Author: Hart Lambur
Compiled by TechFlow
Conclusion
For regular L2 to L2 transfers, @AcrossProtocol is clearly the fastest and cheapest cross-chain bridge. For regular ETH to L2 transfers, Across is much faster and cheaper than Stargate’s fast bridge, and the cost is basically the same as Stargate’s slow bridge (but Across is 20 times faster). For regular L2 to ETH transfers, Across is much faster and cheaper than Stargate’s fast option, although slightly more expensive than Stargate’s slow option, but Across is 100 times faster.
Analysis
In the past few days, @PrimoridalAA accused me of cherry-picking favorable data when comparing our cross-chain bridges. I think the best response to this is to develop a method to explain the meaning of ‘cheaper’ and then see who wins.
My approach is: Which bridge is cheapest for a normal bridges transaction? Since transaction sizes and fees for L2 to L2, ETH to L2, and L2 to ETH vary widely, I will look at these separately. For which L2s to choose, I suggest we look at the three largest: Arbitrum (Arb), Base, Optimism (OP).
The following is the rolling average of L2 to L2 bridge transaction volume over the past 30 days, measured using Across and Stargate data:
The average transaction size for the two L2 to L2 bridges is about $55, or about 0.015 ETH. (Note that there is a downward trend in the average size; More on that later).
So which bridge is cheaper to move 0.015 ETH between L2? This should be able to answer “which bridge is cheaper in ordinary bridge transactions between L2”.
The answer is: no matter where you transfer 0.015 ETH between any L2, Across is cheaper and faster than Stargate.
I just bridged 0.015 ETH from Base to OP. The result is as follows:
Across takes 4 seconds and costs 1.1 cents.
The Stargate “Fast” takes 50 seconds and costs 5.6 cents.
The Stargate “cheap” takes 1 minute and 2 seconds and costs 3.0 cents.
I believe I will definitely be criticized for choosing Base to OP, but honestly, if you check the route of any 0.015 ETH, it is obvious that Across is cheaper and definitely faster in any L2 to L2 case! There is no doubt about this.
Conclusion: Across is obviously the fastest and cheapest cross-chain bridge in ordinary L2 to L2 transactions.
Next, let’s take a look at the data from ETH to L2.
The following are the 30-day rolling average ETH to L2 transaction volumes of the three largest L2, measured using Across and Stargate data:
The average trade size of Eth to [Arb, Base, OP] is ~ 100 US dollars for Across and ~ 400 US dollars for Stargate. Let’s take the average as 250 US dollars, or ~ 0.06 ETH.
Now let’s bridge 0.06 ETH from ETH to OP.
Result:
It took 28 seconds and cost 2.6 cents.
The Stargate “Express” takes 4 minutes and costs 5.5 cents.
The Stargate “cheap” takes 9 minutes and 40 seconds and costs 2.2 cents.
Across is much cheaper and much faster than Stargate’s quick selection.
Compared to the cheap option of Across, the Stargate is 2.2 cents while the Across is 2.6 cents, but the Across takes 28 seconds, while the Stargate’s takes 9 minutes and 40 seconds.
As for whether the cost difference is worth the difference in speed, I will leave it to the market to decide. Similarly, you can also try it yourself.
Finally, let’s take a look at the data from L2 to ETH.
Here are the 30-day rolling average L2-to-ETH transaction sizes for the three largest L2s, measured using Across and Stargate data:
The average [Arb, Base, OP] transaction size from Across to ETH is ~$700 and Stargate is ~$200. Let’s take the average of $450, or ~ 0.06 ETH.
Now let’s bridge 0.06 ETH from ETH to OP. Result:
It took 4 seconds, costing $5.41.
The Stargate “Fast” takes 2 minutes and 12 seconds and costs $16.80.
The Stargate “cheap” took 6 minutes and 34 seconds and cost $4.41.
Similarly, Across has dominated the rapid selection of Stargate in terms of speed and cost.
The slow option of Stargate is slightly cheaper, but it takes 6 minutes and 34 seconds, while Across only takes 4 seconds.
Where will the cross-chain bridges battle go?
I personally believe that as the next billion people enter the cryptocurrency space, they will (1) almost exclusively use L2 (or alt-L1), and (2) the transaction volume will continue to decrease. Across is already the cheapest and fastest bridge in L2 transfers, and as the transfer volume decreases, Across’s intent-based architecture will continue to dominate.
“Slow” option of Stargate can save some costs when trading on the Ethereum mainnet, but the compromise on speed is very apparent. I think whether it is worth sacrificing speed for marginal cost savings should be determined by the market.
Anyway, users are the ultimate winners in these ‘cross-chain bridge disputes’, I believe encrypted Twitter users are at least slightly interested in the debate between me and my brother Bryan.
