Cross-Chain Flow

Chain Key Technology

ICP's Chain Key allows canisters to:

• Hold assets on other blockchains (Bitcoin, Ethereum)
• Sign transactions using threshold cryptography
• Verify transactions from other chains

This eliminates the need for:

• Centralized bridges
• Trusted intermediaries
• Wrapped token complexity (from user perspective)

ckAsset Model

Behind the scenes, native assets are represented as "chain-key assets":

Key Point: Users send and receive native assets. The ckAsset conversion is handled automatically by the protocol.

Deposit Flow (Native → ckAsset → Pool)

User Experience

1. User gets a deposit address (derived from their principal)
2. User sends BTC from any wallet
3. After confirmations, funds appear in their Liquidium profile
4. They can now borrow against this collateral

Withdrawal Flow (Pool → ckAsset → Native)

User Experience

1. User requests withdrawal to their Bitcoin address
2. Lending canister validates health factor
3. Pool processes withdrawal (standard or boosted)
4. User receives native BTC

Borrow Flow (Cross-Chain)

A user can supply BTC and borrow USDC - true cross-chain lending:

User Experience

1. User has BTC supplied as collateral
2. User requests to borrow USDT to their Ethereum address
3. Protocol validates collateral covers the loan
4. User receives USDT on Ethereum

Repayment Flow

Confirmation Requirements

Each chain has different finality characteristics:

The protocol waits for sufficient confirmations before crediting funds to ensure transaction finality.

Cross-Chain Architecture Benefits

1. Native Asset UX

Users never need to:

• Understand ckAssets
• Use bridges manually
• Hold wrapped tokens in their wallets

2. Unified Liquidity

All assets pool together regardless of source chain:

• BTC from any Bitcoin wallet
• ETH/USDC from any Ethereum wallet
• Single health factor across all positions

3. Fast Liquidations

ICP's sub-second finality enables:

• 15-second liquidation cycles
• Quick response to price movements
• Protocol solvency protection

Compare to:

• Bitcoin: 10-40 minutes per transaction
• Ethereum: 12+ seconds per block

4. Decentralized Security

Chain Key provides:

• No trusted intermediaries
• Threshold cryptography (many nodes)
• Cryptographic proofs of asset backing

Deployed Infrastructure

The protocol uses ICP's production Chain Key infrastructure: