Blockchain Interoperability and Scalability Flashcards

What is the primary purpose of a blockchain bridge?

Answer: To transfer assets or data between two separate blockchain networks

A blockchain bridge locks assets on the source chain and mints equivalent wrapped tokens on the destination chain, enabling cross-chain transfers.

Which Layer 2 scaling solution bundles hundreds of transactions off-chain and submits a single proof to the main chain?

Answer: ZK-Rollup

ZK-Rollups aggregate transactions off-chain and generate a zero-knowledge proof of validity, posting only the proof and compressed data to Ethereum mainnet.

What distinguishes an Optimistic Rollup from a ZK-Rollup?

Answer: Optimistic Rollups assume transactions are valid and use a fraud-proof challenge window instead of validity proofs

Optimistic Rollups post transactions assuming validity; a 7-day challenge window allows anyone to submit a fraud proof if a transaction is invalid.

What is the Interplanetary File System (IPFS) primarily used for in blockchain applications?

Answer: Decentralized content-addressed file storage to host off-chain NFT metadata and large files

IPFS stores files by their content hash, making it ideal for NFT metadata and large assets that are too expensive to store directly on-chain.

What is 'sharding' as a blockchain scalability technique?

Answer: Splitting the blockchain into parallel partitions (shards) so each node only processes a subset of transactions

Sharding horizontally partitions the blockchain so validator subsets process different transaction subsets in parallel, increasing overall throughput.

Which protocol is specifically designed for cross-chain messaging and asset transfers using a hub-and-spoke model?

Answer: Cosmos IBC (Inter-Blockchain Communication)

The IBC protocol in the Cosmos ecosystem enables sovereign blockchains to communicate and transfer assets through standardized message passing via a central hub.