What is Wormhole?

Wormhole is a generic message passing protocol that enables communication between different blockchains. It's not a blockchain itself or a token bridge, but a foundational layer for cross-chain applications.

Overview

Wormhole revolutionizes blockchain interoperability by providing a secure and efficient protocol for passing messages between different blockchain networks. It enables developers to build applications that leverage the advantages of multiple ecosystems.

Key Features

• Generic Message Passing: Enables any type of data or instruction to be sent across chains.
• Cross-Chain Communication: Facilitates interaction between different blockchain networks.
• Flexibility: Supports various use cases from exchanges to governance and gaming.

On-Chain Components

• Emitter: Contract that publishes messages to the Core Contract.
• Wormhole Core Contract: Primary contract observed by Guardians.
• Transaction Logs: Blockchain-specific logs for message observation.

Off-Chain Components

• Guardian Network: Validators that observe and validate cross-chain messages.
• Spy: Daemon for observing and forwarding network traffic.
• API: REST server for retrieving VAA and network details.
• VAAs: Verifiable Action Approvals, signed attestations of observed messages.
• Relayers: Processes that deliver VAAs to target chains.

Cross-Chain Exchange

Build exchanges with access to liquidity from multiple chains.

Cross-Chain Governance

Enable voting across different blockchain networks.

Cross-Chain Gaming

Create games that span multiple blockchains for various functionalities.

• Utilizes a network of Guardians for message validation.
• Employs VAAs for secure cross-chain message passing.
• Supports both standard and specialized relayers for message delivery.

Wormhole provides developers with a powerful toolkit for building truly cross-chain applications, enabling seamless interaction between different blockchain ecosystems.

Learn more at Wormhole Documentation