What is Arbitrum Bridge? How Does it Work?

Understanding Arbitrum Bridge

Arbitrum is a layer2 scaling solution built on top of the Ethereum mainnet. It facilitates a better user experience by increasing transaction processing speed and lowering transaction fees.

The ability to deploy smart contracts and develop dApps is the primary reason for the Ethereum network’s popularity. Similar to how an internet server crashes when many people try to access it when too many people are using the dApps on Ethereum, the network becomes congested. As a result, users would have to pay more transaction fees to validators (before The Merge, there were miners) to execute their transactions as soon as possible.

To address this issue and to improve the user experience, various layer2 scaling solutions have emerged in recent times. Arbitrum is one of these layer2 solutions developed by Offchain Labs, a team of developers and engineers with diverse backgrounds.

While Arbitrum is the layer2 network on Ethereum, Arbiturm bridge enables the transfer of data, smart contracts, transactions, or funds from the Ethereum mainnet to the Arbitrum layer2 network. The average transaction fee on Arbitrum is $0.16 which is far less compared to the $5 gas fee on Ethereum, as per Nansen, a Web3 data analytics firm.

How Does Arbitrum Work?

Arbitrum layer2 network improves the efficiency of transactions by offloading them from the Ethereum mainnet. While most of the layer2 scaling solutions use one mainnet, Arbitrum has two mainnets – Arbitrum One and Arbitrum Nova. Let us look at how these two mainnets work.

Arbitrum One

Arbitrum One mainnet ensures that the transaction data posted on it is valid through multiple-round interactive Optimistic rollups. As their name suggests, these rollups optimistically believe that the transaction data posted is correct by default.

To ensure transparency, it allows others to challenge the accuracy of data in a given period. If anyone challenges the validity of data, the challenger and the validators would have to resolve it on layer 1. With its multi-round interactive rollups, Arbitrum One ensures that disputes are resolved on layer 1 at a lower transaction cost.

Features of Arbitrum One

• Low transaction fees
• EVM-compatible
• Trustless protocol
• Users have complete control of their funds
• Funds are secure as they are on the Ethereum mainnet

Arbitrum Nova

Arbitrum Nova uses the AnyTrust model to ensure the transaction data is accurate and offers ultra-low transaction costs with a new security model called DAC (Data Availability Committee).

The sequencer batches compress the transaction data and submit it to the DAC for a certificate. This DAC certificate ensures that the data is accurate. In case, the DAC certificate cannot be generated for a batch of data, it falls back to Rollup and posts this compressed data to Ethereum.

Features of Arbitrum Nova

• Extremely low transaction costs
• EVM-compatible
• Users have complete control over their funds
• Funds are secure as they are on the Ethereum mainnet
• Designed for dApps, social projects, and game developers

How to Use Arbitrum Bridge?

Whether you would like to use Arbitrum One or Arbitrum Nova, you would have to use Arbitrum bridge to transfer the data and funds from the Ethereum mainnet to the Arbitrum layer2 network.

To use Arbitrum or Arbitrum bridge, you must have an Ethereum-compatible wallet. MetaMask wallet is the most preferred one and you must also have some ETH in it. Let us understand how you can use the Arbitrum bridge in a few steps.

Add Network – Arbitrum One or Arbitrum Nova

Assuming that you already have a MetaMask wallet, you need to go to the MetaMask extension and click on the “Ethereum Mainnet” network. When you find “Add network” at the end of the menu, you need to click on that.

Here, you need to enter the details of the network like network name, RPC, Chain ID, block explorer URL, etc. You can choose either Arbitrum One or Arbitrum Nova based on your preference. All the network details can be found on the official website of Arbitrum.

Bridge your ETH tokens

The next step is to bridge or send your ETH or other ERC-20 tokens to the Arbitrum layer. First, you need to log in to the Arbitrum bridge with your MetaMask wallet and connect to the Ethereum mainnet. Then, you need to choose the destination network, either Arbitrum One or Arbitrum Nova.

The next step is to select the tokens you would like to bridge to Arbitrum and select “deposit”. It will take anywhere between 10 minutes to 1 hour for the Arbitrum layer to receive these funds.

Browse the dApps on Arbitrum

After you’ve successfully bridged the funds to Arbitrum, you can start using the dApps supported by the layer2 network. Within this network, you can access the dApps and execute transactions based on your preference at lower transaction costs.

Withdrawing the Tokens

You can withdraw the funds once you are done using the applications on Arbitrum. First, you need to make sure that you are connected to the Arbitrum network and then enter the amount of ETH you would like to withdraw. Select Ethereum as the destination network and click on “Withdraw”. Make sure that you have enough ETH to pay transaction fees.

One of the important things you need to know is, you would have to wait at least 7 to 8 days before you can withdraw funds from Arbitrum. When you initiated the withdrawals, a countdown pops up on the screen. When it is done, you can switch to the Ethereum mainnet and click on “claim” to receive your funds.