$PROVE
Timeline: The Journey of Cross-Chain Bridges — From Multisigs to ZK Proofs $PROVE
The way assets move between blockchains has transformed significantly, fueled by the demand for stronger security. With more than $2.5B lost to bridge hacks, this shift has become critical.
Phase 1: Multisig Bridges (The Trusted Committee)
Early bridges relied on multisig wallets. For example, sending 1 ETH to another chain meant locking it in a wallet controlled by 5 of 8 signers. They’d approve minting wrapped $ETH
on the destination chain. The risk? If those signers colluded or got compromised, funds vanished. Many of DeFi’s largest hacks came from this model.
Phase 2: Light Client Bridges (The Skeptical Observer)
The next step brought light clients, which verify another chain’s state using a simplified version of its code. This reduced trust in committees but introduced higher costs and slower performance.
Phase 3: ZK Bridges (The Mathematical Proof)
The cutting edge today, powered by @Succinct , is zero-knowledge bridges. Instead of committees or light clients, they use ZK proofs. When 1 ETH is locked on Ethereum, a decentralized network generates a cryptographic proof. The destination chain only needs to verify the math — if valid, new funds are minted. This eliminates trust in intermediaries, offering the most secure design yet.
