Thread by @WKahneman

Care about #XRP? #XRPL?
There is an important debate about the XLS-38d Cross Chain Bridge amendment you will want to understand. Why?
Centralization and its legal implications. A simple summary of the discussion. 🧵/9

2. As written, XLS38d Bridges require "witness" servers, a 3rd party server that verifies a chain locks up assets to be represented on another. A witness server testifies Chain A locked up 100 XRP in a "door account" & the the door account on Chain B issued a wrapped 100 eXRP.

3. So how do you "choose" to trust a witness server? Roughly, the door accounts on the chains choose a witness using a multi-signer list. "...the multi-signer's list on the door account are the witness server's signing keys. This is essentially the list of witness servers."

4. This multi-signer list has some important implications. It requires off chain coordination and has the effect of centralizing authority of the bridge in this off-chain agreement, at least to some extent.

5. And this centralization - the multisigned list responsible for the bridge - creates potential regulatory headaches. A central entity is responsible for choosing the bridge. Would different jurisdictions require a license to use the protocol? Bridges are already a grey area.

6. The key issue here is that XLS-38d makes the bridge a native part of the #XRPL. There are external bridges already, and the risk they pose is not assumed by the XRPL. XLS-38d changes that. So what is gained by making the bridge native? Is it worth the risks?

7. Further, @Wojake raises a very interesting concern about the meta: What becomes of a trustless bridge asset with no counterparty (#XRP) in this system? What unintended effects emerge?

8. There are other concerns as well; bridges are a common attack point, network load, etc. None of these are necessarily insurmountable, and the question is if the benefits outweigh the costs? (A cost/benefit matrix, anyone?)

Public networks require public participation :)

9. If you're interested, take a look at the Github discussion of the amendment proposal, or some of the others, as well. The Github page is the source of all the clips in the thread. All mistakes are mine, but the good stuff is here:
github.com/XRPLF/XRPL-Sta…

/fin
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