Bridge Comparison: Across vs Stargate vs Native Rollup Bridges

By Chanuka Geekiyanage Oct 22, 2026

Across, Stargate, and native rollup bridges all move assets between chains, but each asks you to trust something different. Across relies on competing relayers and an optimistic oracle, Stargate relies on LayerZero’s verifier network and pooled liquidity, and native bridges rely only on the rollup’s own proofs, at the cost of a withdrawal that takes about a week. This article compares speed, fees, trust assumptions, and failure history so you can match a route to your transfer size and urgency, and it covers the April 2026 KelpDAO exploit because it changed how LayerZero-based routes should be judged.

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How Each Bridge Moves Your Money

Across: relayers front the money, UMA checks later

Across is an intent-based bridge. You deposit on the origin chain, and independent relayers race to fill your order on the destination chain with their own capital. Per Across’s docs, this is what makes fills arrive in seconds.

Relayers get repaid later. A dataworker bundles the fills and proposes the bundle to UMA’s Optimistic Oracle, which assumes the data is correct unless someone disputes it. If a dispute happens, UMA token holders vote on whether the bundle was valid.

For you, the main risks are the Across contracts and the UMA dispute layer. A relayer that fronts your funds carries its own repayment risk, not you. Fees have two parts: an LP fee that rises with pool utilization, and a relayer fee covering gas, capital cost, and risk. Across’s docs say fees move with gas prices and pool usage, so always read the quote.

Governance changed in 2026. Risk Labs proposed dissolving the DAO and moving the protocol to a U.S. company called AcrossCo, and the vote passed in April 2026 with about 91.5% support, according to Wu Blockchain. Across says the protocol keeps operating, but decisions now sit with a company rather than token holders. The project also self-reports no user funds lost since its 2021 launch, and it lists OpenZeppelin audits. Treat both as claims to check against the audit reports in its docs.

Stargate: pooled liquidity on LayerZero messaging

Stargate holds pools of native assets such as USDC, USDT, and ETH on many chains. It uses LayerZero V2 messages to coordinate them. Transfers are same-asset only, so USDC goes to USDC.

You choose between two modes. Taxi sends your transfer on its own once source-chain finality is reached. Bus batches transfers to cut costs, and Stargate’s docs claim savings of over 95% versus Stargate V1. The catch is a wait until the bus departs.

Fees are dynamic. V1 charged a flat 6 basis points, while V2 sets fees per pathway through its AI Planning Module and can pay a rebate when a pathway needs rebalancing. You also pay LayerZero messaging fees in the source chain’s gas token.

Image source: defillama.com/protocol/stargate-finance

Liquidity is the practical limit. Stargate’s credit system caps how much can move on a pathway at once. On DeFiLlama at the time of research, Stargate showed about $105.5 million in TVL, about $255 million in 30-day bridge volume, and over $100 billion in cumulative volume. Ethereum held about $37.8 million of that TVL, BSC about $19.9 million, Arbitrum about $15.0 million, and Base about $8.8 million. These figures change daily.

Ownership changed too. In August 2025, Stargate’s DAO approved a LayerZero Foundation acquisition with roughly 95% of votes, dissolving the DAO and converting STG to ZRO at 0.08634 ZRO per STG. Stargate’s security and LayerZero’s security now sit under one organization.

Native rollup bridges: the rollup’s own proofs

A native bridge is the official route between Ethereum and one rollup, such as Arbitrum One, OP Mainnet, or Base. It adds no outside verifier. Your security is the rollup’s security plus Ethereum’s.

All three of those chains run permissionless fault proofs. OP Mainnet launched them in June 2024, Base followed in October 2024, and L2BEAT and other trackers classify all three as Stage 1. Check L2BEAT for the current stage before relying on this.

The cost is time. Withdrawals from optimistic rollups to Ethereum take several days, about a week on the major ones, because the challenge window must pass. Understanding how blockchain finality affects DeFi safety explains why that wait is a feature, not a flaw. Deposits from Ethereum to the rollup are usually much faster.

Image source: L2BEAT

There are limits. A native bridge only connects Ethereum and that one rollup, so an L2-to-L2 move means a slow withdrawal first. Fraud proofs also assume at least one honest validator is watching, which L2BEAT flags as critical for Arbitrum. And a canonical bridge can deliver a bridged token version instead of Circle’s native USDC, so check the token contract.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Bridge	Trust model	Speed	Fees	Main risk	Best for
Across	Across contracts, UMA optimistic oracle, relayers fronting capital	Seconds in normal conditions	LP fee plus relayer fee, quoted upfront	Contract or oracle failure, governance shift to AcrossCo, slower fills in congestion	Fast L2 to L2 and L2 to Ethereum moves
Stargate	LayerZero DVNs plus pooled liquidity	Taxi: fast after source finality. Bus: batched wait	Dynamic fee or rebate, plus LayerZero messaging fee	Verifier configuration, LayerZero dependence, pathway credit limits	Native stablecoins and ETH on chains Across may not cover
Native rollup bridge	Rollup proofs and Ethereum	Deposits fast, withdrawals about a week	No bridge fee, gas on both sides	Long wait, single-rollup scope	Large or patient transfers where extra trust is unacceptable

What the KelpDAO Exploit Changed

On April 18, 2026, a forged LayerZero message drained 116,500 rsETH, about $292 million, from KelpDAO’s bridge escrow. The rsETH bridge required one verifier only, and that verifier was LayerZero Labs’ own DVN. Attackers compromised the RPC infrastructure the DVN read from and fed it false chain data, so it attested to a transfer that never happened.

This was not a Stargate pool failure. It hit Kelp’s own token adapter. The lessons still reach every LayerZero route.

A single verifier is a single point of failure. Dune analysis after the exploit found that about 47% of roughly 2,665 active LayerZero apps used the same 1-of-1 setup.
Defaults spread risk. Kelp argued the setup followed LayerZero’s own templates, and LayerZero later said allowing 1-of-1 for high-value transfers was a mistake.
Protocol responses matter. LayerZero said it would stop signing for apps on 1-of-1 DVN configurations, and Kelp moved rsETH to Chainlink CCIP.
Damage spreads. Aave froze rsETH markets within hours, which shows how bridge failures reach lenders.

Across has a different failure profile. Its risks are oracle disputes, relayer economics, and contract bugs, not an external verifier set.

How to Choose

Situation	Recommended option	Why
Moving a few hundred dollars of USDC between L2s, quickly	Across	Competing relayers make fast fills common and fees small
Moving a large amount from a rollup to Ethereum, no rush	Native bridge	No added trust, only gas, and the wait is acceptable
Large and urgent move	Across in several smaller transfers	Fast exit costs a fee, and splitting limits exposure and pool impact
Destination chain is not supported by Across	Stargate in Taxi mode	Wide pool coverage, but verify the pathway’s liquidity and fee quote

Checks before you bridge

Use the cross-chain bridge safety guide for the full process. These are the checks that matter most for these three routes:

Confirm the destination token contract, and whether you are receiving native or bridged USDC.
Compare the net amount received across at least two routes, not just the fee line.
Check pool utilization on Across or pathway liquidity on Stargate before a large transfer.
Test a small amount first on any route you have not used before.
For LayerZero-based assets, look up the DVN configuration and avoid single-verifier setups.
Read the project’s official channels for pauses or incidents before you send.
Revoke unlimited token approvals after you finish.

Common mistakes

Sending a large balance in one transaction instead of splitting it.
Picking a route on the lowest fee alone, and ignoring the amount received.
Assuming every LayerZero-based token carries the same security as Stargate.
Leaving funds in a bridged token version for months without checking its backing.
Using a bridge frontend link from a DM, reply, or search ad. Across itself warns about fake exchange portals.

My Take

For everyday stablecoin and ETH moves between supported chains, I would use Across first. Fast fills, utilization-based fees, and no external verifier set make it the best tradeoff for most users. Its biggest open question is governance after the move to AcrossCo, so I would check who controls contract upgrades and watch for new audit reports.

For large, patient moves between Ethereum and a rollup, the native bridge is the right choice. You pay gas and wait about a week, but you add no new trust. If you can wait, there is rarely a reason to pay a third party to skip it.

I would use Stargate when the chain pair or asset requires it, and I would favor Taxi when time matters and Bus only when it does not. After April 2026, I would not call any LayerZero route low risk by default. Check the pathway’s DVN setup and keep amounts modest. For USDC specifically, also get a quote from Circle’s CCTP route, since it avoids a pooled-liquidity model.

This is analysis, not financial advice, and bridge conditions change quickly.

Conclusion

Across is the best default for fast transfers, native bridges are the best choice for large transfers that can wait, and Stargate is a useful fallback with a heavier dependence on LayerZero. The tradeoff is simple: speed costs a fee and extra trust, while the native route costs time.

The biggest risks differ by route. Across carries contract, oracle, and governance risk. Stargate carries verifier and liquidity risk. Native bridges carry the withdrawal delay and the single-rollup limit.

Before your next transfer, get two quotes, check the destination token, send a test amount, and split anything large.

FAQs

1. Is Stargate safe after the KelpDAO exploit?

The April 2026 loss came from Kelp’s own single-verifier setup on its rsETH adapter, not from Stargate’s pools. Stargate still depends on LayerZero’s verifier infrastructure, so check its current DVN configuration and keep large balances split.

2. Why do native rollup withdrawals take about a week?

Optimistic rollups keep a challenge window so any honest validator can dispute an invalid withdrawal with fault proofs. That window lets the bridge rely on Ethereum instead of a third-party verifier.

3. Can I speed up a native bridge withdrawal?

Not on the native bridge itself, but a fast-liquidity bridge such as Across can pay you out on Ethereum for a fee. You then trust that bridge instead of the rollup’s challenge process.

4. Does Across becoming a company change my risk as a user?

Across says the protocol keeps operating without interruption, but decision-making moves from token holders to AcrossCo. Check who controls contract upgrades and watch for new audit reports after the transition.

5. Should I split a large transfer across bridges?

Splitting limits your exposure to any single route’s failure and can reduce price impact on thin pools. Test with a small amount first and compare the net amount received on each route.

References

Across Documentation, Actors in the System: https://docs.across.to/introduction/actors

Across Documentation, Fees in the System: https://docs.across.to/introduction/fees

Across Documentation, Deposit Addresses: https://docs.across.to/introduction/deposit-addresses

Across Documentation, How Across Works: https://docs.across.to/user-docs/how-across-works/overview

Across Documentation, The Bridge Across: https://docs.across.to/introduction/bridge-across

Across Governance Forum, The Bridge Across: https://forum.across.to/t/the-bridge-across/2097

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About the Author: Chanuka Geekiyanage

Chanuka is a content writer, editor and contributor at Panaprium, specializing in long-form editorial articles. He conducts in-depth research and produces well-structured, carefully edited content with a strong focus on clarity, SEO best practices, and consistent formatting. His work spans lifestyle, fashion, wellness, and technical topics, and all articles are reviewed and refined to meet Panaprium’s editorial standards.

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