Blockchain interoperability developer Union Labs has raised $4 million in seed funding to construct a bridge connecting completely different Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks with zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs.
The funding was led by enterprise companies together with Galileo, Semantic Ventures, Tioga Capital, and Nascent. Different buyers within the spherical embrace Lightshift and Refrain One. The capital raised will likely be used for hiring and enlargement efforts.
In contrast to up to date bridging options, Union doesn’t grant relayers particular authority, guaranteeing personal keys usually are not a goal for safety hacks, as they can’t take management of the protocol. Messages are verified utilizing ZK proofs as a substitute.
“Essentially the most distinguished hacks are bridge hacks, but bridges stay vital infrastructure for nearly all initiatives, displaying the necessity for higher, extra resilient merchandise. It’s our accountability to innovate new methods to guard these belongings and additional the adoption of ZK applied sciences to comprehend a safe and interoperable cross-chain future,” stated Karel Kubat, founding father of Union Labs.
Architectural breakdown: Union’s ZK bridge parts
Union’s ZK bridge structure contains two key parts that allow the mission to facilitate Cosmos’ communication protocol, often known as IBC, on Ethereum; CometBLS, the consensus mechanism, and Galois, the zero-knowledge prover system.
Union’s CometBLS consensus permits the switch of any asset natively to any chain with out counting on third events, oracles, or multi-signatures (multi-party computation). CometBLS augments Cosmos’ Tendermint consensus, based on the staff.
