When we talk about crypto we often talk about entire ecosystems built around the core blockchain projects.
In nature, different ecosystems are suitable for different species, and oftentimes they don't intersect. You can't expect a fish to breath air, just as you can't expect a cat to breath water or a pig to fly (therefore the expression).
But, with the right tools or machines, a person can be in any of those ecosystems. Even a cat can be underwater or a pig can fly. Or a fish can live in a jar on the table and think it's the ocean.
Ecosystems can be connected, even when it seems unlikely.
What's the benefit of that? Well, why do we have roads, railroads and air routes between cities? Why doesn't everyone just stay in one place, where one was born, raised and lived to the end of one's life? It happens, but in reality people want to explore other places. For fun/time off, to look for work, to meet new people, whatever the case may be.
People can still move between two towns if there is nothing connecting them, or if they have to take multiple connections in-between. But it's more convenient when there's a direct route, less expensive and possibly less dangerous.
That's where we are with crypto ecosystems. Like cities in the real world with no real direct route... until today. Centralized exchanges are not really 'direct routes', because funds go through the CEX first.
But Thorchain came along and changed all that when it launched its multichain chaosnet - a way to directly connect 6 blockchains: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin & Binance Chain (+Thorchain).
Talk about interoperability between blockchains has increased lately, and some projects had the purpose of facilitating interoperability between blockchains. That includes LeoBridge.
But Thorchain's multichain chaosnet is a first major project that is finalized which allows the interconnection of multiple blockchains. This is not yet a mainnet, and there are some safeguards in place before the chaosnet is deemed safe, secure & reliable, afterwards the safeguards will be removed and it will become completely decentralized.
https://medium.com/thorchain/thorchain-launch-multichain-chaosnet-bb9f60008a03
Right now I feel pretty silly that I didn't buy RUNE when it was cheaper and when it was highly recommended by people whose judgement I value here on the chain. If I were to find myself excuses, it was difficult to decide to let go of any of the holdings at the time, especially since I had been burned in the past trying to catching the next great project during bull run.