HOW TO USE THE CELER CBRIDGE

The Celer cBridge is a multi-chain network that enables cost-efficient token transfers across several blockchains and layer-2 solutions. In this article, we'll discuss the cBridge and provide a walkthrough on how to use it.

TL; DR

• The Celer cBridge facilitates cross-chain token bridging with sufficient liquidity for users, in addition to fostering highly efficient and easy-to-use liquidity management for liquidity providers.

• cBridge supports a broad variety of chains such as Ethereum, BNB, Avalanche, Polygon, Fantom, Optimism, Arbitrum, Boba, Oasis, and Metis.

• Users of the cBridge are able to utilize all the available liquidity as there is no intermediary token used in asset transfers.

WHAT IS cBRIDGE?

The cBridge is a decentralized asset bridge built atop the Celer inter-chain message framework (Celer IM) that facilitates the low-cost non-custodial transfer of assets across a wide range of blockchains and layer-2 rollups.

As at the time of writing, cBridge supported the transfer of 137 tokens across 38 chains via 797 bridges. You can view the complete list of supported assets here.

cBridge has made a name for itself as it is regarded as one of the most secure and easy-to-use bridges. As at the time of writing, the cBridge had a total value locked of about $188.186 million and had completed a total number of 941,578 transactions which accounted for over 11 billion dollars in transaction volume.

These stats show that the cBridge is one of the most widely used bridges in the crypto ecosystem.

ABOUT CELER NETWORK

Celer Network is an interoperability protocol that was established in 2018 by computer science PhDs – Mo Dong, Junda Liu, Xiaozhou Li, and Qingkai Liang – from world-leading universities to foster widespread adoption of blockchain technology.

In order to enable real-time communication between users on the same blockchain while retaining scalability, Celer Network introduced the first Generalized State Channel Network on mainnet in 2019.

The State Guardian Network, which is a component of the Generalized State Channel Network, has been enhanced by Celer Network to create a generalized inter-blockchain and cross-layer communication platform. As a result, cBridge, layer2.finance, and the Celer Inter-chain Messaging Framework were developed.

HOW DOES THE cBRIDGE WORK?

cBridge utilizes two distinct models to facilitate the transfer of assets across different chains:

• POOL-BASED BRIDGE

By creating two liquidity pools on the transfer and destination chains respectively, cBridge enables the bridging of tokens across various chains, and the StableSwap pricing curve is used to dynamically alter the bridge rate based on the balances of the two liquidity pools.

• MINT & BURN – OPEN CANONICAL TOKEN BRIDGE

A PeggedToken contract that mints pegged tokens for the user or burns them on the destination chain is utilized by cBridge to facilitate token transfers.

When an end user transfers tokens from the transfer chain to the destination chain, the tokens will be locked on the transfer chain, and the user then receives an equivalent amount of minted pegged tokens on the destination chain. On the other hand, when an end user transfers pegged tokens to another chain, the pegged tokens are burnt and an equivalent amount of tokens is returned to the user.

WHAT'S NEW IN CELER NETWORK

In August 2022, Celer temporarily suspended activities on the cBridge due to a DNS exploit that led to the loss of about $240,000 worth of user funds. After thorough investigation, Celer declared that neither its protocol nor its smart contract had been tampered with. However, users were cautioned to examine and withdraw any access given to the fraudulent contracts.

In order to reduce the danger of future DNS attacks, Celer incorporated additional monitoring and advised users of all protocols to enable the Secure DNS feature in their web browser.

In November 2022 Fewcha wallet –  a Sui and Aptos-based non-custodial web3 wallet that allows users to seamlessly transfer crypto between their wallet and Apps, in addition to managing NFTs – announced its partnership with the Celer Network to leverage the fast, secure, and affordable services of the cBridge.

Thanks to this partnership, users on the fastest and most scalable layer one blockchain can utilize the benefits of the cBridge via the Fewcha wallet.

Hopefully, Celer will support Pontem soon as the two other bridges in the Aptos ecosystem – LayerZero and Wormhole Portal bridge – already provide support for Pontem.

HOW TO BRIDGE TOKENS ON THE  cBRIDGE

The Celer cBridge is very easy to use, and users do not require any technical skill to carry out cross-chain transfers or provide liquidity to earn rewards.

To utilize the cBridge for cross-chain transfers,  you need to proceed to the cBridge web app and connect your wallet. To do that simply click on this link, and click on the connect wallet button.

cBridge supports a wide range of wallets including MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, WalletConnect, Clover, ONTO Wallet, Coin98 Wallet, and lots more. Select your preferred wallet to proceed. However, for the same of this tutorial, we will be making use of MetaMask.

Once you have connected your wallet, you are ready to move assets across chains. For this walkthrough, we will try to move the Ethereum token from Ethereum to the Aptos chain. So before we proceed we need to make sure that the network on the "from" section is Ethereum and the network on the "to" section is Aptos.

If your wallet is not already linked to the Ethereum mainnet, you will be prompted to do so. To continue, simply select the Ethereum network on the "from" section since it's where we wish to transfer our ETH tokens from. You can do this by clicking on the drop-down on the "from" section.

After clicking on the drop-down, select the Ethereum network, you will get a prompt asking if you'd like to switch the network. To proceed, click on the switch network button.

After switching to the Ethereum network, we need to make sure that our receiving network is set to Aptos so that we will be able to see a list of assets that can be transferred from Ethereum to Aptos. To do this we will repeat the same procedures as we did earlier; Click on the drop-down on the "to" section and select Aptos.

Now that our sending and receiving networks are all set, we can now select the token we want to bridge from Ethereum to Aptos. To view the list of supported tokens that can be bridged from Ethereum to Aptos, click on the token button as indicated below.

You will be able to view the anticipated amount you will receive by selecting Ethereum from the drop-down menu and entering the quantity of ETH you wish to send. You will then be prompted to connect to an Aptos wallet to receive the funds.

Simply click on the "Connect your Aptos wallet to receive the funds" button and select your preferred aptos wallet

After connecting to your preferred Aptos wallet, Clicking the gear button will allow you to adjust the slippage tolerance.

It is important to mention that the bridge rate and associated fees will determine the difference between the amount you send and the amount you receive.  

After setting your slippage, what's left is to review the transfer details and click on transfer. You will receive a prompt asking for your approval, click on "approve". You will then receive a spend confirmation prompt, click on  "confirm", and your transaction will be completed in a few minutes.

You can switch to the Aptos chain to check if you have received your ETH. However, if for some reason such as insufficient liquidity on the destination chain or an unfavorable slippage tolerance, you will be notified via a prompt, after which you can request a refund using the "Request Refund" button located in the transaction history section.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The best option for achieving interoperability across various blockchain networks is by utilizing a blockchain bridge. Blockchain bridges not only allow users to transfer tokens from one blockchain network to another but they also make it possible for decentralized applications built on one blockchain network to be utilized by users on another blockchain.

Thanks to blockchain bridges, users on slow and expensive chains like Ethereum can avoid the steep gas fees and slow transaction times by bridging to next-gen protocols like Aptos which outperforms most modern layer-one blockchains in terms of speed, cost, security, and scalability as it incurs near-zero fees and can handle about 160,000 transactions per second with sub-second finality.

Pontem is developing the infrastructure and decentralized tools necessary for the adoption of the Aptos blockchain.  The Pontem wallet is the outlet to the Aptos ecosystem as it enables its users to connect to decentralized applications and explore the Aptos ecosystem in addition to sending and receiving tokens. Pontem's Liquidswap bridge, a bridge widget provided by LayerZero allows users on the Aptos blockchain to seamlessly transfer assets across blockchains.

ABOUT PONTEM

Pontem is a product development platform that enables global financial inclusion through blockchain technology. As a result of its partnership with Aptos, Pontem can create the foundational dApps, EVMs (such as the Move Playground), AMMs (such as Liquidswap), and other infrastructure (such as ByteBabel) needed to adopt its layer one blockchain.