KILT is delighted to announce that we sent test tokens locally from a KILT testnet to an Acala testnet using cross-chain message passing (XCMP) functionality. This is a practical example of the cross-chain composability possible within the Polkadot ecosystem.
Composability is the ability to combine various components of a software stack in different ways. The Substrate development framework, on which KILT and the majority of blockchains within the Polkadot ecosystem are built, allows full spectrum composability. In other words, a range of modules can be composed, configured, and extended to create an optimised blockchain.
A huge advantage to being in the Polkadot ecosystem is that the chains in the system will also be composable with each other. This means that chains will not only be able to transfer tokens trustlessly, they will also be able exchange data and call each other’s pallet or smart contract functions.
For example, PolkaBTC (a wrapped version of Bitcoin) could be minted on Interlay, transferred to Acala, and collateralised for aUSD (Acala’s native token) all in one transaction. This would allow different platforms to build mutually beneficial relationships, benefitting from the strengths of the other and using each other’s functions.
From Theory to Practice
Recently, we ran a successful test of this function, sending test tokens locally from a KILT testnet to an Acala testnet:
We achieved this using the Acala xtoken Substrate pallet, an open-source pallet created to allow cross-chain token transfers within the Kusama and Polkadot ecosystems. The success of our transaction shows that the transfer of transactions across chains in Polkadot has passed the stage of theory and is possible in practice.
What does this mean?
Acala is an Ethereum-compatible decentralised finance hub and stablecoin. Acala aims to make it fast and easy to use or build financial applications in the Polkadot ecosystem, improving trading efficiency. The platform will offer a suite of financial primitives including a stablecoin backed by cross-chain assets like Bitcoin and liquid staking for DOT. Acala provides an open platform for finance applications to use smart contracts or built-in protocols with out-of-the-box cross-chain capabilities and robust security.
The ability to move the KILT tokens to Acala would allow us to leverage their services and exchange tokens with other currencies on the Acala chain. For example, KILT could implement aUSD as a payment option, enabling multiple use cases for a stablecoin on KILT such as gaming rewards.
Acala aims to be composable with many teams within the ecosystem, including Moonbeam, Plasm, Interlay, Phala and Bit.Country, among others.
We look forward to further collaborations with Acala, and using composability to collaborate with other ground-breaking projects within the Polkadot ecosystem.
KILT + Acala = Composability was originally published in kilt-protocol on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
