Recently, a friend dragged me into “doing a cross-chain task on the side,” and I couldn’t help thinking: when you do cross-chain transfers, who are you really trusting? In plain terms, it’s just a few layers: the source chain has to not roll back / not issue fake confirmations; the message passing/light client/validators in the middle have to stay honest (some bridges are basically just a bunch of signatures); and the contract on the destination side also shouldn’t be written in a way that blows up.

IBC sounds a bit more high-end, but you’re still relying on the consensus of two chains plus the relay not to fall apart— the more components there are, the more it feels like stacking block after block, and if something goes wrong, you don’t even know who to blame. During the airdrop season, this whole points system plus anti–Sybil measures makes everyone feel like they’re clocking in. Anyway, I’m not going to keep chasing explanations anymore: each cross-chain transfer, I’ll treat it as buying some randomness—keep the position smaller, and sleep soundly.