Wormhole is the leading interoperability platform powering multichain applications and bridges at scale. The platform is designed to connect different blockchains, allowing for the secure and efficient transfer of data and assets. Individual blockchains like Ethereum and Solana are not inherently compatible with each other. Imagine Wormhole as a series of highways connecting cities, where each city represents a distinct blockchain ecosystem.
How did Wormhole get started?
In 2020, Wormhole introduced the first-ever general messaging protocol, with the original goal of connecting Ethereum and Solana. At the time, Wormhole was the only way to transfer assets between Ethereum and Solana at scale. By facilitating interoperability between the two chains, Wormhole played a key role in growing the Solana ecosystem — even co-hosting the first-ever Solana Hackathon in October 2020, called the Solana Wormhole hackathon.
Who uses Wormhole?
Since those early days of connecting Solana and Ethereum in 2020, Wormhole has become the leading interoperability platform. Wormhole's modular suite of open source, permissionless protocols and tools are being used by the multichain builders of over 200 applications and more than 1 million unique wallets to move various types of data across 30+ blockchains. The platform has handled over 1 billion multichain messages for applications and is trusted by teams like AMD, Uniswap, Circle, Lido, Synthetix, Pyth, Pancakeswap, Jupiter, Backpack, and more. In 2023, the Uniswap Foundation’s Bridge Assessment Committee conducted a third-party multi-month study that resulted in a report showing Wormhole rated #1 and the only unconditionally approved interoperability protocol for use by the Uniswap DAO, a study based primarily on security and decentralization practices.
Who maintains Wormhole?
The Wormhole platform is being developed by a decentralized set of teams that contribute to security, engineering, research, product development, ecosystem growth, and community. These teams include Wormhole Foundation, xLabs, Wormhole Labs, and Asymmetric Research, as well as other contributors like Wormhole China, Superteam, ZK engineering teams like Lurk, Zpoken, and Succinct, among others.
What technology powers Wormhole?
In the traditional blockchain development paradigm, applications are often confined to their native ecosystems, limiting their functionality and interaction capabilities. Wormhole breaks down these boundaries, offering developers a solution for creating applications that operate seamlessly across multiple blockchains. These solutions are primarily facilitated by Wormhole's foundational Messaging protocol, which allows for the secure transfer of arbitrary data between blockchains.
Wormhole prioritizes the safety and integrity of cross-chain communications and multichain development by leveraging proven technology and decentralized validation via the Guardians, a decentralized network of 19 validator nodes that ensures message integrity and security. Every aspect of Wormhole is fully open source and can be viewed in the Wormhole Foundation Github. Anyone interested in seeing a visual representation of multichain activity being enabled by Wormhole is encouraged to visit Wormholescan.
How is Wormhole evolving?
Wormhole is committed to building a future-proof, decentralized ecosystem. Its mission extends to enhancing the multichain developer experience through improved software development kits (SDKs), tooling, and documentation, alongside pioneering new messaging pathways with zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs for trustless authentication. Introducing the Wormhole token (W) has further decentralizes governance and enhances utility, marking a new chapter in Wormhole's journey as it continues to lead at the forefront of Web3's infrastructure.
How To Get Involved With Wormhole
The Wormhole ecosystem is a vibrant, fast-growing community of builders and users that is shaping the future of Web3. Anyone around the world interested in contributing to Wormhole as an advocate using skills like technology, creative content, translations, events, community moderation is invited to join the Wormhole Fellowship program.