Hyperlane Bridge: Rollup Connectivity via Modular Messaging
Hyperlane equips ABC Rollup L1s and Gelato RaaS chains with composable ISMs to define their own verification to bridge ecosystems
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Overview (TL;DR)
- Security should be fully composable: Hyperlane uses ISMs so chains can define their own verification methods.
- Make it modular all the way down: Apps can customize or combine pre-built security modules like security legos.
- Permissionless networks support true interop: Anyone can deploy Hyperlane to any chain or run relayers.
- Allow full VM flexibility: EVM isn’t the only smart contract VM, so Hyperlane also supports CosmWasm, Solana, and Starknet.
- Warp tokens make bridging powerful: Warp Tokens power multiple bridging types, from collateral-backed tokens to yield-bearing transfers.
- Messaging enables intents: Intents and messaging aren’t competing approaches. Hyperlane shows how messaging provides infrastructure for intent-based systems.
- The best development is community-driven: Many Hyperlane implementations were built by contributors rather than the core team.
Introduction to Hyperlane
The ability to send arbitrary data between blockchains provides the foundation upon which highly performant cross-chain applications can be built. Hyperlane champions a modular approach to cross-chain messaging that prioritizes flexibility, and this is why ABC Stack chains launch with built-in support for Gelato Hyperlane Clusters.
While traditional interoperability solutions force applications to inherit ecosystem-wide security assumptions, Hyperlane's architecture allows developers to customize every aspect of their cross-chain communication. This makes it an ideal solution for sovereign rollups like those built on ABC Stack, which demand both independence and connectivity.
Core Philosophy: Security As Composable Legos
Hyperlane treats security as a set of composable components—building blocks that can be arranged and rearranged to meet specific needs. Through Interchain Security Modules, Hyperlane gives developers control over how their cross-chain messages are verified.
This fits well with the separation of concerns that defines the new wave of blockchain architecture: ABC Stack Rollup L1s. Just as Celestia separates consensus and data availability from execution, Hyperlane separates messaging from verification, so that each component can be optimized.
Architecture: Messaging Made Modular
Validators
Validators are a crucial component of Hyperlane's security model, particularly for chains using the Multisig ISM. Validators observe messages on origin chains and attest to their validity by signing merkle roots (also called checkpoints) containing these messages.
When a message is dispatched through the Mailbox contract, validators detect this event and sign the current state of the merkle tree. These signatures are then made publicly available for relayers to fetch and submit alongside the message to the destination chain.
Unlike many interoperability protocols, Hyperlane doesn't have a fixed validator set. Validators operate independently and don't need to coordinate with each other to reach consensus.
Gelato runs validators as part of the Gelato Hyperlane Cluster service. When you deploy an ABC Stack rollup with Gelato RaaS, the default ISM configuration (2/2 Gelato + Hyperlane validators) ensures your chain has reliable and secure cross-chain messaging from day one.
Validator signatures remain public, ensuring the transport layer stays permissionless—anyone can fetch these signatures and deliver the message. The relayer simply provides a convenience service for message senders, while validators focus exclusively on the security aspect of message verification.
Mailbox Smart Contracts
These on-chain contracts serve as the messaging interface on each blockchain so that apps can send and receive messages across chains. When a contract calls the Mailbox's dispatch() function, it creates a standardized message containing:
- A unique message ID derived from the chain's domain ID and incremental nonce
- Origin chain ID and sender address (encoded as bytes32 for cross-VM compatibility)
- Destination chain ID and recipient address
- The message payload (arbitrary bytes)
Each message is recorded in an incremental merkle tree so that the message can be proven to be sent from the origin chain.
Hyperlane's Mailbox implements strict replay protection through its delivered() mapping, which tracks delivered messages by ID. This prevents message duplication attacks that plague many cross-chain systems.
Gas abstraction is handled through a system where users pay for destination gas on the source chain using the source chain's native token. This eliminates the need for users to hold tokens on multiple chains. Behind the scenes, a quoting mechanism continuously monitors gas prices across all supported chains to ensure accurate fee estimation.
Relayers
Relayers are off-chain agents that monitor origin chains for new messages and deliver them to destination chains. They serve as the transport layer of the protocol to ensure that messages move between blockchains efficiently while collecting any necessary metadata (such as validator signatures) required for verification.
Hyperlane's relayer system is permissionless. This means anyone can operate a relayer, which ensures the protocol remains censorship-resistant and that applications aren't dependent on a centralized service for message delivery.
Interchain Security Modules
ISMs are smart contracts responsible for verifying the authenticity of messages before delivery to recipient applications. ISMs allow developers to define exactly how their messages should be verified. Applications can:
- Select from pre-built ISMs with custom parameters
- Combine multiple ISMs together like security legos
- Create new ISMs tailored to specific requirements
Warp Routes: Flexible Asset Bridging
Beyond messaging capabilities, Hyperlane provides a comprehensive solution for token bridging through its Warp Route standard. Warp Routes enable asset issuers to expand their tokens across multiple chains without requiring liquidity on each destination.
The standard supports numerous bridging types:
Collateral-backed Routes
Lock tokens on the source chain and mint synthetic versions on destination chains. This approach maintains a 1:1 backing for all bridged assets so they remain fully collateralized.
Native Token Routes
Create fast bridges for native gas tokens between chains so users can move ETH or other native assets without wrapping or using third-party liquidity.
Yield-bearing Routes
Transform traditionally idle bridged assets into productive investments. When users bridge through a Yield Route, their collateral is automatically deposited into an ERC-4626 yield-generating vault on the source chain. As the vault accumulates yield, the corresponding synthetic tokens on the destination chain increase in value, so users can earn returns even while their assets are bridged. The deployer can customize how yield is distributed – it can flow entirely to users, be split between users and the protocol, or be redirected to subsidize gas costs or other incentives. This approach is now available to any chain through Hyperlane's permissionless framework.
Multi-collateral Routes
Allow deposits/withdrawals from multiple chains, for a more flexible bridging system that doesn't require assets to return to their original chain.
NFT Bridges
Transfer ERC-721 tokens across chains while preserving their unique properties and metadata.
Hyperlane’s flexibility and permissionlessness make it particularly well-suited for ABC Stack chains that need to establish connections with multiple ecosystems for different asset types.
ISM Implementations: Security Your Way
Hyperlane's ecosystem offers several powerful ISM implementations that can be mixed and matched.
Multisig ISM
Verifies that a message has been signed by a threshold of validators from a trusted set. Validators observe messages on the origin chain and sign merkle roots containing those messages. The ISM then verifies these signatures on-chain.
For example, a DeFi protocol might configure a 7-of-10 signature requirement for high-value transfers to balance security with reasonable finality times.
Routing ISM
Functions as a message traffic controller, directing messages to different ISMs based on origin or content. This allows applications to apply different security models to different types of transactions or chains.
A gaming application might route asset transfers to a ZK-based verification system while using a lighter multisig approach for in-game state updates that have lower security requirements.
Aggregation ISM
Requires multiple different verification methods to all approve a message. This creates defense-in-depth security where different verification technologies must agree.
For instance, a protocol handling institutional assets might require both signatures from a trusted validator set and verification through an external oracle network like Chainlink.
The Gelato Hyperlane Cluster: One-click Bridging for ABC Stack
ABC Stack chains benefit from built-in support for the Gelato Hyperlane Cluster for implementing cross-chain connectivity:
- B2B SaaS model for asset bridging (as low as $999/month)
- 1-click Hyperlane Warp Route enablement on Gelato RaaS
- Connect your ABC (or OP/Arbitrum) chain to assets from all chains with a flexible subscription model
- Configurable ISMs (default: 2/2 Gelato + Hyperlane)
- Gelato handling the Relayer component on all chains
- Complete solution with UI + Routing + Liquidity management in partnership with Decent
This integrated solution allows ABC Stack chains to launch with immediate connectivity to the broader ecosystem.
Multi-VM Support
Let's be honest - EVM is just one chapter in the blockchain's story. The future of mass adoption will be built across multiple VMs and execution environments, with specialized chains optimized for specific use cases. The days of a single VM dominating the landscape are behind us.
Hyperlane has embraced this through both core development and community contributions:
- CosmWasm: Implemented by the Mitosis team for Cosmos-based chains
- Solana (SVM): Supporting Solana's unique programming model and account structure
- Starknet (Cairo VM): Built by the Pragma team to connect the ZK-rollup ecosystem
- Fuel VM: Enabling communication with Fuel's optimized VM
- Move VM: For communication with emerging Move-based chains
Messaging and Intents Aren’t Enemies
Messaging protocols and intent solutions are often portrayed as competing approaches, but they aren’t. Messaging provides the infrastructure layer for transmitting data between chains, and intents add a user experience layer by abstracting away the complexities of cross-chain operations.
With intents, users can express what they want to accomplish ("swap Token A for Token B" or "bridge USDC to Solana") without needing to prescribe exactly how it happens. Solvers then determine the optimal execution path and handle all the required transactions across different chains.
Sound simple? In fact, the intent ecosystem risks becoming just as fragmented as the chains it aims to connect. Each protocol could implement its own intent format, solver requirements, and settlement mechanisms, forcing users and developers to navigate incompatible systems.
To that end, standards are crucial for ensuring that intents can be executed across different protocols and chains, that solvers can compete fairly to provide the best execution, and that security guarantees remain consistent throughout the process. But can the ecosystem agree on which standard to adopt?
Intent Standardization
The Ethereum Foundation, along with Hyperlane, Bootnode, and Arbitrum, has been championing the Open Intents Framework, built on ERC-7683, to create a unified approach to cross-chain intent execution with several key differentiators:
- Multi-settlement support: OIF supports various settlement mechanisms, including RRC-7755 (from Base and Hashi Alliance), Espresso Systems' confirmation layer, Optimism's Superchain native interoperability, and Arbitrum's broadcast standard.
- Focus on L2 interoperability: The coalition emphasizes solving fragmentation specifically within the Ethereum L2 ecosystem.
- Optimistic for maximum composability: The framework is designed to maximize composability across different L2 settlement mechanisms.
The coalition has positioned their framework as an open ecosystem effort, with support from approximately 30 ecosystem teams.
What About Synchronous Composability?
Although some in the industry are focused on the need for synchronous atomic composability across chains, Vitalik Buterin has challenged this perspective, calling it "very overrated," clarifying that most common cross-chain operations—paying someone on another chain or using a dapp on a different L2—are fundamentally UX problems rather than technical challenges requiring synchronous execution.
Hyperlane's architecture addresses the real-world UX problems of cross-chain interactions through standardized addressing (compatible with ERC-3770) and programmatic cross-chain operations.
Projects like Skip Go Fast (for Cosmos bridging) and collaborations with Eco Protocol show intent-based systems built on Hyperlane's messaging layer, and HyperFlow demonstrates through its implementation on Khalani's Arcadia chain, Hyperlane can power collaborative solver networks by enabling efficient communication between solvers and users across multiple chains.
Cross-Chain Applications Powered by Hyperlane
Nexus: Eclipse's Cross-Chain Bridge
Nexus is Hyperlane's bridge for Eclipse, connecting it to Ethereum and Solana for transferring USDC, SOL, and WIF.
The Nexus bridge leverages Hyperlane's Warp Routes to support different token transfer types, including native token transfers, collateral-backed token transfers, and synthetic token minting and burning.
OpenUSDT: A Unified Stablecoin for the Superchain
OpenUSDT represents an innovative approach to stablecoin interoperability, developed through a collaboration between Celo, Chainlink, and Hyperlane. The project addresses two critical challenges:
- Liquidity Fragmentation: Instead of creating chain-specific USDT versions, OpenUSDT provides a unified stablecoin experience.
- Scalability Across Chains: Designed to support the OP Superchain, which now includes over 30 mainnet chains.
Celo serves as the minting hub for OpenUSDT, and Hyperlane Warp Routes enable cross-chain transfers, with Chainlink CCIP providing additional security for transfers over $250,000.
OpenUSDT demonstrates the power of Hyperlane's modular security and permissionless design and is currently available on Celo, Optimism, Base, Soneium, Unichain, Mode, Lisk, and Fraxtal.
Renzo's Cross-Chain Restaking Infrastructure
Renzo Protocol has leveraged Hyperlane to build their cross-chain restaking solution. The Renzo Bridge, powered by Hyperlane, powers fast transfers across the EVM rollup ecosystem and is live on 14+ chains including Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Blast, BNB Chain, Linea, Mode, and Optimism. Renzo's ezETH has a significant market presence with a current market cap of approximately $487M+.
ABC Stack Integration Benefits
Hyperlane's integration with ABC Stack provides substantial technical advantages specifically designed for sovereign rollups.
A key innovation of ABC Stack comes from its modularity, which decouples bridging from the core rollup functionality. ABC Rollup L1s are not tied to an enshrined bridge, and can implement custom bridging logic tailored to specific assets or use cases or operate without any bridges at all if they choose.
Native Interoperability Without Sovereignty Compromises
ABC Stack chains use Celestia for data availability and maintain sovereignty over execution and settlement. Hyperlane's architecture complements this model by providing cross-chain communication without requiring chains to give up control over their security model. Each ABC Stack chain can define its own ISM configuration based on its specific use case, risk profile, and performance requirements. ABC Stack chains automatically gain access to Hyperlane's entire supported ecosystem.
Bridge technology and standards evolve quickly. ABC's separation of bridging from the core rollup functionality means you can adopt new bridging solutions or upgrade existing ones without needing to modify or redeploy the underlying rollup. If a more efficient or secure bridging protocol emerges, simply integrate it with minimal disruption to your users. This also prevents lock-in if a bridge provider changes their fee structure, security model, or supported chains.
ABC Stack deployment
Visit gelato.network/raas today to deploy your ABC Stack Rollup L1 with bridging powered by Hyperlane.