Allbridge Classic is a cross-chain bridge that enables anyone to transfer assets across blockchains. It is designed with a lock-and-mint model where assets are locked on the source chain and minted on the target chain.
Allbridge transfers are enabled through the protocol's proof-of-stake (PoS) design. Users can make four different transfers including send and receive native tokens, send native and receive wrapped asset, send wrapped and receive native token, and send and receive wrapped asset. Transfers are completed by a series of requests between the user, the smart contracts on the source and destination chain, and the validator. Validators play an integral role in the Allbridge ecosystem as every bridge transaction has to be confirmed by a two-thirds majority of validators. In exchange, the validators earn the bridging fees when a transaction is successfully signed. Validators must meet specific technical requirements and must stake ABR tokens as collateral; the staked funds may be slashed in case of bad actors.
Allbridge charges a fixed bridge fee of 0.3% for every cross-chain transfer. These fees are paid in the underlying token that is being transferred. Projects that wish to use Allbridge must pay a monthly subscription fee (paid in ABR token). Of all the protocol fees, 80% is used to buy ABR and distributed to the ABR staking pool and the remaining 20% is distributed to the team.
You can earn a portion of all protocol fees by staking ABR in exchange for xABR tokens on a 1:1 basis. xABR represents your share of the staking pool per a specific blockchain. In addition to fees, stakers also earn inflationary protocol emissions. Rewards are added to the staking pool, increasing the number of ABR tokens in the pool, and thus xABR becomes more valuable over time. Stakers on a network also receive reductions in bridging fees for transactions sent from that blockchain.