposit 0.01 WBTC on one chain and receive 100 WBTC on another. This is a very rudimentary mistake. Nevertheless, this is not an issue that is generalisable and that can impact other bridges. In Wanchain’s case, the Bridge Node Group always confirms the user’s deposit on the source chain (and waits for finality on that chain) before minting/releasing assets on the destination chain. There are several published detailed write-ups about the Nomad Bridge. One example. Another example.
5. Why do you want a MIN Farm? How does the Minswap community benefit from offering a MIN Farm for your Token?
Wanchain’s Cardano Bridges enable greater interoperability between networks and offer a huge influx of new assets and liquidity. This is the first time that fiat-backed stablecoins are available on the Cardano mainnet. Fiat-backed stablecoins have proven to be a powerful catalyst for the growth of DeFi ecosystems.
By providing farming rewards on USDC, USDT and BTC pairs, Minswap is poised to strengthen its position as a leading DEX on Cardano. It may be worth noting that Minswap may be the first DEX on Cardano to support a USDT pair with farming rewards. There are also powerful synergy opportunities with other Cardano protocols that already support these assets, like Liqwid.
6. Is your Project audited? By whom?
Wanchain is the one of the oldest, if not the oldest, cross-chain bridge. We take a strong “research-first” approach to building to prioritise security. Wanchain’s VP of Engineering, Dr. Weijia Zhang, is the Chair of the Interoperability Workgroup at the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. We are also co-authors of the EEA’s crosschain security guidelines. Wanchain bridges are the first public place where these best-practices/guidelines tend to be implemented.
This particular project involved Wanchain, IOG and MLabs. Wanchain has been audited several times. Most recently, the Cardano Bridge was audited by Anastasia Labs.
Thank you!