Talking about chain abstraction: Is it really easier to use, or is it just another new buzzword?
author:BRIDGET HARRIS
Compiled by: Xiaobai Navigation coderworld
Chain abstraction has become a hot topic right now, and for obvious reasons - allcryptocurrencyEveryone in the space should be excited about tools that make on-chain participation easier for consumers.
But a lot of the discussion has not focused on how we got here, and I think it starts with the fact thatDevelopers are also consumers.Now, they are forced to navigate different ecosystems, technology stacks, andCommunityThis creates a lock-in mechanism that sometimes diverts developers from focusing on the right problems due to perverse and unsustainable incentives.Developers are users too, and they shouldn't be forced to choose where to build.
A core challenge for developers is trying to integrate their applications with a bunch of different technology stacks and underlying infrastructure, or building infrastructure that works across a variety of applications and handles cross-ecosystemCommunityLoyalty issues. In addition,cryptocurrencyThere also seems to be a myriad of different standards out there, which doesn't help developers either.
(Image source:xkcd: Standard)
Historically, this has often forced developers to choose only one ecosystem to build on, and the ecosystem's creators know this and actively compete for developer attention, leading to further lock-in and unsustainability. The result is that projects choose half-hearted multi-chain expansion or go deep into a single isolated ecosystem. Both have problems, and chain abstraction hopes to solve these problems.
The ultimate goal of the chain abstraction is simple:Developers can deploy anywhere because there is no need to reach users, and users can interact seamlessly across the ecosystem, using any liquidity and any chain.Convenience is key, and the biggest beneficiaries are likely to be the (increasingly centralized) interfaces through which users submit their order flows..
Chain abstraction as a concept is broad, loosely defined, and some even argue that it is completely bogus. Rather, it is simply a collection of primitives, infrastructure, and tools that make operations easier for users and developers — many things fit under the umbrella of “chain abstraction.” I agree with the latter view, while viewing these advances as positive and necessary steps overall.
Below, I’ll give a non-exhaustive overview of some of the companies building chain abstraction solutions and share my predictions for the future.
CEX as part of chain abstraction
The most commonly used chain abstraction platform is probably Coinbase itself, although it is limited in the number of assets it offers and it is centralized. Through one interface, users can buy and sell variousToken, albeit in a custodial manner. This is one of the main reasons Coinbase has seen strong adoption and revenue, which bodes well for the entire chain abstraction space. It proves that there is a market for convenience, and that users value and are willing to pay for functionality and simplicity in one interface.
Core infrastructure
为了让链抽象真正起飞，有人认为需要对cryptocurrency中已建立的标准进行根本性改变。一个这样的例子是 OneBalance, which is natively enhancing the existing JSON RPC (cryptocurrency industry standard) so that the new standard allows applications to communicate directly withwalletTheir new API basically communicates with Ethereum, Bitcoin, Solana, and any assets and smart contracts on those chains.contractIn addition to trading across three major chains, this architecture, known as CAKE Framework, also includes gas abstraction, social recovery, and identity verification. Users benefit from fast state transitions because solvers can request state transitions on the target chain without waiting for finality on the original chain. The ultimate goal is to makewallet, especially Metamask, integrate their account model so that users can directly benefit from this new architecture. Specifically, this means that users can theoretically Solana’s Speed(Instead of Ethereum speed) Buy WIF with ETH.
OneBalance RPC method extension
Another company Orb Labs Aims to be a provider that solves the chain abstraction problem at the node level rather than the account level. Their system consists of OrbyEngine (a smart RPC endpoint that can be used by wallets to aggregate and orchestrate account states across all chains) and OrbyKit (a dapp SDK that provides the same functionality for application frontends). OrbyEngine uses a combination of a general intent protocol and a special node (called an account unification node) to aggregate and orchestrate account states.
Together, they allow any wallet or dapp to implement chain abstraction, gas abstraction, and more with just five lines of code. This dynamic fundamentally changes how users interact with wallets, applications, and chains, so they no longer need to worry about bridging across ecosystems and manually moving assets. Chains simply disappear because no matter where the user is, they can transact with all their accounts and assets from other chains. This fundamentally changes the idea of a wallet as a medium to connect to a specific chain to a chain-agnostic connection mechanism that is completely focused on managing the relationship between users, assets, and dapps.
NEAR Also on the core infrastructure side, they have natively integrated chain abstraction into their L1. Through their chain abstraction stack, developers can:
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Immediately choose to subsidize gas fees for users, including through NEAR’s multi-chain gas relayConduct cross-chain transactions.
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Leveraging NEAR’s multi-chain signature service allows users to use their NEAR accounts to conduct transactions on other chains.
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Using FastAuth, users can register (or recover) NEAR accounts using their email addresses, providing a familiar Web2 experience.
These primitives are critical to providing a more seamless experience for developers, which positively extends to users through what is created with these types of stacks.
Unification through bridging
At a higher level, there are a number of bridge providers working on chain abstraction, most notably AcrossThe protocol has a fully functional (published) intent engine where transporters compete to satisfy user orders via the best execution path.
Today, Across is the only live, cross-chain intent-driven bridge protocol that actually works for both large and small amounts. The market is responding: Across has processed nearly $10 billion worth of volume and 6 million+ transactions. Developers can also easily integrate their bridge abstraction framework Across+ into dapps,Enable chain abstraction nativelyThis is an early proof-of-concept of what chain abstraction can do and how the market will value it.
Socket,Bungee (a bridge aggregator), is also working on chain abstraction solutions through modular order flow auctions, where users submit intents and solvers compete to fill them. Through SocketPlugin, developers can add a widget thatBungee (Socket's bridge aggregator, supporting cross-chain asset transfers) directly integrated into their project. Most of the time, Bungee actuallyAcross RoadAcross reached a volume share of approximately 50% at the end of June 2024. Among Socket and other aggregators, Across is cited as the cheapest bridge, accounting forAbout 78%.
Integrated Interaction
Besides bridging (and staking, minting, lending, ...), swapping is the most popular operation performed by users on-chain, and therefore the largest TAM that projects can exploit. UniswapX and Matcha Such platforms focus on exchange, aiming to abstract away gas and aggregate liquidity sources to achieve moreXiaobai NavigationCheap transactions, and enable efficient cross-chain transactions. Typically this involves some sort of solver, which competes to satisfy order flow in the most efficient way. Solvers pay for gas on behalf of the exchange, improve efficiency by batching orders together to get a better price, and users benefit from not having to worry about gasToken.
Middleware framework and interface
Several teams are building layers to support these protocols. For example,Light Can sit on top of other cross-chain interoperability protocols (including potentially Across, UniswapX, ...) and serve as middleware for chain abstractions that users interact with. It is worth noting that Light supports any configuration - conditions, DCA, intent graphs, etc. - expressed within the EVM across multiple chains, while most intent-based protocols initially only support limit orders. In addition, Light uses order flow auctions, where users can programmatically define conditions,SafetySettlement of cross-chain transactions helps ensure best execution.
Another project in this area Genius Working with Lit Protocol Collaborate to build a chain abstraction solution with Lit as the underlying signature scheme for the Genius liquidity architecture. Initially, they will support EVM, SVM, and Bitcoin and focus on launching a decentralized transmitter and aggregated liquidity rather than going the intent route.
Intent as part of the chain abstraction
The intention is usually focused on exchanges, with the ultimate goal of allowing users to trade across any chain with any asset without the need for a bridge. These projects have caught my attention recently:
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Slingshot It is an intent-based on-chain application that allows users to trade across different chains in a bridgeless, non-custodial manner. By creating an extremely simplified user experience - no gas tokens, no connect wallet button, no bridge, can log in on any device, one-click buy and sell - users are more willing to participate on-chain. The downside here is that users are ultimately limited by the amount of funds held in the vaults of each supported chain, but regardless, this architecture encourages more on-chain activity.
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Blackwing A decentralized trading abstraction layer is being developed using Initia. Their advantage is enabling liquidation-free leveraged trading by using Uniswap LP positions as collateral. This effectively reduces the downside risk of significant losses while also accelerating gains.
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Essential Developing its own intent-based Optimistic L2, where solvers directly propose their solutions in the form of new states. In this case, fraud proofs are very concise, as only one constraint needs to be proved to be unsatisfied, which will be published to L1. Developers can directly write applications with the built-in intent framework using Essential's DSL (domain specific language), which enables a wider range of more complex applications to exist and run on their L2 Interoperability.
Enabling mass adoption through abstraction
Just as you can access any website no matter which browser or operating system you are using, you should also be able to access any cryptocurrency ecosystem no matter which chain it is built on. And no matter what technology stack a developer is building on, they should not be disadvantaged by not being able to access certain users in a different ecosystem. Achieving this is definitely easier said than done, but once it happens, I believe it will be a major catalyst for mass cryptocurrency adoption.
Pedro Gomes tweeted:Chain abstraction is a shift in software design from "chain-centric" to "user-centric". We should make chains work for people, rather than teach people how to use chains.
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