Best Crypto Bridges of 2025: A Comprehensive Guide to Cross-Chain Transfers

Crypto bridges (or blockchain bridges) are software protocols that connect different blockchains, allowing them to communicate and work together

Crypto has changed since its inception. In today’s crypto industry, taking full advantage of decentralized finance often means interacting with multiple blockchains. Having a reliable bridge is indispensable for moving tokens between these platforms.

However, there’s a problem: many users use popular options like the Portal Token Bridge or Synapse Bridge for these transfers. While they are solid choices, plenty of other platforms are out there—many of which might offer even better features for your needs.

In this article, we’ve rounded up the best crypto bridges of 2025. We’ve carefully evaluated them based on factors like supported networks, security, fees, and overall functionality, making finding the perfect platform for cross-chain transfers easier.

What are Crypto Bridges, and Why are they Important for Web3 and DeFi?

Crypto bridges (or blockchain bridges) are software protocols that connect different blockchains, allowing them to communicate and work together, much like a bridge connecting two separate islands.

They work by linking two separate blockchains, making it possible to move assets and data between them seamlessly. These bridges use shared liquidity pools and smart balancing systems to ensure smooth and efficient transfers. The liquidity pools hold native assets for multiple blockchains simultaneously, allowing quick and easy swaps.

With a crypto bridge, you can transfer your assets directly between blockchains in just a few clicks, saving you from the hassle of using a centralized exchange, where you’d have to deposit your assets, trade them, and then withdraw them again.

Using bridges reduces delays and eliminates the need to trust a centralized exchange. Plus, since centralized exchanges often charge hefty fees, decentralized bridges can help you save money on transactions, besides the fact that most decentralized apps don’t require KYC.

Top 9 Best Bridges in Crypto

Across.to

Launched in 2021, Across Protocol is a popular cross-chain solution using intents, and we consider it the best platform for bridging at the time of writing. And that’s especially because intents-based frameworks are gaining traction in the bridging space, and Across often offers the fastest and cheapest bridge options.

What sets Across apart is that it only transfers real, canonical assets, not wrapped or synthetic tokens. It operates on chains with official bridges to ensure genuine token transfers.

Supported Chains

There are over 17 supported chains available: Aleph Zero, Blast, zkSync, Optimism, Base, Arbitrum, Soneium, Ethereum, Polygon, Ink, Mode, Redstone, Scroll, World Chain, Zora, Lisk, and Linea.

Security

Across Protocol prioritizes user security with several key features:

Fees

Across Protocol charges liquidity provider fees based on whether the relayer takes repayment from the origin or destination chain. If repayment happens on the origin chain, no fees are charged; otherwise, a fee based on liquidity utilization is applied. 

Additionally, relayer fees are set by users to incentivize relayers, covering costs like gas, opportunity costs, and capital risk. These fees are reflected in the difference between the transaction’s input and output amounts.

Pros

Cons

Stargate

Stargate, built on LayerZero, is a fully composable cross-chain bridge protocol enabling seamless native asset transfers between blockchains. 

Unlike traditional bridges that rely on inefficient wrapped or intermediate tokens, Stargate eliminates this need, allowing users to transfer native tokens directly. 

Powered by unified liquidity pools shared across chains, it ensures instant guaranteed finality and delivers a streamlined, one-step cross-chain bridging experience.

Supported Chains

Currently, we have identified over 18 supported chains on the Stargate platform: Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, BNB Chain, Ethereum, Fantom, Kava, Linea, Mantle, Metis, Optimism, Polygon, Hemi, and others.

Security

Stargate incorporates robust security measures to establish trust and reliability in its cross-chain bridge operations:

Fees

Stargate charges a flat 6 bps transaction fee, with 5 bps allocated to the protocol treasury and 1 bp to veSTG holders. Gas fees, paid in the native gas token, cover LayerZero’s execution fee and costs for verifying messages via the Decentralized Validation Network (DVN). 

In V2, Stargate introduced dynamic fees managed by the AI Planning Module (AIPM), which ensures optimal liquidity distribution across pools and adjusts costs based on demand. When liquidity in a specific pool is low, rebates are offered to incentivize rebalancing and maintain smooth operations.

Pros

Cons

Rhino Fi

Rhino.fi is an easy-to-use multi-chain platform that lets you access top DeFi opportunities all in one place. Built on StarkEx Validium Layer 2 technology, your tokens are securely linked to Ethereum’s blockchain, the second largest in the world, giving you full control over your assets.

Rhino.fi is