Tracing Cross-chain Transactions between EVM-based Blockchains: An Analysis of Ethereum-Polygon Bridges

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Yan, Tao, Huang, Chuanshan, Tessone, Claudio J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Yan, Tao
Huang, Chuanshan
Tessone, Claudio J.
author_facet Yan, Tao
Huang, Chuanshan
Tessone, Claudio J.
contents Ethereum's scalability has been a major concern due to its limited transaction throughput and high fees. To address these limitations, Polygon has emerged as a sidechain solution that facilitates asset transfers between Ethereum and Polygon, thereby improving scalability and reducing costs. However, current cross-chain transactions, particularly those between Ethereum and Polygon, lack transparency and traceability. This paper proposes a method to track cross-chain transactions across EVM-compatible blockchains. It leverages the unique feature that user addresses are consistent across EVM-compatible blockchains. We develop a matching heuristic algorithm that links transactions between the source and target chains by combining transaction time, value, and token identification. Applying our methodology to over 2 million cross-chain transactions (August 2020-August 2023) between Ethereum and Polygon, we achieve matching rates of up to 99.65% for deposits and 92.78% for withdrawals, across different asset types including Ether, ERC-20 tokens, and NFTs. In addition, we provide a comprehensive analysis of various properties and characteristics of cross-chain transactions. Our methodology and findings contribute to a better understanding of cross-chain transaction dynamics and bridge performance, with implications for improving bridge efficiency and security in cross-chain operations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_15449
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Tracing Cross-chain Transactions between EVM-based Blockchains: An Analysis of Ethereum-Polygon Bridges
Yan, Tao
Huang, Chuanshan
Tessone, Claudio J.
Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing
Ethereum's scalability has been a major concern due to its limited transaction throughput and high fees. To address these limitations, Polygon has emerged as a sidechain solution that facilitates asset transfers between Ethereum and Polygon, thereby improving scalability and reducing costs. However, current cross-chain transactions, particularly those between Ethereum and Polygon, lack transparency and traceability. This paper proposes a method to track cross-chain transactions across EVM-compatible blockchains. It leverages the unique feature that user addresses are consistent across EVM-compatible blockchains. We develop a matching heuristic algorithm that links transactions between the source and target chains by combining transaction time, value, and token identification. Applying our methodology to over 2 million cross-chain transactions (August 2020-August 2023) between Ethereum and Polygon, we achieve matching rates of up to 99.65% for deposits and 92.78% for withdrawals, across different asset types including Ether, ERC-20 tokens, and NFTs. In addition, we provide a comprehensive analysis of various properties and characteristics of cross-chain transactions. Our methodology and findings contribute to a better understanding of cross-chain transaction dynamics and bridge performance, with implications for improving bridge efficiency and security in cross-chain operations.
title Tracing Cross-chain Transactions between EVM-based Blockchains: An Analysis of Ethereum-Polygon Bridges
topic Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.15449