Blockchain-powered smart contract platform Avalanche (AVAX) is reportedly rolling out an upgraded version of its Avalanche-Ethereum Bridge (AEB), rolled out a few months ago. 

Specifically, this substituting bridge – dubbed Avalanche Bridge (AB) – reportedly offers a five-fold increase in terms of cost efficiency and speed compared to the initial version, as well as operating as a “growth engine” for the project’s future.

AB is reportedly currently accessible by developers and users, with every past asset from the AEB should be transitioned over. This upgrade was rolled out simultaneously with the network’s wallet and explorer updates, offering “next-generation improvements” to all of its aspects.

Taking into account that more than half (59%) of currently functional decentralized applications (DApps) operates on Ethereum, this type of upgrades came with necessity for future interoperability.

Currently, asset-to-asset conversion takes place at a high cost and is not time-efficient. While Ethereum 2.0 is reportedly expected to provide a solution for these challenges, it appears to only be available in two more years. 

To assist the AB in operating without any hiccups are the ecosystem’s “Wardens” — users that function an audited, up-to-date version of the bridge, similar to nodes in a traditional network. Upon release, the Wardens will be made up of Avascan, Halborn, Ava Labs, and BwareLabs.

The team in charge of designing the Avalanche Bridge – Ava Labs – reportedly calls for developers to kickstart the preparation process for their DApps for new standards. 

“The new Avalanche Bridge is a leap forward in bridging technology, but most importantly, it is a dramatic improvement in experience for users and developers across the Avalanche community. It will be a growth engine for the next phase of growth on Avalanche, and set a new standard for secure and efficient cross-chain interoperability.” Ava Labs’ CEO, Emin Gün Sirer, reportedly remarked regarding the development.