Stargate Finance is a multi-chain cross-chain bridge protocol based on LayerZero, created by LayerZero Labs in March 2022. It primarily supports cross-chain transfers of stablecoins and its native token STG. Currently, Stargate supports cross-chain asset transfers among eight blockchains: Ethereum, BNB, Avalanche, Polygon, Optimism, Arbitrum, Fantom, and Metis. LayerZero is an all-chain interoperability protocol built specifically for cross-chain message passing. At the same time, it is a cross-chain communication infrastructure that developers can build on to create fully interoperable cross-chain applications, such as cross-chain DEX or multi-chain yield aggregators. Unified Liquidity Pool Stargate adopts a 【liquidity swap】 scheme for asset cross-chain transfers. Unlike most cross-chain bridges that set up independent liquidity pools for specific networks, Stargate uses a unified liquidity pool to support cross-chain asset transfers. Stargate's unified liquidity pool allows all chains to share the same token liquidity, meaning each chain can access liquidity on other chains. For example, if there is a USDT pool on Chain A, then USDT-related transaction requests initiated by Chain B, Chain C, and other chains can borrow liquidity from Chain A's USDT pool. This design enables

Cross-chain bridges are protocols that help users transfer their digital assets from one blockchain to another. They can be seen as "bridges" for value transfer between different blockchains. With the development of smart contract platform ecosystems led by Ethereum, users have generated a demand to facilitate the flow of funds across different platforms to experience various applications. At the same time, an increasing number of DeFi projects seek to obtain more liquidity from multiple blockchains. Cross-chain bridges have thus emerged. Currently, there are two common cross-chain fund transfer schemes in the market: "Lock/Destroy + Mint" and "Liquidity Swap." The "Lock/Destroy + Mint" scheme involves locking or destroying the native assets on the source chain and minting an equivalent amount of wrapped assets on the target chain to enable cross-chain transfer of funds. However, this solution does not achieve true cross-chain transfer of funds. The wrapped assets on the target chain only serve as proof of the user's funds on the source chain, and the native assets are not actually transferred. Currently, cross-chain bridges using the "Lock/Destroy + Mint" scheme include WBTC, Multichain, and Wormhole. The "Liquidity Swap" scheme relies on smart contracts. It requires establishing liquidity pools on both the source and target chains. During asset transfer, the user's funds are deposited into the liquidity pool on the source chain, then an equivalent amount of assets is withdrawn from the liquidity pool on the target chain. This solution truly achieves cross-chain transfer of funds, but it does not support non-smart contract platforms (Bitcoin) and intra-chain transfers.

Wormhole is a cross-chain bridge protocol that supports multi-chain information transfer. It currently facilitates asset cross-chain transfers and communication between 22 blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, and Arbitrum. Portal BridgePortal Bridge is the cross-chain bridge of the Wormhole protocol, supporting both token and NFT cross-chain transfers. It uses a 【Lock + Mint】 approach for asset cross-chain transfer. Therefore, participation in wrapping assets is required during the transfer process. For cross-chain communication, Portal employs a 【Unilateral Validation】 scheme. Transaction information is observed and validated by a group of validator nodes (guardian network). These nodes include well-known third-party infrastructure organizations such as Certus One, ChainodeTech, and Figment. After validation, the transaction information is updated to the target chain, enabling cross-chain message passing. The specific process of asset cross-chain transfer via Portal Bridge is as follows: Security Incidents Wormhole, as a representative cross-chain bridge using the 【Lock + Mint】 scheme, has suffered serious security attacks. On February 2, 2022, Wormhole was hacked, resulting in a loss of 120,000 wETH (approximately $320 million). This attack ranked second among all cross-chain bridge attacks in 2022 and was the largest DeFi hack at that time. The hacker exploited the

Oracles are a type of price feed (data interoperability) service that act as a bridge between the blockchain and the outside world. They can transmit off-chain data into the blockchain network, enabling smart contracts to utilize off-chain data; or send on-chain data to off-chain clients, allowing them to take actions based on on-chain information. Major blockchain oracles include Chainlink, UMA Oracle, Witnet, Band Protocol, and others.
Two important components of oracles are:
Oracle Contract: An oracle contract is a type of smart contract. It receives data requests from other smart contracts on-chain, forwards these requests to oracle nodes, and upon receiving feedback from the oracle nodes, broadcasts the data results to the requester.
Oracle Node: An oracle node is the off-chain component of the oracle service. It obtains and verifies information from external sources and transmits this information to the oracle contract.
Importance of Oracles:
On-chain systems are closed environments, and smart contracts cannot access networks or information outside the blockchain. Since off-chain data sources are manipulable, opaque, and can be tampered with, this poses challenges for achieving consensus among blockchain nodes and can compromise the security of the blockchain network.
For example, suppose a smart contract needs to execute a trade based on the current ETH-USD exchange rate, obtained from a traditional price API. Data from different sources may be inconsistent (not to mention that APIs can be deprecated).

Blockchain is a chain-like storage structure formed by connecting individual blocks in the order of their respective creation times. A block is the basic data storage unit within this structure. What is blockchain? What are its characteristics? Please refer to the section "What is Blockchain."
A block, as the fundamental structural unit in a blockchain, consists of a "block header" containing the block's identity information and a "block body" containing database information. Compared to traditional database structures, the block body is similar to the specific content of each page in a database, while the block header is similar to the page number used to locate the data.
What is a block header? What is a hash function?
The block header mainly contains an encrypted summary of all data from the previous block, the timestamp of the current block's creation, and an encrypted summary of the block body. The encrypted summary is generated using a commonly used one-way encryption algorithm in the blockchain field, which we usually call a "hash algorithm" or "hash function" (Hash Function). Its operation is similar to summarizing and condensing the given content into a digest.
The reason it is called a one-way encryption algorithm is that when we know all the data contained in the previous block, it is very easy to generate the digest. However, if we only have the digest, it is extremely difficult to accurately deduce all the data of the previous block.
We refer to the value generated by applying a hash algorithm to a given data segment as the "hash value" (Hash Value) of that data.
To learn more about the principles, techniques, and operation methods of hash algorithms, please refer to In

"Staking" refers to the process of locking a native asset on a PoS (Proof-of-Stake) consensus mechanism blockchain for a certain period to help maintain the operation of the blockchain and earn corresponding rewards. What is liquid staking? Liquid staking is an alternative to traditional staking, which addresses some of the drawbacks of conventional staking to a certain extent. In traditional staking, one must first become a validator of the blockchain network. Taking Ethereum as an example, becoming a network validator requires preparing hardware that meets certain specifications and staking 32 $ETH , which is relatively high in threshold. Once validated, the staked $ETH will be locked in a smart contract and cannot be used for other purposes, locking the liquidity of $ETH . Ethereum completed the "Merge" on September 15, 2022, transitioning from PoW to PoS consensus mechanism. However, before the Ethereum "Shanghai Upgrade" completed on April 13, 2023, Ethereum validators could not withdraw their staked $ETH. During this period, participating in traditional staking further reduced the liquidity of $ETH . The "liquid staking platform" offers an alternative solution that lowers the threshold for participation and increases the liquidity of staked assets. Specifically, users can choose not to participate directly in traditional staking but instead provide $ETH to a liquid staking platform. The platform will collect the $ETH provided by participating users and bundle these $ETH into shares of 32 tokens each to be distributed to qualified

Smart contracts are programs deployed on blockchain networks. When preset conditions are met, smart contracts execute automatically. For example, Bob uses a smart contract to create a trust fund for his daughter Alice. The fund remains locked until Alice turns 18, and when she reaches 18, the fund will automatically unlock and transfer to Alice's account without manual intervention. The term "smart contract" was first introduced by American computer scientist Nick Szabo in 1994. Nick wrote: "A smart contract is a computerized transaction protocol that executes the terms of a contract. The goal of designing smart contracts is to satisfy common contractual conditions, minimize exceptions and malicious interference, and reduce the need for intermediaries." Bitcoin is the first blockchain to technically implement smart contracts (Source: Gemini). It allows developers to set conditions for transaction execution. For example, a multi-signature transaction requires signatures from a certain number of addresses before it can be executed. However, due to limitations of Bitcoin's scripting language, it only supports simple smart contracts. In 2015, Ethereum was launched, promoting the widespread use of smart contracts. Ethereum's programming language Solidity supports complex smart contracts, enabling the development of various decentralized applications. As the popularity of blockchain grows exponentially, technology continues to evolve and iterate. Today, smart contract platforms are thriving, led by Ethereum, with many other platforms flourishing.

Liquidity pools are pools of cryptocurrency funds provided by liquidity providers, designed to facilitate trading on decentralized exchanges (DEXs), especially those using an automated market maker (AMM) model. Essentially, it is a smart contract that allows users to trade cryptocurrencies without the need for intermediaries or centralized exchanges. What is a decentralized exchange? What is an automated market maker? Please refer to the sections “What is DEX” and “What is AMM”. When you combine your two cryptocurrencies into a pair and deposit them into an AMM liquidity pool, you are essentially providing liquidity to that pool, which means you allow other traders to trade using the cryptocurrencies you provide. When traders trade through this liquidity pool, they pay a transaction fee to all liquidity providers of the pool, which is distributed proportionally based on their contribution to the pool. Becoming a liquidity provider on Uniswap involves adding liquidity to an existing pool by depositing two tokens in the same ratio as the tokens already in the pool, to ensure that the prices of the two tokens do not change. Otherwise, arbitrage opportunities may arise, leading to impermanent loss. Subsequently, each trade in the pool generates a trading fee for all LPs, distributed according to their share of the contributed liquidity. After depositing, you will also receive LP tokens, which are similar to deposit certificates, representing your share in the liquidity pool. To retrieve your deposited liquidity and any fees earned, liquidity

Synthetic assets refer to tokenized derivatives that are pegged to the value of another asset, usually issued on a blockchain. Broadly speaking, wrapped tokens and stablecoins also fall under the category of synthetic assets (since they are pegged to the prices of other assets), but when people talk about synthetic assets, they usually mean: derivative tokens that are pegged to the prices of other assets through oracle price feeds. Synthetic assets generally require DeFi protocols to help users issue them and exist as standardized tokens on a specific blockchain. The Synthetix protocol (, formerly known as Havven Payment Protocol ), is the earliest DeFi protocol to invent such derivative trading tools. In theory, any asset whose price can be provided by an oracle can be minted into a tokenized synthetic asset. For easier understanding, you can think of protocols like Synthetix as a large casino, where the game they offer is: players use chips to simulate stock and crypto trading. How does synthetic asset work? What is the principle of synthetic assets? The operation of synthetic assets involves two steps: asset collateralization (minting) and trading. To explain conveniently, we will describe from the perspectives of two types of market participants. What does the minting party (borrowing and bearing debt) need to do: Over-collateralize a certain asset (their native asset/ETH) in the protocol to mint synthetic stablecoins, for example, over-collateralize 750% of $SNX to mint $sUSD, which is similar to a mortgage loan but only allows borrowing sUSD.

Common blockchains, such as Ethereum and Solana, generally include four functions: 1) Execution, 2) Settlement, 3) Consensus, and 4) Data Availability. What is the Execution Layer of a blockchain? The execution layer on a blockchain refers to computing and processing transactions to transition the blockchain from one state to the next. What is the Settlement Layer of a blockchain? Settlement refers to dispute resolution. It is only relevant in Rollup scenarios and is not necessary on standalone, complete Layer 1 blockchains. Since Rollups need to aggregate and confirm transactions on the underlying blockchain, any discrepancies or errors that may arise must be resolved at the settlement layer. What is the Consensus Layer of a blockchain? Consensus is about the ordering and final confirmation of blockchain transactions. At the consensus layer, nodes on the blockchain network download and execute all transactions within a block and agree on their order and validity. What is the Data Availability Layer of a blockchain? The data layer, or data availability, refers to the Rollup providing aggregated transaction data on the underlying blockchain, so anyone can recreate the pre-transaction state, execute transactions, and verify their validity. Data availability is also related to Rollups because, by default, transaction data on common Layer 1 blockchains

"Validators" (also known as "validation nodes") are responsible for verifying on-chain transactions. When a transaction is successfully validated, the validator adds it to the distributed ledger. Generally, validators receive token rewards as an incentive for their "validation work." Conversely, validators that engage in misconduct will be penalized (usually temporarily or permanently barred from participating in the system). The number of validators varies depending on the blockchain. Additionally, the types of validators differ based on the consensus mechanism used. Here, we only introduce the two most common types of validators in the consensus mechanisms.
In PoW consensus mechanisms, such as Bitcoin, validators are called miners. They gain the authority to validate transactions by solving complex computational problems. Their rewards are based on their "workload."
What is PoW? How does the PoW consensus mechanism work? Please refer to the sections "What is a Consensus Mechanism" and "What is Proof of Work."
In PoS consensus mechanisms, such as Solana, Ethereum 2.0, Avalanche, etc., participants need to stake a specific amount of the network's native tokens to become validators. Validators who correctly participate in the validation process will receive rewards. The detailed reward rules vary by network.
What is PoS? How does the PoS consensus mechanism work? Please refer to the sections "What is a Consensus Mechanism" and "What is Proof of Stake."
Node vs. Validator: Blockchain network nodes