Community Matchmaking Platform dua Becomes Latest Validator for AllianceBlock Bridge
dua becomes a network validator for AllianceBlock Bridge, further strengthening the security of our blockchain interoperability platform. This continues a strong partnership between the projects, focusing on Web3 accessibility and inclusion.
The blockchain space is highly fragmented, posing a major barrier to Web3 adoption. To address the problem, AllianceBlock introduced the AllianceBlock Bridge, a secure and decentralized solution that enables applications built on different blockchain base layers to interact with each other. The Bridge harnesses Hedera Consensus Services (HSC) to create a trust layer that maintains an optimal balance between speed, security, and decentralization. This decentralization is underpinned by network validators.
Today, AllianceBlock is delighted to share that dua will be an upcoming validator for the Bridge, providing additional strength and security to the platform. dua AG was founded in 2019 and boasts over 5 million active users through its two apps, dua.com and Spotted. dua.com enables globally fragmented communities to strengthen their bonds and form relationships of all kinds, whether business, social or personal, while Spotted provides users with a space to socialize and make new connections based on real-life interactions.
This is a further expansion of the relationship between dua and AllianceBlock. dua is set to launch its first capital raising round on AllianceBlock Fundrs for the DUA Token. The ERC-20 token will be initially deployed on the Avalanche network.
Interoperability: An essential requirement for Web3 mass adoption
The blockchain space is vast and varied. While the wide range of protocols on offer allows developers to optimize their services for specific use cases, a lack of interoperability between blockchains leads to a siloed environment in which different projects and dApps cannot interact. As network effects play a significant role in adopting any technology, this incompatibility prevents Web3 apps and services from reaching their full potential in terms of user numbers.
For example, Bitcoin is currently the cryptocurrency with the most holders globally, while Ethereum is the largest network for powering decentralized applications. However, until recently, there was no easy way for Bitcoin holders to use their BTC in Ethereum DeFi apps. But this is not just about Bitcoin and Ethereum — it is an issue relevant to blockchain networks throughout the Web3 space.
AllianceBlock built the AllianceBlock Bridge, a secure and decentralized blockchain interoperability platform to tackle the fragmentation problem. The bridge allows tokens, NFTs, messages, and arbitrary data to be exchanged between blockchains with differing underlying protocols. Eight networks are currently supported — Ethereum, BSC, Avalanche, Polygon, Arbitrum, EWC, Optimism, and Moonbeam — with more to follow. For the first time, the vibrant and diverse array of DeFi apps and services on these platforms — including staking, yield aggregation, liquidity pooling, lending and investment — can now communicate across all base blockchains.
The importance of validators for blockchain bridge security
In the past, other blockchain bridges have faced significant security challenges and suffered from high-profile breaches. A Forbes article published in August described bridge security as “DeFi’s Achilles heel.”
For any bridge solution to achieve widespread adoption, users must be highly confident that their assets are safe. From the outset, therefore, robust and verifiable security is the biggest priority for the AllianceBlock Bridge. It is built to the Diamond Standard and has undergone a full security audit by the Web3 cybersecurity firm Omniscia.
Conventional blockchain bridges typically use smart contracts to lock tokens on the source network and create the equivalent amounts as a so-called “wrapped token” on the destination network. For example, a user might send 100 ALBT to the Avalanche network from Ethereum. After the transaction, their tokens would be locked on Ethereum and be represented by 100 wrapped ALBT (wALBT) on Avalanche.
AllianceBlock Bridge differs from conventional bridges because a set of validators governs it. This provides greater security and reassurance to users, as no single entity can control the underlying tokens in any bridging transaction. For cross-chain activity, the validator’s role is to observe all transactions on the source network and digitally sign them so that the recipient network can safely create the corresponding wrapped tokens.
Through our partnership with Hedera Hashgraph, we take advantage of Hedera Consensus Services (HSC) to coordinate the actions of validators. This produces an immutable and verifiable log of all messages while optimizing performance. In combination, these technical innovations make our solution faster, more decentralized, and cost-effective in terms of fees than standard blockchain bridges.
The total number of validators is positively correlated with network security. Thus the addition of dua as another validator for the AllianceBlock Bridge bolsters its security while deepening decentralization.
dua and AllianceBlock: Fostering connections and inclusion
dua’s accession to validator status continues a strong and close partnership with AllianceBlock that first started in October 2021.
An estimated 1.7 billion people globally do not have access to basic financial services, while almost 1 billion cannot prove their identity using an official ID. This issue particularly affects fragmented migrant communities, which often suffer economic and social marginalization. dua aims to play a role in tackling these issues through its existing matchmaking platform while utilizing a gateway to Web3 and DeFi through an upcoming in-app wallet specifically tailored to the needs of fragmented migrant communities.
It is all powered by dua’s underlying utility token, simply called “DUA.” This was the first digital asset to feature on the recently launched Fundrs platform, a peer-to-peer funding platform that seeks to create a fairer investment ecosystem for startups.
Furthering interoperability and security
AllianceBlock Bridge addresses one of the biggest challenges currently stifling Web3 and DeFi adoption. But for any blockchain bridge to be viable, it must be secure, robust, and reliable. By becoming an additional validator for the AllianceBlock Bridge, dua is playing a key role in helping to strengthen the security of the platform while preserving its decentralized ethos.
Just as AllianceBlock is committed to making the Web3 space more accessible and interconnected, dua is committed to connecting and empowering diaspora communities using Web3.
About dua AG
dua AG is a Swiss-based company in the business of online matchmaking. The company owns and manages dua.com — a community matchmaking platform for reconnecting globally fragmented communities and Spotted — a dating app that provides users a space to socialize and make new connections based on real-life interactions.
You can find us on:
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About AllianceBlock
AllianceBlock is building seamless gateways between TradFi and DeFi by remedying issues in both spheres and linking them more closely. AllianceBlock sees the future of finance as an integrated system in which the best of both worlds can work together to increase capital flows and technological innovation.
By bridging traditional finance with compliant, data-driven access to new decentralized markets, DeFi projects, and ecosystem-scaling tools such as funding and interoperability, they are building a next-generation financial infrastructure that aims to provide regulated financial entities around the world with the tools they need to seamlessly access the DeFi space.
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