Polkadot has created a messaging system known as Cross-Consensus Messaging format (XCM) to allow all Polkadot-based blockchains to communicate directly for the first time.

The XCM is a messaging consensus that helps users natively send tokens across Polkadot’s parachains. With it, users and developers can exchange data and crypto assets.

The Polkadot Parachains

Polkadot launched its initial parachains in December 2021 but has been at full capacity strength. This new development means that Polkadot has achieved its primary goal of being a fully interoperable ecosystem.

While addressing the new development, Shawn Tabrizi, lead developer at Polkadot, said:

“Now that Polkadot’s cross-chain messaging protocol has been enabled, Polkadot has fulfilled its objective to be a fully interoperable multi-chain ecosystem.”

Hoon Kim, chief technical officer of Astar, a smart contract service on Polkadot, also said:

“With XCM, we have a stable and reliable inter-chain messaging channel that is far superior to the fragmented bridges.”

XCM Launch to Drastically Reduce Bridge Exploitation 

Over the past year, the crypto industry has lost over $1 billion worth of various assets to bridge hacks, revealing significant security vulnerabilities of the nascent technology, according to the data shared by Chainalysis and reported by Bloomberg.

Axie Infinity’s Ronin bridge exploit was probably the most infamous attack, with the attackers stealing over $600 million worth of digital assets in just two transactions.

In a conversation with Cointelegraph about the biggest security flaws of bridges, Peter Mauric, public affairs head at Polkadot developer Parity Technologies, said:

“Most bridges today rely on a few weak foundations, primarily over-reliance on centralized multisignature schemes, meaning they aren’t trustless or spaghetti smart contract code that opens users up to attack.”