NEAR Protocol has unveiled a technology called Chain Signatures, which allows smart contracts to sign transactions on any blockchain without relying on cross-chain bridges, according to an August 8 statement shared with CryptoSlate.
Chain Signatures allows NEAR account holders to interact with almost any blockchain, including Bitcoin, Ethereum (and any EVM chain), Dogecoin, XRP, Cosmos, and Polkadot. The blockchain network plans to expand support to Solana, TON, and others by the end of the year.
Additionally, the feature supports bridgeless Omnichain DeFi and Omnichain token creation, where a single token can be issued on multiple chains.
String Signatures
The technology uses an innovative threshold signing protocol. NEAR’s MPC nodes sign transactions on behalf of users, eliminating the need for multiple cross-chain bridges or separate accounts and wallets. With this, NEAR users no longer need to manage different native tokens for gas fees.
Additionally, it improves the DeFi experience and expands the liquidity and utility of assets on blockchains. It will also enable DeFi activities on blockchains like Bitcoin, which were not originally designed to support smart contracts.
Kendall Cole, CEO of Proximity Labs, one of the main contributors to Chain Signatures, highlighted the technology’s role in solving the fragmented Web3 ecosystem. He added that Chain Signatures would be crucial in overcoming interoperability issues and creating a unified layer for crypto users.
Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of the NEAR protocol, emphasized that Chain Signatures will act as a single DeFi layer for all blockchains. Polosukhin noted that this innovation will create new opportunities for Web3 financial applications, benefiting both experienced cryptocurrency users and newcomers.
He added:
“There is no longer a need for dozens of wallets and addresses, manual bridges, and paying gas fees for each token. Instead, all of DeFi is accessible from anywhere users already are. This is all possible because smart contracts can now sign transactions for any blockchain, even Bitcoin.”
Chain Signatures has already gained popularity, with over 6 million users adopting the technology across 15 projects.
