The state of blockchain interoperability today is limited by the rigid capabilities of the existing interoperability protocols. These protocols have limits on the blockchains they connect and their customizability. These existing protocols are permissioned too. They also offer single and general routes for connecting blockchains, as such, they can easily get congested from time to time.

Hyperlane is the first permissionless interoperability layer that improves interchain connectivity by allowing anyone anywhere to connect different chains by simply deploying Hyperlane on each chain to be connected. Hyperlane can in fact be deployed to any blockchain. In addition to this permissionless nature, Hyperlane offers customization options for its security implementation.

This article will cover what Hyperlane is, how messages are transmitted from one chain to another through Hyperlane, the components that enable this message transmission, and the benefits of using Hyperlane as an interoperability layer.

Interoperability Layer for the Modular Stack

In the context of blockchains, modularity refers to decoupling the layers that make up the blockchain; consensus, settlement, data availability, and execution; and making each one an independent blockchain that is optimized to perform a particular function. The goal is to reduce the work the blockchain has to do so that it can do it better, and also to be able to create specialized blockchains aimed at achieving a particular task. Hence, each of these separated layers can then be combined and built upon, to achieve a blockchain that suits the project(s) you want to build.

Hyperlane as an interoperability layer built for modular blockchains implies that Hyperlane can be deployed on any chain regardless of its configuration; from rollups and appchains to L1s and L2s; is compatible with multiple virtual machines, and allows messages to be exchanged across all the chains on which it has been deployed. Hyperlane also allows different security configurations including custom ones to be implemented on each chain that it has been deployed.

While optimized for modular blockchains, Hyperlane can connect monolithic blockchains like Ethereum to one another, and to the modular ecosystem.

Hyperlane’s mailing system

It’s the 1800s, and we still depend on post offices to send messages internationally. Sending a message to another city or country means leaving your house and heading to the post office to drop off the mail you want to send. If it’s in an even farther country, you may need to first find a post office that delivers mail to that country. On getting to the post office, many people want to send their mail too, and some await mail sent to them. The office is congested and it’ll take a while for them to send your mail, and an even longer time for it to get delivered. Due to the large amount of mail they have to send, the mailing fee has also increased.

Hyperlane is a new service provider that comes with installing mailboxes in their users’ apartments. Now, Hyperlane users do not have to go to any of the general post offices anymore. They can simply put their message in the mailbox along with the mailing fee, then wait for the delivery person to pick it up, and send it to the destination Hyperlane mailbox. With this mailbox, you can exchange messages with anyone who uses Hyperlane as their service provider. Now there’s the question - “What if the mail recipient does not use Hyperlane yet?” Hyperlane provides the option of installing a mailbox for them, just for your use (unless you permit others to), so you can exchange mail between yourselves. Pretty cool right?

What Hyperlane is

A protocol that enables interchain communication between blockchains. Interchain communication here includes:

Sending and receiving messages between any blockchain
Transferring assets (Tokens, NFTs, and more) across different blockchains

A permissionless layer that allows building/deploying anything that requires seamless interchain interactions such as token bridges, interchain accounts, warp routes, yield routes, and lots more.

What Hyperlane is not

A blockchain. Hyperlane's primary function is to facilitate communication between blockchains. Hyperlane exists on already existing blockchains that it has been deployed to.

Hyperlane connects all chains

With modularity comes new and different kinds of chains. Celestia enables developers to deploy a rollup as easily as a smart contract. Currently, there are over 10,000 rollups deployed on Celestia. Dymension enables developers to deploy rollapps; a type of appchain built with Dymension’s RollApp development kit. So to say, there’s a whole lot of custom chain deploying going on right now in the modular space. How then do all these chains interact with one another? IBC connects chains built with the Cosmos SDK, but what about the ones built without it? Existing interoperability protocols are permissioned; you have to wait for the protocol to add new chains to the list of chains they connect, and if you want your chain supported, you have to partner with them. So how do we connect chains we deploy personally for our projects to other existing chains?

Hyperlane enables secure and seamless communication in modular blockchains and custom chains

While there are existing methods by which this can be achieved, none of these methods are quite suited for the modular stack like Hyperlane is. If we still have to search for the interoperability protocols available on the chains we want to interact with before we can interact, then there is still a huge gap in interchain communication and scalability by default. This is where Hyperlane comes in.

Hyperlane connects Cosmos to other ecosystems

In addition to connecting IBC Cosmos chains with non-IBC Cosmos chains, Hyperlane is not limited to Cosmos alone and connects all kinds of chains on Cosmos to chains in other ecosystems. Hyperlane has already been deployed to many blockchains, including testnets, which can be found here. You can easily deploy Hyperlane:

on your custom chain and execute interchain interactions with any of the chains Hyperlane has been deployed to
on existing chains outside of Cosmos and exchange messages and assets between them
on any chains that Hyperlane has already been deployed to and customize the security module according to your needs

Hyperlane is capable of connecting any and every blockchain.

How does this interchain communication happen?

Now that you understand what Hyperlane can do, here’s an explanation of how Hyperlane enables blockchains to communicate with each other. What happens when you send a message using Hyperlane? Before we dive into this, below are some terms commonly used in Hyperlane that you should be familiar with:

Message: “Message” in this context refers to data exchange between smart contracts.
Mailbox: The Hyperlane smart contract that provides an interface for sending and receiving messages through Hyperlane.
Relayer: Someone running relaying software on Hyperlane and is responsible for delivering messages from one mailbox to another.
Validator: Someone responsible for verifying sent messages before the relayer transmits them to the receiver.
Watchtower: They ensure that the validators do not act maliciously, for example, by censoring or falsifying messages.
Interchain Security Module (ISM): This smart contract is responsible for securing the mailbox. They are of different types and can be customized.
Interchain Gas Paymaster: The relayer deploys this smart contract to accept payments (gas) from the sender for delivering their messages. This payment is in the sender’s native token, but it is calculated to be equivalent to the value of the gas payment in the receiving chain’s token.

To send an interchain message on Hyperlane, (in the most basic scenario) you will need the following:

Hyperlane deployed on all the chains that will communicate with each other
A relayer to deliver messages across chains
A validator to confirm that the message received was actually sent from the origin chain

Here’s what happens when you send a message through Hyperlane:

When a “send” transaction is initiated from an app, the message to be sent goes to the sender’s mailbox, along with the interchain gas fee for the relayer
Validator signs the message while the watchtower watches for fraudulent activities
A relayer picks up the message in the sender’s mailbox, along with the gas fee, and delivers the message to the recipient’s mailbox on the destination chain specified while initiating the message
Before the message is accepted into the destination mailbox, the message is verified according to the ISMs specified while deploying Hyperlane
Once the message is verified, it goes into the mailbox and is then delivered to the app that is expecting it.

Why Hyperlane?

Permissionless interoperability: Anyone anywhere can connect any blockchain to another one
Modular security: Customize your security model by selecting any of the pre-existing security modules Hyperlane offers, or mixing and matching them to create a suitable one
Expansion: Build and explore apps that span multiple chains. Transact easily across various chains regardless of the ecosystem they belong to.
Interoperability on the application level: Hyperlane can be integrated into applications. Instead of users needing to bridge assets by themselves, apps can leverage Hyperlane to communicate and exchange data directly across all chains.

Get Started with Hyperlane

Check out Hyperlane’s website and documentation to get started.

Beyond the Walls: Explore Universal Blockchain Interoperability with Hyperlane