Core Summary

• Although cross-chain bridges can realize cross-chain asset transfers, they are always facing security threats. Orbiter Finance has been operating steadily since 2021 and has won the trust of users.
• With the rise of new public chains and the expansion of the DeFi landscape, the cross-chain bridge market is experiencing explosive growth, and the annual cross-chain asset scale is expected to reach US$510.7 billion in 2027. Fast access capabilities, technical stability and low fees will become the core elements to seize the market.
• Relying on a solid product foundation, Orbiter Finance is breaking through the boundaries of traditional cross-chain bridges through the "Vizing" plan, aiming to build a full-chain infrastructure and completely revolutionize the cross-chain transmission of assets and data.

1. Market structure of cross-chain bridge

The cryptocurrency market has experienced ups and downs, and the cross-chain bridge field is no exception. As a key component of the ecosystem, the cross-chain bridge undertakes the basic function of connecting different blockchain networks and realizing cross-chain asset transfer.

A cross-chain bridge is essentially a dedicated protocol that connects two independent blockchains through economic, technical and conceptual dimensions. Analogous to a physical bridge, its value lies not only in simple connection, but also in the fast and efficient transfer of assets between networks. With the continuous emergence of Layer2 (L2) solutions, cross-chain bridges have become an essential tool for integrating fragmented ecosystems.

However, in stark contrast to their importance, cross-chain bridges are frequently exposed to major security risks. A typical case is the hack of Wormhole Bridge: the attacker exploited the vulnerability of the Wormhole Solana smart contract to forge signatures, illegally minted 120,000 wETH, and then exchanged real wETH on the Ethereum network, and then exchanged real ETH on the Ethereum network , causing huge losses. Just as the collapse of a physical bridge will affect two connected cities, a hacked cross-chain bridge will also affect multiple networks.

There are three reasons why cross-chain bridges have become a key target for hackers: first, the huge amount of funds deposited; second, the trust mechanism that relies on smart contract coding; and third, the potential loopholes caused by the coordination of different blockchain rules. Even in a decentralized environment designed to minimize trust dependence, the risk of key theft and human supervision loopholes brought by limited verification nodes are still major security risks.

Despite the risks, cross-chain bridges remain an integral part of the crypto market. In this context, screening projects with sustained stability is crucial to maintaining the healthy development of the ecosystem. Take Orbiter Finance as an example. Its cross-chain bridge service has been operating since 2021, which is rare in the Web3 field. The platform has achieved steady growth with operational resilience and gradually established a barrier of user trust.

Orbiter Finance received support from top investment institutions such as Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and OKX Ventures in its early days. This report will deeply analyze how Orbiter Finance builds its competitive advantage in the cross-chain bridge market and look forward to its future development prospects.

2. The core driving force of the cross-chain bridge market growth

The blockchain ecosystem continues to expand, and new public chains continue to emerge. In this process, the cross-chain bridge market is benefiting from the sustainable development of the chain ecosystem:

1. Initial incentive phase

When a new chain is launched, incentives such as airdrops attract investors’ attention. The expectation of rewards drives investors to transfer assets to the new chain through the cross-chain bridge protocol, starting the cross-chain bridge usage cycle.

2. DeFi Activation Phase

Beyond airdrop participation, in-chain DeFi services are starting to gain momentum. Early capital inflows have enabled multiple uses in various DeFi protocols, such as lending, staking, and liquidity provision, attracting incremental capital to enter the market. As cross-chain asset flows intensify, cross-chain bridge transaction volumes have risen significantly.

3. The prosperous stage of diversified DApps

As the ecosystem develops, new DApps such as game platforms and NFT markets emerge, driving a continuous inflow of funds. At this stage, the use of cross-chain bridges has become a regular part of the ecosystem.

It is worth noting that as new chains continue to emerge, market attention will continue to shift to emerging ecosystems, and cross-chain demand will cyclically rebound. In short, the scale of the cross-chain bridge market will grow in a spiral as new chains emerge and the ecosystem matures.

This process is like the migration of merchants from mature commercial areas to emerging development areas: when the old areas tend to be saturated and the profit margins narrow, the new areas attract early entrants with low rental costs, first-mover advantages and long-term value-added potential, and give them future opportunities such as franchising. Driven by compound incentives, the migration of the retail industry forms a continuous cycle - this is the micro-reflection of capital flow between blockchain ecosystems.

According to DeFiLlama data, the cross-chain asset scale in 2024 has reached US$256.9 billion, doubling from 2023 (Note: this data does not cover all on-chain cross-chain activities, and the actual scale may be higher).

As the market scale expands, the industry is undergoing profound changes: the blockchain ecosystem is becoming more mature, the regulatory framework is accelerating, and the Meme Coin launchpad has driven a surge in token projects (although the proportion of high-quality projects is still relatively limited). Against this background, it is conservatively estimated that by 2027, the annual cross-chain asset scale will reach US$510.7 billion.

In this expanding market, achieving stable fee income and a strong market position depends on three key factors:

1. Rapidly establish connectivity with emerging chains

2. Ensure technically robust and secure services

3. Providing competitive transaction speed and low fees

 Source: Orbiter Finance

In this market environment, Orbiter Finance stands out with its decentralized cross-chain bridge positioning, supporting asset flows between multiple networks. Its ability to quickly access mainstream projects such as Solana and emerging projects such as Abstract and Story, coupled with extremely fast transfers of 10-20 seconds and low fees, is a key factor in the continued influx of users.

With its superior technology and scalability, Orbiter Finance has successfully simplified blockchain asset transfers to the level of daily network transactions, perfectly assuming the role of "bridge between Web2 and Web3", further consolidating its unique position in the rapidly evolving blockchain market.

2.1 Orbiter Finance’s new chain connection trend

Orbiter Finance already supports over 70 blockchains and continues to expand its coverage by integrating new highly scalable chains. Its most significant advantage is its ability to quickly adapt to the latest Ethereum L2 solutions. Among the many L2 expansion solutions designed to solve Ethereum's scalability problems, Orbiter Finance is particularly active in integrating the zero-knowledge proof (ZK) technology system Rollup.

By integrating ZK public chains such as ZKFair, zkLink Nova and Proof of Play Apex, Orbiter Finance continues to strengthen its layout in the ZK ecosystem. At the same time, it expands the Ethereum ecosystem through its self-developed ZK L2 network Vizing, and supports diversified L2 solutions such as Arbitrum and Optimism, achieving seamless interoperability between Ethereum L2 networks.

Another differentiated advantage is the early support for Bitcoin Layer2 solutions. When most cross-chain bridge services are not yet compatible with Bitcoin-related public chains, Orbiter Finance has taken the lead in integrating networks such as BEVM, Bitlayer and B² Network. This move shows its strategic ambition to break through the boundaries of the Ethereum ecosystem and reach the old ecosystems such as Bitcoin, providing users with more flexible asset transfer options.

These strategies enable Orbiter Finance to take advantage of the rapid expansion of the Ethereum L2 ecosystem while maintaining flexible interoperability between multiple Layer1 (L1) blockchains. As the adoption rate of Ethereum L2 accelerates, Orbiter Finance is expected to play a more important role in cross-chain connectivity.

2.2 Technically reliable service foundation

Since 2021, Orbiter Finance has maintained a zero-security incident record for cross-chain bridge services. As a cross-chain bridge that combines a decentralized market maker network with a smart contract liquidity pool, it achieves dual guarantees of security and efficiency through ZK-SPV technology and the O-Pool system.

Orbiter Finance's operating mechanism is simple and efficient: when a user deposits cross-chain assets into the source chain O-Pool contract, the market maker node will detect the transaction and perform an equal amount of asset transfer on the target chain. In this process, the market maker obtains commission income, and ZK-SPV technology verifies the legitimacy of the transaction through cryptography, ensuring a secure and trust-minimized cross-chain transfer.

The system operates in a similar way to a transnational banking network: when a user deposits funds in a bank in one country (source chain), the bank representative (market maker) will notify the branch in another country (target chain) to provide an equal amount of funds. All transactions are reinforced by unforgeable certificates (ZK proofs) to ensure security and reliability.

On the technical level, Orbiter Finance integrates two core components:

• O-Pool system : manages liquidity through smart contracts deployed on multiple chains. Users deposit assets into O-Pool through the source chain, and the market maker node detects and executes withdrawals on the target chain.

• ZK-SPV technology : Use zero-knowledge proof to achieve mathematical verification of cross-chain transactions, which can complete instant verification without long waiting, overcoming the delay pain point of the Optimistic Verification mechanism.

This model marks a significant advancement in cross-chain infrastructure. Orbiter Finance abandons centralized mechanisms (such as wrapped token issuance or multi-signature validators) and adopts a decentralized market maker model that does not rely on complex wrapping processes, combined with ZK-SPV technology to enhance security, and establish a trust-minimized and scalable cross-blockchain asset transfer framework.

2.3 Competitiveness of both speed and rates

Orbiter Finance provides industry-leading transaction speeds, with cross-chain transfers typically completed within 10-20 seconds - a significant advantage over other cross-chain bridges. This speed advantage is mainly due to ZK-SPV technology and a streamlined transmission mechanism that minimizes block confirmation requirements.

In addition to speed, Orbiter Finance has a strong fee advantage in L2 transfer scenarios. By minimizing smart contract calls, its ETH cross-chain gas consumption is reduced to about 21,000 gas, significantly lower than the 120,000-450,000 gas of competing products. However, it should be noted that Orbiter Finance does not maintain a fee advantage in all transfer paths, and its rates may be higher than competitors under certain market conditions and transfer paths.

3. Orbiter Finance’s Vision of Stars – Vizing

 Source: Vizing

Orbiter Finance's vision goes beyond basic cross-chain bridge services and is committed to expanding interoperability in an L2-dominated environment. Traditional cross-chain solutions focus on asset transfer, but as the blockchain ecosystem evolves, the market demand for cross-chain messaging and data transmission is increasing.

This transformation is like the development trajectory of urban infrastructure, from road construction to communication networks and public facilities systems. For example, a DeFi application on a chain may need to call a price oracle on another chain, or execute transactions based on specific cross-chain events. However, the existing cross-bridge system has obvious limitations in efficiently handling such data interactions.

To this end, Orbiter Finance developed Vizing: a ZK-based Ethereum L2 network designed to support on-chain messaging and cross-chain data transmission. Through zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to achieve data verification, Vizing can achieve fast and efficient cross-chain flow of assets and data.

Vizing has two core advantages: Vizing Account Abstraction (VAA) : allows users to manage multiple L2 networks through a single account, greatly improving the convenience of use. Vizing Environment Layer (VEL) : provides a unified execution environment across L2, enabling developers to achieve multi-chain application coverage through a single deployment.

 Source: Likwid

Vizing is currently focusing on solving the key challenges of L2 interoperability. To support ecological construction, Vizing launched a funding program last year, taking the first step towards adoption.

Typical cases include Likwid, an AMM service based on Vizing technology. The platform realizes fully decentralized derivatives trading without relying on centralized intermediaries or oracles. It was named the DeFi Innovation Champion by Uniswap and created a new paradigm for derivatives trading without counterparties.

By achieving cross-chain communication and data sharing beyond simple asset transfer, Vizing effectively solves the L2 ecosystem fragmentation problem, improves the efficiency and availability of blockchain infrastructure, and lays the foundation for a wider range of real-world applications.

4. Orbiter Finance: Building a faster and more powerful ecosystem

Ethereum faces challenges beyond liquidity fragmentation. While L2 solutions continue to increase, scalability and performance improvements to Ethereum’s base layer are progressing slowly. The network’s transaction processing capacity remains limited, creating a need for auxiliary network construction, but these efforts have yet to bring about fundamental throughput improvements.

For example, when user A on the Base chain transfers 1 ETH to user B on the Arbitrum chain, the current Ethereum L2 environment still needs to read data from L1 and update the Ethereum state on the Beacon Chain. As the core ledger of Ethereum 2.0, the Beacon Chain manages the final record and verification of all transactions. This architecture makes L2 scalability subject to L1 performance, forming a systemic bottleneck.

This situation is like sending money from Seoul to Busan through the central bank: even if the number of local banks (L2) increases, the entire system will still be limited if the central bank (L1) is slow to process.

To overcome these limitations, Orbiter Finance is developing infrastructure that supports direct communication between Rollups. This Omnichain Infrastructure breaks down barriers between blockchain networks, facilitates seamless transfer of assets and data, and reduces reliance on Ethereum L1. By enabling L2 liquidity sharing, Orbiter Finance aims to improve the overall efficiency of the Ethereum ecosystem.

The infrastructure consists of four core components:

1. Full-chain wallet system : a unified account system similar to a universal bank account, minimizing L1 data access requirements. Users can access funds through a single account regardless of which local bank (L2) they interact with.

2. Relay Protocol : A cross-shard communication protocol that supports direct Rollup interaction, avoiding L1 transaction routing. Similar to the local inter-bank direct connection network, it enables Busan and Daegu banks to trade without going through the Seoul Central Bank.

3. Liquidity aggregation layer : cross-chain asset pool management system. Similar to local banks sharing liquidity pools, it ensures that funds from different networks are dynamically allocated on demand and improves capital efficiency.

4. Parallel execution of contracts : full-chain smart contract system, similar to Vizing Dapp to achieve cross-Rollup automatic deployment. This model does not require each bank to develop financial products separately, and achieves seamless deployment across the entire network

By implementing this model, Ethereum L1 can focus on security maintenance, while L2 takes on execution and transaction functions, eliminating bottlenecks while maintaining decentralization. This transformation is similar to the reform of the financial system: the central bank focuses on policy stability, and local banks independently manage daily transactions.

Orbiter Finance's full-chain infrastructure does not replace L1 (central bank), but alleviates existing bottlenecks by enabling direct connections between L2. Ultimately, an efficient financial network is formed: local banks (L2) process transactions independently, and the central bank (L1) intervenes only when necessary. This model promotes collaboration between Rollups and guides the industry from TVL competition to a more decentralized and scalable ecosystem.

5. A blueprint for the future built on a solid foundation

Orbiter Finance has established a solid foundation in its core business: through fast and differentiated chain connection capabilities, technically stable infrastructure and cost-effective transactions, it provides reliable cross-chain services to real users and builds a moat of active users.

At the same time, it demonstrates a rational and well-founded vision for the future. As the L2 ecosystem expands, Orbiter Finance accurately identifies key scalability challenges and systematically develops solutions.

Different from competitors who only talk about vision, Orbiter Finance relies on actual operational services and active user base to expand Vizing and gradually expand its business territory. This strategy not only helps it to maintain its share in the growing cross-chain bridge market, but also creates incremental revenue opportunities in emerging markets.

As the L2 ecosystem matures and DeFi services expand, the role of cross-chain bridges and full-chain infrastructure will become increasingly critical. Users will increasingly frequently combine Arbitrum's high-yield lending services with Optimism's efficient transactions, or use Base chain pledge assets for Scroll chain derivative transactions. Just as traditional finance has evolved through complex financial products and strategies, cross-chain asset flows and multi-layer DeFi strategies will become the norm. As this trend accelerates, cross-chain bridge services such as Orbiter Finance and full-chain infrastructure will become an indispensable part of the blockchain ecosystem.

However, we need to continue to pay attention to the stability of Vizing ecosystem services. Although Likwid has been launched, it is still in its early stages and needs more cases to prove its potential. In addition, there is always a gap between vision and execution, and it is crucial to closely track the progress of roadmap implementation.

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