Hydra

Hydra is THE solution for omnichain DeFi. The only scalable bridge.

Hydra extends Stargate via Bridging as a Service (BaaS). With Hydra, Stargate enables users to transfer Hydra-wrapped versions of USDC, USDT, and WETH to Hydra chains (and between Hydra chains).

Note: A chain getting a Hydra deployment quite simply means that the USDC/USDT/WETH assets will get minted out of Stargate Bridge, rather than through the Canonical bridge. The actual deployed ERC20 assets are no different to regular assets.

The intention is for Stargate to enable chains to build day 1 USDC and USDT liquidity. In the event that Circle, or Tether respectively, wish to assume ownership over these assets, Stargate's Hydra has been built with the ability to hand over those contracts. For more information, you can take a look at Circle's Bridged USDC Standard Documentation.

Bridged USDC Standard

When Stargate deploys Hydra, and particularly USDC.e, to a new chain, we deployed with Circle's Bridged USDC Standard Documentation. This solution ensures seamless interoperability, scalability, and liquidity across chains, while providing a potential future-proof pathway for adopting native USDC.

If you're interested in getting in touch with Stargate with regards to this, please reach out to @stgGustas on Telegram.

Alternatively, you can reach out through Stargate's Circle Alliance Program page.

How Hydra Works

• A user who holds native USDC on Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, etc (any of Stargate's Pool Chains) can bridge USDC to a Hydra chain and mint the same USDC.e (Bridged USDC (Stargate)) asset. Their USDC will get locked in the Stargate Pool, and a 1:1 USDC.e asset minted on the new Hydra Chain.

  • When a user wants to leave the Hydra Chain, they will burn their USDC, and will receive native USDC on any chain they wish to leave to. A user could, for example, bridge USDC from Arbitrum, to Chain X (Hydra), but decide to leave to Optimism, or any other Stargate chain.

  • The Stargate V2 protocol is a global mesh - meaning users can bridge Pool<>Pool, Pool<>Hydra, Hydra<>Hydra, with no difference in UX.

Stargate's Hydra is a huge unlock for new chains looking for day 1 liquidity as users/developers can bridge USDC/USDT/ETH from ANY Stargate chain, rather than just the one chain connected via a canonical bridge.

• All assets that become locked in Stargate's pools can be used as credits within Stargates internal accounting, deepening liquidity between liquidity pools.

• Every $1 bridged using Hydra adds $1 to Protocol Locked Liquidity, reducing the need for incentives at all.

• A chain electing to use Hydra assets as canonical ensures Stargate remains the best place for bridging to and from this new ecosystem into perpetuity.

Stargate's Hydra expands USDC, USDT and WETH through mint/burn technology, without affecting the underlying ERC20

Benefits of using Hydra

• Locked Liquidity with Reduced Emissions: Assets transferred to new Hydra chains are securely locked in Stargate’s core pools on the original chain, which not only maintains liquidity but also minimizes the need for emissions, thereby enhancing the overall economic sustainability of the protocol.

• User Flexibility and Options: Users can bridge assets across multiple chains and redeem them through any core Stargate chain, providing flexibility and options for asset availability.

• Less Fragmentation: The Hydra assets are horizontally composable across all new ecosystems so this isn’t a fragmenting-wrapped-asset but actually a unifying wrapped asset.