Wanchain is set to bring interoperability to the Cardano ecosystem after the Vasi hard fork. The Vasi hard fork will be implemented on the mainnet at the end of this month.
The Cardano blockchain was founded by Charles Hoskinson in 2017. The blockchain supports the development of DApps and smart contracts. However, interactions with other layer-one chains are not possible at the moment. Thanks to Wanchain, this is set to change.
Wanchain is an acronym for Wide Area Network Chain. It is a blockchain interoperability solution that empowers web3 developers to build cross-chain DApps. The Cardano network will now utilize Wanchain to achieve cross-chain communication.
The Genesis of the Cardano x Wanchain Collaboration
Dr. Weijia Zhang and Temujin Louie revealed that representatives of Wanchain reached out to Input-Output Global (IOG), proposing the possibility of interoperability. The IOG team looked into the proposal and approved the innovation.
The innovation will make it possible for builders on the Cardano network to build RealFi applications that are interoperable with other layer-one blockchains. Undoubtedly, interoperability will also contribute to driving Cardano adoption.
Notably, the implementation of interoperability on the Cardano network came with three major challenges.
Firstly, the Cardano blockchain has a different architecture from most other blockchains. Cardano uses Plutus and Haskell, not EVM and Solidity. Secondly, Cardano has a different transaction model. Unlike Ethereum which uses an account-based model, Cardano uses the UTXO model. Thirdly, Cardano does not support Shnorr and Secp256k1, but the network supports EdDSA and Curve25519.
With the use of Wanchain, Cardano will have decentralized bridges that support both EVM-compatible and non-EVM-compatible networks. To solve the problem of EVM compatibility, Wanchain will develop native smart contracts on both source and target chains.
Bridge nodes of the Wanchain protocol will have adaptors that can connect to external protocols. The adaptors will construct transactions based on the transactional model of the intended protocol.
Finally, to solve the problem of varying signature schemes, IOG has added native support to Cardano for a Schnorr signature and Secp256k1 curve. This support will be fully implemented after the completion of the Vasi hard fork.
