Blockchain platform Polkadot has reportedly rolled out a new cross-chain communications protocol, claiming to not break free from inconvenient bridging mechanisms vulnerable to attacks that cost billions for crypto. 

Specifically, the freshly rolled out XCM messaging service was reportedly built with an intention of promoting Polkadot’s multi-chain ecosystem – currently being designed on the premise of full interoperability.

XCM channels are reportedly claimed to be on the same level as Polkadot’s central hub, called “Relay Chain”, in terms of security, and are also available for use by parachains. Alternatively, XCM will support communication between parachains themselves together with smart contracts.

Future versions of XCM will reportedly enable messages to be sent between parachains without the necessity to be recorded on the Relay Chain, hence enhancing scalability and ruling out governance processes for individual chains.

Bridge hacks have reportedly resulted in over $1 billion of financial damage to the crypto sphere throughout 2021, highlighting significant security vulnerabilities of the new technology, per insights generated by Chainalysis. 

Axie Infinity’s Ronin bridge exploit was probably the most infamous attack, with the perpetrators illegally acquiring over $600 million equivalent of virtual assets in just two transactions.

Bloomberg also reportedly revealed that over $21 billion is locked on Ethereum bridges as of March 30.

“Most bridges today rely on a few weak foundations, primarily over-reliance on centralized multi-signature schemes, meaning they aren’t trustless or spaghetti smart contract code that opens users up to attack.” Peter Mauric, public affairs head at Polkadot developer Parity Technologies, additionally shared when posed the question of most major security flaws of bridges.