Developers face increasing pressure to create applications that function seamlessly across multiple networks. This cross-chain capability has become essential rather than optional.
While the concept sounds straightforward, implementation presents significant challenges—primarily revolving around the complexity of blockchain bridges.
LI.FI offers an elegant solution through bridge aggregation, simplifying multi-chain development considerably.
Article Contents
Understanding the Multi-chain Challenge
Before diving into the how-tos, let’s grasp why multi-chain development is pivotal in 2025.
DappRadar’s Q4 2024 report reveals a striking shift—over 65% of decentralized apps now span at least three blockchain networks, up from just a third of that in 2022. A dramatic rise.
Liquidity and users scatter like stars across Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, and a galaxy of other networks. Single-chain apps? They risk shrinking their user reach and utility. However, managing connections to multiple blockchain bridges presents daunting technical hurdles.
Setting Up Your Development Environment
To build a multi-chain dApp, you’ll need the following:
- Node.js (v18.0+)
- A code editor (VSCode recommended)
- MetaMask or another web3 wallet
- Basic knowledge of React, Ethers.js, and Solidity
Let’s prepare a new project:
mkdir multi-chain-dapp
cd multi-chain-dapp
npm init -y
npm install ethers react react-dom @li.fi/sdk
Core Implementation Steps
Here are the 3 core implementations steps:
1. Initialize the LI.FI SDK
The first step involves setting up the bridge aggregator SDK in your project:
import { LiFi } from ‘@li.fi/sdk’;
// Initialize LI.FI with default settings
const lifi = new LiFi({
integrator: ‘Your dApp Name’
});
2. Create The Bridge Interface Component
Next, build a React component for your bridge interface:
import React, { useState, useEffect } from ‘react’;
import { LiFi } from ‘@li.fi/sdk’;
function BridgeComponent() {
const [sourceChain, setSourceChain] = useState(‘ethereum’);
const [destinationChain, setDestinationChain] = useState(‘polygon’);
const [amount, setAmount] = useState(”);
const [availableBridges, setAvailableBridges] = useState([]);
const lifi = new LiFi({
integrator: ‘Your dApp Name’
});
useEffect(() => {
const getBridgeOptions = async () => {
const routes = await lifi.getRoutes({
fromChain: sourceChain,
toChain: destinationChain,
fromToken: ‘0x…’, // Token address on source chain
toToken: ‘0x…’, // Token address on destination chain
fromAmount: amount
});
setAvailableBridges(routes);
};
if (amount && sourceChain && destinationChain) {
getBridgeOptions();
}
}, [amount, sourceChain, destinationChain]);
return (
<div className=”bridge-container”>
{/* Your UI components here */}
</div>
);
}
3. Implement The Bridge Execution Logic
Once users select their preferred bridge option, you’ll need execution logic:
const executeBridge = async (selectedRoute) => {
try {
// Request user to connect wallet if not connected
if (!connectedWallet) {
// Your wallet connection code
}
// Execute the bridge transaction
const result = await lifi.executeRoute(
connectedWallet,
selectedRoute
);
// Handle successful bridging
console.log(‘Bridge successful:’, result);
} catch (error) {
console.error(‘Bridge failed:’, error);
}
};
Addressing Common Development Challenges
Some of the most common development challenges you will encounter are the ones below:
Gas Fee Estimation
One frequent issue involves accurately estimating gas fees. Bridge aggregators help by providing estimates across different networks:
const getGasEstimate = async (route) => {
const estimate = await lifi.getStepTransaction(route.steps[0]);
return estimate.gasCosts;
};
Handling Transaction Failures
Bridge transactions can sometimes fail due to network congestion or other issues. Implement proper error handling:
const monitorTransaction = async (tx) => {
try {
const receipt = await tx.wait();
if (receipt.status === 1) {
return { success: true, data: receipt };
} else {
return { success: false, error: ‘Transaction reverted’ };
}
} catch (error) {
return { success: false, error: error.message };
}
};
Performance Optimization
When building multi-chain dApps, performance becomes critical as complexity increases:
- Caching: Cache route information to reduce API calls. Implement a smart caching layer that stores frequently accessed blockchain data and routing information. Consider time-based invalidation strategies based on block times of different chains.
- Lazy loading: Only load chain-specific code when needed. This reduces initial load times by dynamically importing chain-specific modules, SDKs, and ABIs only when a user actually connects to or interacts with that particular network.
- RPC fallbacks: Maintain multiple RPC endpoint options for each chain and implement automatic failover mechanisms to prevent downtime when a provider experiences issues.
- Optimistic UI updates: Don’t make users wait for on-chain confirmations for UI feedback. Update interfaces optimistically while transactions confirm in the background.
- Parallelization: Run independent cross-chain queries in parallel. Don’t make your users wait for sequential chain requests when many operations can be executed simultaneously. Implement Promise.all() patterns for independent blockchain interactions.
// Example of parallel chain queries
const fetchDataFromMultipleChains = async () => {
const [ethereumData, polygonData, avalancheData] = await Promise.all([
fetchFromEthereum(),
fetchFromPolygon(),
fetchFromAvalanche()
]);
return { ethereumData, polygonData, avalancheData };
};
Conclusion
Building multi-chain dApps is the next leap in blockchain’s growth, letting applications tap into broader user bases and harness different networks’ diverse strengths.
By using bridge aggregators like LI.FI, developers can significantly reduce the complexity involved while delivering robust cross-chain functionality.
As blockchain’s domain diversifies and expands, multi-chain ability is bound to be the norm, not the outlier.
Beginning with bridge aggregators charts a realistic route ahead, steering developers towards crafting value rather than solving complex interoperability challenges.
