Bounty Challenge Winner: Token-bound Account Bridges

We previously announced the winner of our TBA Challenge, and today, we're diving into the details of Santiago's submission. His contribution showcases the profound impact of widely embraced proposals, like Token-bound Accounts (TBA), in unlocking new capabilities across the Ethereum ecosystem.

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This submission brings together two major innovations in the web3 industry, specifically within web3 gaming. The first centers around the growing adoption of Token-bound Accounts (TBAs), a topic which we explored in detail in a previous article. TBAs unlock a new paradigm for asset ownership, with the potential to reshape the gaming landscape altogether. The second innovation is tied to the multi-chain/omni-chain movement, which aims to unify communities, remove unnecessary barriers or friction points, and improve cross-compatibility for a smoother gaming experience.

Historically, crossing chai,./ns has required using bridges, and we're all too familiar with the devastating bridging hacks that have lost billions, including one that compromised one of the most widely used bridges - multichain.com. On top of that, players continue to grapple with bridging fees and latency issues that negatively impact their overall gaming experience.

In response to these challenges, Santiago's bounty challenge submission introduces a smarter way to bridge TBA assets for low latency applications. It allows events on a TBA on one chain to directly trigger events on a corresponding TBA on another chain. This innovation ensures instantaneous and fee-free transfers, only requiring gas fees.

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Let’s take a look at the following flow using the example of a sword NFT owned by a character NFT. The character NFT possesses a TBA wallet, which subsequently owns the sword NFT. When transferring the sword to the destination chain, it moves directly to the corresponding TBA of the character in the game but on the new chain:

1. The transfer initiates by sending the sword NFT to the source gateway, where it is locked.

2. The relayer script detects the lock event and forwards the message to the destination chain, prompting a transaction on the destination gateway contract.

3. The destination gateway contract receives the transaction with the required parameters and mints an NFT representing the sword to the character TBA address derived from the registry.

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With this flow, the sword NFT can be directly transferred between TBAs without the need to pass through the owning Externally Owned Account (EOA). While it may seem like a subtle improvement, this innovation paves the way for diversifying TBA-to-TBA transaction types, setting the stage for game entities, including NPCs, to engage in cross-chain trade among themselves.

Additionally, this type of setup enables games to integrate their own simple bridges, making it more cost-effective and free from the risk of congestion that could otherwise affect gameplay. As part of the Blockus product suite, studios can thus effortlessly deploy battle-tested and certified setups instead of building their own from scratch.

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We're thrilled about the ever-expanding possibilities in web3 gaming and have plans to introduce more exciting bounty challenges in the future. Join us, stay connected, and keep an eye out for the latest trends and developments shaping the gaming landscape.