Modularity is hot. I know it, you know it. But we don’t get it (or at least I don’t). Join me as I stumble and bumble my way to minimum viable understanding.

This week we’re discussing Hyperlane, the “first interoperability layer that enables you to permissionlessly connect any blockchain.” This text editor and the fine folks at The Internet are convinced “permissionlessly” is not a word, but then again they probably don’t yet know about Hyperlane.

Another bridge? More like Hyperlame

I first became aware of Hyperlane when I was linked to its Nexus bridge in a Discord chat. I was trying to figure out how to bridge some of my $TIA to the Manta network and Nexus fit the bill. I used the bridge once, staked my $TIA, and went about my day.

Later, I would refer to this experience as using “the Hyperlane bridge” and would be summarily corrected by an acquaintance blessed with much less of the Dum. Hyperlane wasn’t the bridge, I learned, but the tech that made the bridge possible.

The problem Hyperlane solves

If you’re reading this drivel you’re likely already aware of the concept of blockchain interoperability, the idea that my chain can talk to your chain and vice-versa. To-date interop has been pretty simple: I ask an interop protocol to let my new fancy chain (RizzChain) talk to your old reliable chain (BoomerChain) and, after some hemming and hawing, the two are connected. In that the interop protocol must bless this union of old and new, we’d called this permissioned interoperability.

This is all well and good when there’s one chain asking for permission; Imagine a single student asking permission to speak by raising her hand to catch the attention of a teacher. But now instead imagine hundreds of students simultaneously attempting to get that teacher’s attention and of each other. And consider that the number of students is growing exponentially. In this scenario permissioned communication is unsustainable.

Hyperlane enables permissionless communication between blockchains, the students in our hypothetical classroom, by providing a stack of tools that any of them can freely use. Any chain that enables a Hyperlane Mailbox can send to and receive messages from any other chain with a Mailbox.

Stop sending me this shit

Of course it’s more complicated than that. Permissionlessness (also evidently not a word) would seem to open the door for me (RizzChain) to catfish you (BoomerChain) by sending you misleading messages. You think you’ve sent me $5000 USDC for a BBL but, in reality, I’ve already gambled that money away on shitcoins. Fortunately Hyperlane has a fix for all this, and the fix is Modullllarrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

They’re called Interchain Security Modules (ISMs), and they’re not your grandparents’ security protocols. ISMs are customizable smart contracts that can be mixed and matched to create the security environment of yo’ dreams. Hyperlane calls them “security legos,” a term I love because it is cute and fun and obscures the no doubt complicated architecture that makes these sorts of things otherwise inaccessible to brains like my own.

So what do these legos do? A Multisig ISM checks that a subset of validators have positively attested to a message’s accuracy. A routing ISM deploys a different security model depending on the features of the incoming message (e.g. the source chain). A aggregation ISM checks all or a subset of multiple other ISMs for message validation. The list goes on but, critically, each chain can choose whatever configuration of ISMs it likes.

TLDR: More stuff probably

I don’t have a crystal ball or a fully-developed prefrontal cortex but I think it’s safe to say that the future will bring more blockchains not fewer. Permissionless communication and modular securitization are necessary to keep those chains connected and safe. Hyperlane provides both, and has a cool logo!

See you next week, Idiots.