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How it works

When you want to sell an NFT from Ethereum on Sui:
  1. Create a container in Umi
  2. Deposit your NFT into the container
  3. The container verifies you own the NFT on the source chain
  4. List it for sale on Drip (the cross-chain marketplace on Sui)
  5. When someone buys it, the NFT transfers to their Umi wallet
The buyer gets a verified cross-chain asset. The seller gets paid in SUI or other tokens. No bridges. No wrapped tokens. Real assets, real ownership.

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Umi Containers (v1)

Umi containers are our current implementation for cross-chain assets. They use off-chain attestations enforced by the Umi server to validate that a specific claim exists on another chain. How verification works:
  1. You deposit an asset into a container
  2. Umi validates ownership on the source chain
  3. The attestation is recorded and enforced by Umi
  4. The container becomes tradeable on Sui
This approach is ideal for trading on Drip. The marketplace does not need to understand the underlying claims at the contract level. Once assets are in containers and verified by Umi, we surface them through the frontend for buyers to browse and purchase. What you can put in a container:
  • Ethereum NFTs (ERC-721, ERC-1155)
  • Solana NFTs
  • Tezos NFTs
  • Bitcoin Ordinals (coming soon)
Container types:
  • Single: One NFT per container. Good for individual listings.
  • Bundle: Multiple NFTs in one container. Sell a whole collection at once.

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Attested Containers (v2)

V2 moves toward an on-chain balance sheet model. Instead of opaque assets with off-chain attestations, containers will hold attested claims that can be trusted directly on-chain. What changes:
  • Claims are cryptographically attested using TEEs (trusted execution environments) or light clients
  • Attestations live on-chain, not just in Umi’s systems
  • Smart contracts can verify container contents directly
  • No reliance on Umi to enforce claims
What this unlocks: V1 is designed for trading NFTs and similar assets where off-chain verification is sufficient. V2 opens up far more:
  • LP positions: Containers can represent liquidity positions from other chains
  • Composable assets: DeFi protocols can build on top of attested cross-chain assets
  • Financial primitives: Lending, borrowing, and other operations against verified cross-chain collateral
  • Trustless integrations: Any protocol can verify container contents without trusting Umi
This is the path from a trading feature to a full cross-chain asset layer.

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Trading on Drip

Drip is the marketplace built for cross-chain trading. It is where Umi containers get listed and sold. For sellers:
  • List NFTs from any chain you hold in Umi
  • Set your price in SUI or other accepted tokens
  • Bundle multiple items for package deals
  • Track your listings and sales
For buyers:
  • Browse verified cross-chain assets
  • Buy with confidence knowing ownership is verified
  • Assets go directly to your Umi wallet
  • Full provenance on Sui blockchain

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Why this matters

Before Umi, selling an Ethereum NFT to someone who wanted to pay in SOL was complicated. You would need to find a buyer, coordinate wallets, maybe use an escrow service, hope nobody gets scammed. With Umi and Drip, it is just a marketplace listing. The verification happens automatically. The settlement is trustless. Cross-chain trading becomes as simple as trading on any other marketplace.