Stargate Finance was built by LayerZero Labs: an omnichain protocol that wants to help the biggest crypto networks interoperate.

The platform launched in March 2022 as the first cross-chain bridge app. On the same day, renowned crypto developer 0xMaki joined LayerZero’s team.

Most pre-existing cross-chain bridges use what’s called fractured liquidity, which requires separate pools for tokens that will pass over the bridge. Stargate, however, renders this requirement obsolete via a lock+mint and burn+redeem mechanism. The mechanism essentially burns the tokens at source and mints new ones on the destination blockchain, and therefore provides instant guaranteed finality and unified liquidity.

Stargate also uses an advanced cross-chain bridge mechanism, in addition to a balancing algorithm called the delta algorithm, to solve the bridging trilemma.

$STG is the native governance and utility token of Stargate Finance. The token can be staked or used to provide liquidity and participate in protocol governance. By staking $STG, token holders receive $veSTG, Stargate's voting escrow token. The protocol utilizes a time-weighted reward system that increases the amount of $veSTG earned by stakers as they lock it for longer periods.

$STG has a total supply of 1 billion tokens and a current circulating supply of around 168 million tokens as of March 2023.

Read about Synapse (SYN) — another interoperability protocol.

Find out more about Hashflow (HFT) — a decentralized exchange designed for interoperability, zero slippage, and MEV-protected trades.

What are blockchain bridges? Find out with the CMC glossary.

Learn more about cross-chain bridges on CMC Alexandria.

Take a deep dive into blockchain bridges with our educational portal.