Understanding the Wormhole bridge by Solanax (2024)

FAQs

How does the Wormhole bridge work? ›

A Wormhole is a communication bridge that connects Solana to other DeFi networks. They allow the seamless movement of tokenized assets between blockchains, facilitating the exchange of information across otherwise disconnected Ecosystems.

In what appears to be the result of a coordinated effort between Jump Crypto and Oasis, the exploiter behind the infamous Wormhole attack of February 2022… has become the exploited. Just over a year ago, the Wormhole bridge was attacked in one of the largest crypto loss events of 2022.

The Wormhole bridge was hacked on February 2nd, the attack exploited unpached Rust contracts in Solana that were manipulated into crediting 120k ETH as having been deposited on Ethereum, allowing for the hacker to mint the equivalent in wrapped whETH (Wormhole ETH) on Solana.

Summary: To transfer your tokens from the Solana Layer 1 blockchain to Ethereum, it's recommended to use a reliablecross-chain decentralized exchange (DEX). The most secure multi-chain DEX for both Solana and Ethereum is the Portal Bridge, which is the best option for converting SOL to ETH and vice versa.

"]F]or astronauts going through the wormhole it would take only 1 second of their time to travel 10,000 light-year distance (approximately 5000 billion miles or 1/10 of Milky Way size). An observer who does not go through the wormhole and stays outside sees them taking more than 10,000 years.

Traveling backward in time is much harder, but mathematics says it is possible through geometric structures called closed timelike curves. A wormhole is one such curve. You would enter it through a spherical opening. Once inside, everything you observed in space would be normal and so would the passage of time.

More than $320 million stolen in latest apparent crypto hack. Wormhole, one of the most popular bridges linking the ethereum and solana blockchains, lost about $320 million in an apparent hack Wednesday afternoon.

While researchers have never found a wormhole in our universe, scientists often see wormholes described in the solutions to important physics equations. Most prominently, the solutions to the equations behind Einstein's theory of space-time and general relativity include wormholes.

No one has yet seen a wormhole, but theoretically they could provide shortcuts to distant parts of the universe, or to other universes entirely, if they exist (SN: 7/27/17).

Wormholes are predicted by the theory of general relativity. But be wary: wormholes bring with them the dangers of sudden collapse, high radiation and dangerous contact with exotic matter.

Has Solana been hacked? ›

“Users of the Solana blockchain have become the latest target for crypto hackers,” said Elliptic. “The attack – which began on August 2 – has so far seen over $5.8m in funds drained from 7,947 wallets. The stolen assets include SOL, a small number of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and over 300 Solana-based tokens.”

Unless the wormhole was thoroughly cleaned out and everything else blocked from entering it, falling in would mean certain death. “Whenever you travel close to the speed of light, any particle or dust grain or anything that you hit will be problematic. Even a photon would cause you trouble,” says Maldacena.

In 1935, Einstein and physicist Nathan Rosen used the theory of general relativity to elaborate on the idea, proposing the existence of "bridges" through space-time. These bridges connect two different points in space-time, theoretically creating a shortcut that could reduce travel time and distance.

Imagine space as a curved two-dimensional plane. Wormholes like this could form when two masses apply enough force on space-time to create a tunnel connecting distant points. Theoretical Kerr black holes aren't the only possible cosmic shortcut to the past or future.

Theorists have proposed ways to keep a wormhole open, usually by adding exotic matter whose properties resist the gravitational collapse.