Neon EVM launches cross-chain native asset transfers via deBridge integration

Neon EVM has enabled cross-chain native asset transfers following the launch of its integration with the interoperability and liquidity transfer protocol deBridge. 

Neon EVM developers can now add new cross-chain functionalities to their decentralized applications on mainnet, including near-instant native asset transfers across chains without token wrapping, seamless cross-chain communication and secure cross-chain asset custody, according to the team.

Neon EVM is an Ethereum Virtual Machine operating as a smart contract on Solana. It went live in July last year, enabling developers to build Ethereum-native applications on the Solana blockchain — something previously not possible on the network.

Last month, deBridge facilitated more than $150 million in cross-chain transactions between nine blockchains, with around a fifth of that volume moving from Ethereum to Solana alone — indicating a new trend in cross-chain interactions, the team added.

"Adding the right tooling and building distributed infrastructure support increases the resilience and efficiency of blockchain ecosystems,” Neon Foundation CEO Marina Guryeva said. “This partnership does that — it nurtures the growth of a multichain ecosystem, offers developers seamless access to a global liquidity network, and fosters innovation within the EVM ecosystem.”

Streamlining cross-chain transfers to unlock liquidity

Neon EVM argues that the complexity of typical cross-chain transfers creates a barrier to more widespread adoption — requiring users to manage multiple wallets for different chains, bridge funds and wrap tokens, leading to long wait times, price slippage and the potential for errors.

Utilizing deBridge’s deSwap Liquidity Network (DLN), Neon EVM’s integration differs from the current popular bridging model in which users lock a token on one chain and receive an equivalent wrapped asset on another — one of the most common bridge vulnerabilities exploited in the industry. Instead, DLN is designed to transfer the liquidity between chains, removing the need to lock assets, reducing complexity for users and improving transfer efficiency.

Neon EVM said this could help unlock access to over $30 billion of total value locked on Ethereum and open up interoperability with other EVM-compatible chains such as Polygon, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base and Avalanche, broadening the scope of the Neon EVM ecosystem.

“Neon EVM understood the vision and value of deBridge IaaS from day one, and thanks to that, they will reap the benefits as the first blockchain ecosystem with complete end-to-end cross-chain interoperability,” deBridge CEO Alex Smirnov said. “We’re massively excited to see what the broader DeFi ecosystem will unlock from Neon EVM, now that builders and users can use and cross-compose with Neon EVM using any chain.”

In November, Neon EVM’s testnet began letting users pay transaction fees with other tokens, including SOL, USDC and USDT, rather than using the platform’s native token NEON. Mainnet support for the feature is anticipated in Q1.