Cross-Chain Bridges Tokens

Cross-chain token bridges are protocols that move tokens between blockchains. When you want to move 10 BTC from Bitcoin to Ethereum, the bridge locks those 10 BTC on Bitcoin, mints 10 wBTC on Ethereum, and sends it to you. When you want to move wBTC back to BTC, you burn wBTC on Ethereum, unlock BTC on Bitcoin. Token bridge engineering involves: designing the wrapped token contract (minting rules, burn mechanism), managing liquidity (ensuring there's enough canonical asset locked to back all wrapped tokens), monitoring for depegs, and handling edge cases (bridge failure, liquidity shortages).