We’re thrilled to announce that Snowbridge V2 has officially launched!
This release marks a major milestone in the evolution of Snowbridge (the trustless Ethereum ↔ Polkadot bridge) enabling new interoperability capabilities, drastically lower fees and expanded developer possibilities.
The upgrade was enacted through two on-chain referenda:
New Bridge Features & Improvements
New Possibilities
Snowbridge V2 introduces arbitrary contract support on both sides of the bridge.
This means:
- XCM Messages from Ethereum to Polkadot: dApps can now send XCM messages from Ethereum to Polkadot AssetHub, and onward to any parachain.
- Execute Ethereum contracts from Polkadot: Users and parachains can initiate Ethereum contract calls directly from Polkadot, opening the door to cross-chain applications to reach Ethereum Layer 2 networks.
During our Polkadot Builder Party presentation, we demonstrated this new capability by executing Optimism contract execution across the Paseo → Sepolia → Optimism Sepolia network path.
The demo PR showcasing this feature is available here: Snowbridge PR #1609.
Our team is now focused on productizing this capability and expanding support for Ethereum L2 ecosystems.
Cheaper Bridging
Snowbridge V2 delivers significant fee reductions in both directions of the bridge.
While fees vary based on Ethereum gas prices, here’s a snapshot comparison:
| Direction | Snowbridge V1 | Snowbridge V2 |
|---|---|---|
| Ethereum → Polkadot | ~$1.00 | ~$0.50 |
| Polkadot → Ethereum | ~$4.00 | ~$1.00 |
These cost savings make Snowbridge one of the most affordable trustless bridges available - now competitive even with multisig-based solutions.
Note: The full potential of Snowbridge V2 cheaper transactions will only be realized once parachains integrate with it.
Why Fees Are Lower in V2
The reduction in fees is the result of both architectural and design improvements:
- Off-chain Fee Estimation:
Snowbridge V2 moves fee estimation off-chain, allowing relayers to estimate fees with much higher accuracy. In contrast, Snowbridge V1 relies on an on-chain ETH/DOT exchange rate, which was rigid and unable to reflect real-time market fluctuations. When Polkadot fee estimation improved after Snowbridge V1 was released, we were able to improve fee handling in V2. - Unordered Message Execution:
Snowbridge V1 used ordered message execution, meaning that if one message failed due to insufficient fees, all subsequent messages were blocked until it was resolved.
V2 introduces unordered message processing, allowing low-fee or failing messages to be skipped - keeping the queue flowing efficiently and reducing congestion-related costs.
These improvements were enabled and built on new features on Polkadot that were introduced in the last year - fee estimation APIs and dry-running transactions before sending it, ensuring any problems are caught before the user even sends the message.
Faster Polkadot → Ethereum Transfers
Beyond Snowbridge V2, we’ve also rolled out a major off-chain performance improvement that cuts delivery time for Polkadot → Ethereum transfers from roughly 1 hour down to 35 minutes. This optimization, called Beefy Pipelining, allows multiple proofs to be processed in parallel, greatly reducing confirmation latency without any on-chain changes.
In addition, we’re developing a premium “fast-lane” feature that further accelerates transfers to just 1–2 minutes. You can follow progress on this feature here: PR #1462. It will be offered as an optional usage, with higher fees ($10-$20) - ideal for users transferring large amounts who value speed and near-immediate finality.
V2 Integration
Parachain Requirements
To integrate with Snowbridge V2, parachains must support XCM V5.
A detailed compatibility checklist is available in our documentation.
Parachains play a key role in unlocking Snowbridge V2’s full power. Features like contract calls, composable XCM messages, and low-cost bridging become available when a parachain’s runtime upgrades to support V2. Therefore, supporting parachains to upgrade to V2 is a key focus area for our team, and we encourage teams to reach out to us regarding this.
Documentation & Integration
Comprehensive developer documentation is available at:
https://docs.snowbridge.network/developer-docs/snowbridge-v2
Snowbridge V2 is now live on:
- Mainnets: Polkadot ↔ Ethereum
- Testnets: Westend ↔ Sepolia and Paseo ↔S epolia
Builder Support
We actively support builders and parachains integrating with Snowbridge.
Join our Telegram group Snowbridge Builder Help to connect with our technical team for guidance and troubleshooting.
Snowbridge V2 represents a new era of trustless interoperability. We can’t wait to see what you build.