Introduction

As the omnichain expands, so does the need for unified liquidity. Stargate today is more than a bridge. It is a protocol connecting over 70 blockchains through a composable, omnichain liquidity layer. Built on LayerZero messaging and secured by instant guaranteed finality, Stargate enables value to flow efficiently between ecosystems.

Designed from first-principles but adhering to the core tenets of DeFi - immutability and censorship resistance - Stargate provides developers with the liquidity infrastructure necessary to build scalable, omnichain applications. This series explores how teams are using Stargate to power production-ready DeFi systems, from capital-efficient liquidity hubs to complex omnichain money markets.

Stargate Protocol

At its core, Stargate solves one of DeFi’s most pressing challenges: liquidity fragmentation. Rather than relying on isolated bridges, Stargate abstracts liquidity into a unified layer with over $1.3 billion in capitalized pools, enabling frictionless movement of assets across blockchains. While widely adopted by users to transfer value between blockchains, Stargate is increasingly leveraged by developers as a foundational layer for advanced omnichain systems including money markets, liquidity aggregation platforms, and ecosystem bootstrapping primitives.

Stargate V2

Stargate V2 was born out of the recognition that users are comfortable with the security assumptions around bridged and non-native assets and the need for unifying liquidity across all Stargate-supported chains. Along with this came the designing of the AI planning module (AIPM) which replaced the delta algorithm from V1. This would involve dynamic fees and credits on all routes the Stargate protocol supported in comparison to its previously static fee and credits allocation, which previously limited the protocols ability to keep up with the changing dynamics of user behaviour.

Stargate’s Hydra

Hydra is Stargate’s BaaS (Bridging-as-a-Service) product that extends Stargate to become the canonical asset bridge for USDC, USDT and WETH for HydraChains. Hydra leverages the OFTs (Omnichain Fungible Token standard) to accomplish this, enabling bridging to HydraChains via a lock and mint mechanism. When deploying Hydra, Stargate typically deploys on Day 0, ensuring all interoperability demands are met as soon as users look to enter the ecosystem.

Applications built with LayerZero’s Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) standard gain inherent compatibility with Hydra which simplifies the cross-chain experience for developers and users alike, eliminating the need for custom bridging solutions. On top of this, with approval from the OFT deployer, OFTs such as WBTC, USDe, weETH and etc, can be bridged into HydraChains via Stargate’s frontend.

Transaction Lifecycle Lifecycle flow diagram of a typical user transaction

• User initiates a transaction on Stargate.

• User’s tokens get locked in a Stargate pool on the source chain (Ethereum).

• LZ endpoint sends a message to the LZ endpoint on the destination chain.

• Messages sent must be verified by both DVNs before they are executed on the destination LZ endpoint.

• LZ endpoint on HydraChain receives the verified message and the Stargate pool mints the selected token.

• The user receives a 1:1 Bridged representation of their source token, on the Hydra Chain Key unlocks for ecosystems that adopt Hydra.

How Teams Are Building With Stargate Today

1. Branded LSTs with L1 Interop Dinero has selected Stargate as its main interoperability partner for deploying LSTs onto alt L1s. For example, beraETH on Berachain and sETH on Sei are both supported via Stargate. Users deposit WETH on the alt L1s and receive their branded LSTs atomically. In the backend, Dinero bridges the WETH received down from the alt L1 to mainnet where it is deposited into Dinero’s validator set.

2. Day 0 Ecosystem Bootstrapping Berachain’s pre-deposit vaults was a first-of-its-kind, accumulating over $3 billion in TVL. This was made possible with the help of Royco whereby an efficient marketplace for TVL incentives was created. Stargate is the canonical asset issuer for all USDC and WETH minted on Berachain. The pre-deposit vaults by Royco along with Stargate being the canonical asset issuer creates the perfect ecosystem bootstrapper.

3. Powering Omnichain Aggregators The architecture of Stargate has allowed users to bridge large size without forgoing speed. Stargare’s AI planning module (AIPM) uses a dynamic fee to ensure Stargate offering the best route for all assets and pathways. Stargate Taxi and Bus consistently make up over 40% of Jumper’s daily volume, sometimes going as high as over 66%. Using Stargate enables omnichain aggregators to facilitate cheap and reliable swaps for users, making the process seamless.

4. Omnichain Revenue Consolidation

   1. With an increasing number of chains being deployed, legacy protocols such as Beefy Finance find themselves deploying onto a multitude of chains to optimise yield for users across different ecosystems. An issue that arises is the fragmentation of revenue generated from the different ecosystems and hence a solution to aggregate that revenue is needed. Stargate is one of the bridges that supports Beefy Finance’s revenue aggregation model to help direct all fees from spoke chains back to mainnet.

5. LRT Expansion Beyond Ethereum EtherFi utilise Stargate for deploying LRTs onto alt L1s that don't natively support ETH. For example, weETH on Berachain is supported via Stargate. Users deposit ETH on Berachain and receive weETH atomically. In the backend, EtherFi bridges the WETH received to mainnet where it is restaked into EtherFi's restaking module. Stargate's Hydra powers the expansion of LRTs beyond the native Ethereum ecosystem.

6. Omnichain Money Markets Radiant Capital opted to build on Stargate to power their omnichain money market. Radiant enables users to receive borrowed assets on any chain they desire, with Stargate handling the underlying liquidity movement. Stargate's instant guaranteed finality is critical to ensuring the reliability of the protocol.

Unifying Liquidity with Stargate

Stargate is beyond a bridge. It powers access to a unified liquidity layer built for scale, speed, and reliability. To learn more about how you can leverage Stargate for your dApp or to deploy as a HydraChain, get in touch with Stargate’s Head of Ecosystem.