10 obstacles to cross-chain interoperability (and how they can be overcome)

Cross-chain operability may only be achieved when there’s not only a way, but a will to move forward.

Even crypto industry outsiders are gaining clarity on the benefits of blockchain technology, which is a significant step forward for the ecosystem. However, a challenge remains: The industry still struggles with interoperability between blockchain networks. 

Unless different chains can safely and efficiently communicate and exchange data, the full power of blockchain — including true decentralization, new use cases, lower costs and, ultimately, further innovation — can’t be achieved. Here, 10 members of Cointelegraph Innovation Circle discuss some of the challenges still standing in the way of achieving cross-chain interoperability and how they can be overcome.

The lack of standardized protocols

A key challenge that our industry still faces in terms of cross-chain interoperability is the lack of standardized protocols and consensus. Development of interoperable protocols like cross-chain bridges and atomic swaps is one way to address this. Such efforts are already being seen in the industry, with brands like Polygon coming up with the Polygon bridge, which transfers tokens from Ethereum to Polygon. – Abhishek Singh, Acknoledger

The challenging user experience

In my view, the main challenge is not so much the technical aspect of different protocols, bridges or atomic swaps. It is in the user experience, which dictates adoption. Currently, to cross-chain, you need to be a power user with a highly complex setup of wallets — even if it’s just MetaMask with multiple chains configured. True interoperability only happens when the experience becomes seamlessly simple. – Tiago Serôdio, ​​Partisia Blockchain

The lack of efficient cross-chain markets

A lack of efficient cross-chain markets severely limits the adoption of cross-chain technologies. Better markets could help the space cut away the centralized services that to this point have powered most user activity in the sector. Interoperability itself is only possible to a limited extent without breaking trust assumptions due to the diverse varieties of blockchains out there in the wild. – Simon Harman, Chainflip Labs

The lack of a cohesive understanding in the ecosystem

As a global space, the crypto ecosystem is an amalgamation of coding languages, algorithms, protocols and, ultimately, visions for what our digital future could become. But much like the Tower of Babel, we lack a cohesive understanding that unifies all participants under a single, seamless experience. Whether created or adopted from existing architecture, such a solution could rectify this issue. – Oleksandr Lutskevych, CEX.IO

Source : [10 obstacles to cross-chain interoperability (and how they can be overcome)](cointelegraph.com/innovation-circle/10-obstacles-to-cross-chain-interoperability-and-how-they-can-be-overcome) by Cointelegraph By Cointelegraph Innovation Circle - Cointelegraph by Cointelegraph By Cointelegraph Innov