How Bridge Settlement Decides Where Trust Sits

What settlement actually means

A bridge does not move a coin across chains. It locks or burns the asset on one side and releases an equivalent on the other, so the entire safety question reduces to who may authorise that release.

Two models

Lock-and-mint keeps the original in a vault and issues a wrapped claim. Burn-and-mint destroys and recreates, keeping supply constant but making the minting authority the thing you trust.

What to check first

• Who confirms the transfer: multisig, validator set, or a light client
• Whether the wrapped asset redeems one-to-one
• Settlement time and fees

Read the settlement model before the fee table.