MetaMask crypto wallet with a focus on the Ethereum ecosystem has added support for second-level networks. About this project informed in your press release. Thanks to the innovation, users can store tokens based on the Arbitrum, Optimism, BNB Chain (formerly Binance Smart Chain), Polygon, and Avalanche networks.
Sidechain support is made possible by MetaMask Bridges, a cross-chain bridge aggregator that links networks of different formats. Users can transfer up to $50,000 monthly (previously up to $10,000) between networks in the ETH/wETH trading pair, stablecoins (like DAI), and sidechain tokens (like MATIC). MetaMask will charge a fee of 0.875% for each transfer.
To start using MetaMask Bridges, users need to click on the Portfolio Site button in the browser extension or go to portfolio.metamask.io. Then you need to select the networks between which you want to transfer the asset, as well as the token itself. At the time of writing, MetMask Bridges supports four cross-chain bridges: Connext, Hop, Celer cBridge, and Polygon Bridge.
However, not everyone on the crypto market supports the concept of backward compatibility of networks. For example, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin opposed cross-chain applications because of a fundamental security vulnerability.
According to him, during the so-called “51% attack”, attackers can violate the integrity of the conversion of incompatible tokens. Having gained control over the network, an attacker can cancel the transaction based on the results of the conversion between tokenized assets (for example, SOL/wETH). As a result of such an operation, the hacker will have more cryptocurrencies in his hands than in the cross-chain application itself.
- However, carrying out a 51% “fun” attack is not cheap. At the time of writing, the cost of one hour of an attack on the Bitcoin network will cost the attacker more than $1 million, according to Crypto51. In the case of the Litecoin network, an hour of attack costs significantly less — $69,230.
