#blockchain #btc #bnb #ethereum #etherium
A blockchain network is an infrastructure that allows transactions to be carried out on the blockchain. The blockchain itself is, simply put, an open database containing blocks (hence the name) with information about all transactions. The name “blockchain” can be translated as “chain of blocks”.
Examples of blockchain networks: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Solana, Polygon.
An important feature is that blockchain networks are not connected to each other in any way. That is, you cannot transfer your bitcoins from the Bitcoin network to the Ethereum wallet address to the Ethereum network. The transaction will go through, but you will lose your funds forever! There are cases when tokens sent to the wrong address can be restored, but this is quite difficult and requires some time and money. It may turn out that the payment for the return of your tokens will be more than the lost amount. Therefore, you should be careful with translations.
With all of the above, there are ways to transfer a token to another network. To do this you need to use bridges.
Blockchain Bridges, also known as Cross-chain Bridges, are services that allow you to move tokens from one blockchain to another. But not every token can be moved to any blockchain!
After transferring your Bitcoin, for example, to the Ethereum network using a blockchain bridge, you will receive Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) on your Ethereum wallet. Here you need to understand that 1 Bitcoin in the Bitcoin network is not the same Bitcoin in the Ethereum network. This is a different token, the value of which is tied to the original one. Yours, sent to the bridge provider's address, is blocked, and the wrapped Bitcoin is released (created) and sent to your wallet. If you want to return your Bitcoin, then the reverse process occurs, you send the wrapped version to the bridge provider, he burns it (sends it to a wallet that no one has access to) and returns your Bitcoin to you.
Bridges are also used to transfer tokens from one standard to another, for example, from ERC-20 to BEP-20. I will tell you more about token standards next time.
