Hello to the community!
Today we are excited to share that the Secret Ethereum Bridge is live on mainnet and ready for your use today. This immediately allows holders of ETH and certain ERC-20 assets to create “secret” versions of their assets as Secret Tokens and transact with them privately. Secret Tokens are powerful – they’re programmable like ERC-20s, but private by default like Monero and similar coins.
The bridge is located at: https://bridge.scrt.network
The launch of this bridge (the first of multiple!) is an important step in the creation of a front-running resistant, private-by-design, cross-chain DeFi ecosystem on Secret Network. Secret is the first and only privacy-enabled blockchain, featuring smart contracts with encrypted inputs, outputs, and state.
The next imminent stage is the launch of bridge mining, where users who lock their ETH and ERC-20s on the bridge can begin earning SCRT rewards! Bridge mining rewards are expected go live in January, giving users some time to get familiar and comfortable with the Secret Ethereum Bridge.
After bridge mining rewards are live, development of Secret DeFi and critical applications will continue, including a front-running resistant AMM built on Secret Network (also expected to launch in January). There will be unique rewards for AMM users and liquidity providers, so stay tuned to this blog for more details.
Today we are also announcing that we are expecting up to 2 million SCRT to be allocated to community rewards to support the launch of Secret DeFi, beginning with bridge mining rewards!
Of course, as the first Layer 1 blockchain with privacy-preserving smart contracts, decentralized financial applications are only a small piece of what’s possible with Secret Network. And Ethereum is only one possible bridge! Stay tuned for more over the coming weeks…
This blog post includes:
- More details on the Secret Ethereum Bridge, including which assets are supported at launch
- Instructions (with screenshots) on how to use the Secret Ethereum Bridge, including what tools you will need to interact with the bridge
- Details on how you can get support from our community of Secret Agents
- Guidance on next steps, including bridge mining and the launch of Secret DeFi!
Read on, and happy bridging! 🌉
What is the Secret Ethereum Bridge?
The Secret Ethereum Bridge transfers between assets on the Ethereum network (ETH/ERC-20) and Secret Tokens, which are specified by the SNIP-20 spec. Secret Tokens combine the programmability of ERC-20s with the privacy of coins like Zcash or Monero. Interactions with Secret Token contracts are encrypted, viewable only to address owners or holders of their viewing key.
Bridge operators are responsible for watching the chain for new events. Once a new event is found, one of the bridge operators proposes a transaction, which is then confirmed by other operators. This triggers an on-chain event to mint secretETH (or a secretERC-20) on Secret Network, or when the Secret Token is burned, to unlock ETH (or ERC-20s) from the lock/deposit contact on Ethereum.
With the bridge now live on mainnet, we are launching with initial support for fifteen different assets (including Ethereum and 14 ERC-20s):
$ETH, $YFI, $UNI, $BAND, $COMP, $LINK, $AAVE, $KNC, $SNX, $OCEAN, $MKR, $DAI, $USDT, $TUSD, and $WBTC
You can now immediately create secretETH, secretUSDT, secretWBTC, and more! It’s quick, easy, and inexpensive.
How do I use the bridge?
The bridge is currently live at: https://bridge.scrt.network!
This brief guide will take you through the most basic interaction with the bridge:
1) connecting your Metamask (for ETH and ERC-20s) and Keplr (for SCRT and Secret Tokens)
2) creating secretETH or a secretERC-20 via the bridge
3) creating a viewing key to see your Secret Tokens
4) immediately burning your Secret Tokens and releasing your ETH/ERC-20 to a new address on Ethereum!
This simple process gives you basic transactional privacy for ETH and ERC-20s, taking only a couple minutes to complete initially (and less time for further interactions). Let’s walk through it step by step!
Please ensure that you have the following available:
Metamask: With over a million users worldwide, MetaMask provides a simple and secure way to connect to blockchain-based applications in the Ethereum ecosystem. It’s simple to set up and use! (You’ll also need some ETH for gas.)
Keplr Wallet: Keplr is one of the most popular web-based wallets in the Cosmos/Tendermint ecosystem, supporting Secret Network, Cosmos, Kava, Akash, and other chains. They also have full support for Secret Tokens (funded by a community spend proposal)! It’s also very simple to set up and use – just follow this YouTube guide if you’re having any problems!
Secret (SCRT): “secret” smart contracts on Secret Network use SCRT as gas in computations (similar to Ethereum). To interact with Secret Tokens (including creating viewing keys, burning, or sending them to other addresses), you’ll need some SCRT. If you’re having trouble acquiring SCRT for gas, come join our main communities on Discord and Telegram for assistance – we’re very helpful!
Let’s go over the bridge!
1) Start by giving permission to the bridge to connect to the Metamask and Keplr wallets you wish to use.
2) Since we’re sending ETH, we select “ETH” (not ERC20) for the bridge going from ETH -> Secret. Then, click “Use My Address” to automatically fill in your Secret wallet address from your connected Keplr account.
3) Confirm the source and destination addresses along with the ETH amount. You’ll be prompted to sign a single transaction to confirm you wish to lock your ETH and mint secretETH.
4) Wait for the bridge to confirm successful minting of the SecretETH! This normally doesn’t take long, but it does depend on Ethereum slowness.
5) Because token balances are encrypted on Secret Network, you won’t be able to see your SecretETH right away. You need to create a viewing key using Keplr, which takes a little bit of SCRT for gas. First, use “Unlock Token,” then create your viewing key. Wait a few moments, and the bridge should shortly display your secretETH balance. (When you look in Keplr after creating your viewing key, it will also display your secretETH balance!)
6) Now that you have secretETH, you can use Keplr to easily send it to any other Secret address, interact with other secret contracts, or whatever else you want to do with it! It’s your Secret Token – have fun with it.
But if you just want to get your ETH back, it’s easy. Select “Secret -> ETH” back on the main bridge page, then enter the amount of secretETH you want to burn and a destination address for your ETH on Ethereum. Confirm all your details, then approve the transaction on Keplr. The “swap fee” is the amount of required gas on Ethereum, and it is deducted automatically from your ETH withdrawal. Depending on Ethereum slowness, you should shortly see your interaction confirmed yet again on the bridge!
Congratulations! You’ve just gone over the Secret Ethereum Bridge and back 🥳
Note that while the bridge can be used as a mixer, it’s not the main purpose of the bridge. When Alice uses secretETH on Secret Network she both gets better anonymity guarantees and lower cost of privacy. (If you are planning to use the bridge as a mixer, you may wish to use fixed amounts of ETH or ERC-20s like 1, 10, or 100 to increase your anonymity.)
Getting Support
There are three main channels you can use to get support from the developers and community members behind Secret Network!
Join the Secret Discord (https://chat.scrt.network)
Join the community Telegram (https://t.me/scrtcommunity)
Join the Secret Forum (https://forum.scrt.network)
We’re available to help you use the bridge, acquire SCRT for its operation, and interact with Secret Tokens and Keplr Wallet!
What happens now?
With the Secret Ethereum Bridge live on mainnet, the next major milestone is the introduction of bridge mining. After users have had some time to familiarize themselves with the bridge, there will be an incentivized period where users can keep their ETH or ERC-20 assets locked on the bridge to receive a share of SCRT-based rewards, distributed on-chain to bridge users!
For users who are already familiar with DeFi and liquidity mining, this is an attractive new way to get competitive yield on your Ethereum-based assets without impermanent loss while also gaining exposure to the groundbreaking world of Secret DeFi – a universe where applications are front-running resistant and private by design!
Another exciting upcoming application is a Secret-based AMM, providing liquidity for Secret Tokens. The Secret AMM is front-running resistant and lets users directly exchange their Secret Tokens. Substantial development on the AMM has already been completed, so stay tuned for further updates on opportunities.
As a reminder, up to 2 million SCRT will be allocated to community rewards to support the launch of Secret DeFi, beginning with bridge mining rewards! We’ll share more details on all these opportunities on our channels (such as Twitter) and the Secret Blog.
There are a number of additional upcoming Secret Apps in development that feature privacy by design and utilize Secret Tokens. We’ve written about many of the possibilities before on the Secret Blog, including Secret NFTs for verifiable goods and experiences, Secret Vaults for programmable access control, and more! We’re also making it easier to create your own Secret Tokens – keep an eye out for instructions 🙂
Secret Network is community-governed and directly supported by dozens of independent companies, node operators, and developers around the world. There are many ways to contribute to the growth of our network and ecosystem, including by becoming part of a Secret Committee (or starting your own!)
Thanks for reading to the end! We’re excited to finally bring our privacy solutions to the Ethereum ecosystem and help grow a more secure, more accessible, and more usable global open financial ecosystem. As we continue to bring the power of programmable privacy to more ecosystems and assets, we hope you will join us in our mission of empowering and protecting millions of users around the world.
Happy bridging!
Thanks to Walkingframes for the Secret Ethereum Bridge imagery!
