Chainlink founder Sergey Nazarov bullish on cross-chain future

On Wednesday, Chainlink and SWIFT introduced they’re engaged on “an preliminary proof-of-concept” utilizing Chainlink’s cross-chain interoperability protocol (CCIP), which gives a normal for communication between blockchains. In plain English, because of this the 11,000 banks linked to SWIFT could have the choice to interact in token transfers throughout chains—a sometimes very dangerous endeavor.

At present, most blockchains can’t speak to one another. An software on one blockchain, like Ethereum, can’t talk with one other software on, say, Solana. Whereas cross-chain bridges try to assist with this concern, permitting customers to maneuver digital belongings from one chain to a different, these bridges are sometimes focused by hackers. Bridges are weak as a result of they’re solely as protected as their design—which hasn’t been nice typically. Living proof: About $2 billion in cryptocurrency has been stolen in cross-chain bridge hacks simply this yr.

However Chainlink, unsurprisingly, touts its CCIP as safe, reliable infrastructure. And due to this fact, Sergey Nazarov, cofounder of Chainlink, sees the community’s partnership with SWIFT as a step towards adoption for DLT (distributed ledger know-how) blockchains in capital markets.

Although skeptics—together with even Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin—aren’t bought on a cross-chain future as a consequence of safety causes, Nazarov is.

“I don’t suppose there’s been bridges which have generated the mandatory safety,” Nazarov instructed Fortune at Chainlink’s SmartCon in New York. “However that’s what CCIP seeks to resolve, and I don’t suppose it’s an intractable drawback. I feel it’s a solvable drawback.”

CCIP is concentrated on “making purposes made up of a number of contracts on a number of chains,” Nazarov explains, which is “fairly logical,” he stated, mentioning how builders for the “overwhelming majority” of mainstream purposes use “a number of companies from a number of clouds all working collectively.”

Builders in crypto ought to have this identical skill with cross-chain purposes as properly, Nazarov stated. “The cross-chain aspect of issues is a really massive deal.”