Nothing has benefited mankind better in the last several decades than the internet. The latest epidemic has proved the potential of the free internet in a very powerful way. Many sectors could stay fully operational even when governments throughout the globe required lock-downs and home-office work because of the internet.
While the internet seems to be free and public on the surface, many of today's online services are based on proprietary software. As a result, walled gardens have proliferated, preventing data from freely flowing through cyberspace. The fact that users require a plethora of identities and passwords to use the internet demonstrates that the internet's various apps are not interoperable.
Solutions are provided by tech behemoths such as Alphabet and Meta, which give a quick method to log in to apps without having to go through a time-consuming onboarding procedure. Such methods are useful, but they offer centralized players additional power.
Why Blockchain Networks Need to Be Interoperable
The goal of public blockchains is to overcome this issue. Because a public blockchain is made up of a single element, any application created on it is entirely compatible with every other application in the ecosystem. Data may move freely inside a blockchain network. However, this is not the case with other blockchains, of which there are many now.
Many alternative public blockchains have evolved in recent years. Some of them have developed significantly in size, with a high market valuation and a large user base. However, by the end of 2021, the broader objective of blockchains of introducing interoperability to the internet world has not yet been realized.
Blockchain data cannot smoothly travel across public blockchains since they are built on distinct protocols and architectural decisions. As a consequence, the public blockchain area now suffers from the same system incompatibility as the internet itself. The majority of public blockchains are still compartmentalized, requiring developers and consumers to utilize them as separate platforms.
This will change over time.
With so many distinct public blockchains available, advancements in blockchain interoperability have been hailed as a vital need. are addressing the issue and quickly implementing their remedies one by one. But what problem are they attempting to solve?
What Exactly Is Interoperability?
Interoperability in the context of blockchains refers to a blockchain's capacity to freely exchange information with other blockchains. Every asset owned and every transaction conducted is recorded on a distinct blockchain. Whatever economic activity occurs on one blockchain may be represented on another with an appropriate interoperability solution. This indicates that economic activity from one chain may be transported to another and fully realized there.
In more technical terms, the purpose of a blockchain interoperability solution is to validate and distribute data messages between chains. These data packets include information on the status of a blockchain, which is subsequently replicated safely and uncompromisingly on a distinct blockchain.
For example, an asset moved from one blockchain to another will not be double-spent in the process, but will stay locked on the originating blockchain until utilized on the receiving blockchain.
In the true spirit of public blockchains, interoperability solutions must be fundamentally based on decentralization, enabling blockchains to connect and access information from one another without sacrificing decentralization.
Having integrated blockchain ecosystems rather than isolated blockchain ecosystems seems to be the desired result. But what precisely will the advantages of blockchain interoperability be? To address that question, we must first define public blockchains.
Analog is a protocol that enables multiple blockchains to interoperate easily while benefitting from the network's scalability and security. The heart of Analog's interoperability feature (which is implemented inside the Timegraph API) is a communication protocol that ensures legitimate, trustless transfer of data. The protocol offers a way through which distinct and sovereign Blockchains may willingly connect while sharing just the bare minimum of a common interface in a private, safe, and trustless manner. The protocol is based on the Ethereum blockchain technology. Any node may join the network and become a tesseract, communicating with other nodes in the network's chain. Any node may join the network and add or delete blocks from the Timechain in the same manner.
Is the Goal of Interoperability With Other Blockchains Worthwhile?
Cross-chain interoperability will reveal the actual potential of public blockchains. The interconnection of blockchains will provide comparable advantages to a world of linked actual economies. As our globe has become more globalized and nation-states have reduced protectionism, the unrestricted movement of products, information, money, and people has benefited humanity (and led to some issues, too).
Interoperability advancements will also foster specialization within the blockchain sector. Because public blockchains will be able to connect and their assets will be interchangeable, a particular blockchain does not need to be able to offer every service but may instead concentrate on a unique value proposition and specialize in whatever it does best.
So, while blockchain interoperability will enable real-world use cases such as the exchange of health data distributed across many different organizations in the health care sector such as hospitals, clinics, specialists, and pharmacies, its greatest impact will most likely be with the new digitally emerging realm of the metaverse. After all, ensuring that the metaverse is a public environment available to everybody will require smoothly linking the many metaverse subworlds inside it.