What is blockchain bridge?

    Blockchain bridges work the same way that bridges in the real world do. A blockchain bridge connects two blockchain ecosystems in the same way that a physical bridge connects two places. Bridges make it possible for blockchains to share information and assets and talk to each other.

    Every blockchain has its own set of limits. Rollups have been needed for Ethereum to grow and keep up with demand. On the other hand, L1s like Solana and Avalanche are made differently to allow for higher throughput, but this comes at the cost of making the network less decentralised.But each blockchain grows in its own environment and has its own rules and ways to reach a consensus. This means they cannot natively communicate, and tokens cannot move freely between blockchains.

    There are bridges between blockchains that let information and tokens move between them.

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    Methodology

    Looking at the bridge between Optimism and Ethereum, we can see that:

    • Tokens from Ethereum to Optimism are through this bridge address: 0x99c9fc46f92e8a1c0dec1b1747d010903e884be1
    • Tokens from Optimism to Ethereum are through this bridge address: 0x25ace71c97b33cc4729cf772ae268934f7ab5fa1

    In this dashboard, we will analyze the bridging activities of USDT and ETH between Ethereum and Optimism network using Flipside Crypto data in

    ethereum.core.ez_eth_transfers and ethereum.core.ez_token_transfers

    The following information would be analyzed:

    1. Monthly number of transactions - USDT inflow and outflow
    2. Monthly number of users - USDT inflow and outflow
    3. Monthly bridged amount - USDT inflow and outflow
    4. Cumulative bridged amount - USDT inflow and outflow
    5. Monthly number of transactions - ETH inflow and outflow
    6. Monthly number of users - ETH inflow and outflow
    7. Monthly bridged amount - ETH inflow and outflow
    8. Cumulative bridged amount - ETH inflow and outflow
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    As can be seen from the chart above, we can see that

    • Between July 2021 and Oct 2021, the number of transactions bridging USDT from Ethereum to Optimism and from Optimism to Ethereum both witnessed a growth. In this period, the number of transactions bridging USDT from Ethereum to Optimism from 241 to 676 transactions and it’s the highest number. Similarly, the number of transactions bridging USDT from Optimism to Ethereum increased from 16 to 91 and it’s also the highest number.

    • Regarding the number of users, we also can see the same trend while the number of users bridging USDT from Ethereum to Optimism from 212 to 650 users and it’s the highest number until now. Similarly, the number of transactions bridging USDT from Optimism to Ethereum increased from 14 to 70 and it’s also the highest number.

    • Regarding the amount of bridged USDT from Ethereum to Optimism, we can see a ~8x growth between July 2021 and Oct 2021 when the amount rose from around $1.7M to $9.3M. However, the highest amount of bridged USDT was on August 2022, right after the airdrop is announced.

    • Between July 2021 and Oct 2021, the amount of bridged USDT from Optimism to Ethereum rose from $300K to $9.2M.

    • For the cumulative bridged amount, we can see that the cumulative bridged amount of USDT from Ethereum to Optimism increased sharply over time from $1.7M on July 2021 to $130M on Sep 2021, a 76x growth in 14 months. In the same period, the cumulative bridged amount of USDT from Optimism to Ethereum increased from 300K to $36M, a 120x growth in 14 months. The month with the highest growth was on August 2022, right after the airdrop is announced.


      In my opinion, the main reason for the growth between July 2021 and Oct 2021 is the deployment of DEX like Uniswap on July 2021 and the 1inch on August 2021.

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    USDT inflow and outflow

    ETH inflow and outflow

    As can be seen from the chart above, we can see that

    • Between Jun 2021 and Sep 2021, the number of transactions bridging ETH from Ethereum to Optimism witnessed a growth. In this period, the number of transactions bridging ETH from Ethereum to Optimism from 12 to 54K transactions and it’s the highest number.

    • The number of transactions bridging ETH from Optimism to Ethereum maintained below 400 from Jun 2021 to Sep 2022.

    • The number of users, we also can see that the number of users bridging ETH from Ethereum to Optimism from 8 to 51K users from Jun 2021 to Sep 2021 and it’s the highest number until now. This growth is very impressive when the number of users skyrocketed from less than 10 to over several thousands in just 3 months

    • The number of users bridging ETH from Optimism to Ethereum didn’t have the same growth but fluctuates over time from Jun 2021 to Sep 2022 and maintained less 400 users, much less than the number of users bridging ETH from Ethereum to Optimism.

    • Regarding the amount of bridged ETH from Ethereum to Optimism,we can see a huge growth between July 2022 and August 2022, right after the airdrop is announced, when the amount of bridged ETH went from 18K ETH to 117K ETH.

    • The amount of bridged ETH from Optimism to Ethereum also had growth from 424 ETH on August 2021 to 25K on Jun 2022 then drop gradually to around 6000 on Sep 2022

    • For the cumulative bridged amount, we can see that the cumulative bridged amount of ETH from Ethereum to Optimism increased sharply over time from 0.6 ETH on Jun 2021 to 312K on Sep 2021, a 520000x growth in 15 months. In the same period, the cumulative bridged amount of ETH from Optimism to Ethereum increased from 0 to 94K ETH, a 100000 growth in 15 months.


      In my opinion, the main reason for the growth between July 2021 and Oct 2021 is the deployment of DEX like Uniswap on July 2021 and the 1inch on August 2021 and the reason for the growth on August 2022 is the airdrop announcement.

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