Using Bridges Safely
How to use bridge protocols safely to transfer funds
In the world of cryptocurrency, a "Bridge" is a protocol used to transfer tokens across chains. Blockchains are built across different standards for verification, functionality, security and more, which often makes them naturally unable to communicate information with each other. What this means for the tokens that come from those chains or are built on top of them is that they too are isolated from one another, making it difficult to transfer information or tokens across chains, or convert tokens from one to another.
That is where bridge technology comes in: bridges act like their real world counterpart and bridge the gap between chains, providing the ability for chains to communicate with one another. Services like Polkadot provide bridges across multiple chains and 3rd party applications.
SECURITY TIP: Only use trusted bridge protocols. If looking to transfer tokens from one chain to another, check if there are recommended bridge options; if not, DO NOT use unverified third-party bridges.