How does bridging work?

The bridging process in Confidential Layer follows a secure and streamlined path to ensure decentralized, non-custodial asset transfers between blockchains:

  1. Asset Locking on Source Chain: Users initiate the process by locking their assets on the source chain.

  2. Deposit Tracking and Proof Generation: The system tracks each user's locked deposit and generates a corresponding witness, based off the locked assets.

  3. Decentralized Witness Storage: The witness, along with deposit information, is securely stored on a decentralized ledger, ensuring transparency and immutability.

  4. Asset Withdrawal on Target Chain: Once the witness is verified, users can unlock and withdraw their assets on the target chain, completing the cross-chain transfer seamlessly.

The Confidential Layer protocol employs an advanced, decentralized approach to transaction security through the implementation of the Shamir signature process. This mechanism is built on established cryptographic principles, enhancing the security and confidentiality of transactions within the ecosystem.

At the foundation of this process is elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), which ensures the highest level of cryptographic security by leveraging the mathematical properties of elliptic curves for efficient and secure transaction validation. A critical component of this approach is Shamir’s Secret Sharing, wherein the Master Secret Key is split into multiple shares and distributed among node operators. This method ensures that no single node has control over the entire key, decentralizing the process and significantly strengthening the security framework.

The decentralized signature process is a collaborative effort among node operators who jointly generate and combine portions of the cryptographic signature. This collective mechanism exemplifies the distributed nature of the protocol, ensuring that transactions are securely validated while maintaining the integrity of the network.

By adopting this decentralized ECDSA process, Confidential Layer not only mitigates potential security risks but also reinforces its commitment to providing a secure, private, and interoperable blockchain ecosystem.