Chain Abstraction
Last updated
Last updated
Chain Abstraction enables users to effortlessly interact with decentralized applications (dApps) using any token across various blockchains, all within a single user interface (UI). This seamless interaction is made possible by the Chain Abstraction Protocol for Web3, a flexible, modular protocol that supports chain-agnostic applications by abstracting the complexities of underlying blockchain networks.
Applications designed to operate solely within one blockchain are confined to interacting with assets, data, and users only on that chain. This isolation can restrict the app’s utility and reach.
Contrastingly, cross-chain applications integrate multiple components distributed over various blockchains, communicating via diverse messaging protocols. These applications face unique interoperability challenges, such as data and liquidity fragmentation, which are currently addressed by a variety of message-passing protocols and liquidity networks. However, a critical gap remains in solving account fragmentation, a problem for which effective interoperability solutions are yet to be developed.
Compared to single-network environments where users can manage all interactions through one wallet, multi-chain ecosystems often degrade user experience due to the need for multiple wallets and the complexity of managing settings across different networks. Additionally, cross-chain services usually require cumbersome fund transfers and suffer from the impracticality of atomic transactions due to the lack of shared validators or sequencers.
Consider a user interaction across two different chains:
Access a dApp on chain A.
Connect the wallet corresponding to chain A.
Notice a deficit of funds on chain A.
Switch to the chain B wallet to access other funds.
Use a decentralized exchange to convert assets for chain A use.
Complete asset swap/bridge.
Switch back to the chain A wallet.
Revisit the dApp on chain A.
Execute the desired transactions.
Each additional blockchain incorporated into a transaction adds several steps and increases the overall time, sometimes by up to 20 minutes or more, significantly detracting from the user experience.
Current cross-chain messaging protocols face significant limitations in facilitating smooth transactions across chains due to their reliance on third-party verification and the need for confirmations from one chain before progressing to another.
To reduce entry barriers and enhance user experience, it is crucial to abstract the complexities of blockchains from the users. Chain Abstraction allows for direct interaction with any dApp using any token across any chain, without navigating away from the user interface.
Fragmented Liquidity
Seamless multi-chain liquidity
Unclear entry points
Uniform and clear entry point
Poor user experience
Streamlined experience across chains
Front-end Development: Enhancements in user interfaces and wallets are essential for simplifying blockchain interactions.
Address Mapping: There is a need to align aelf addresses with those of other networks like EVM and Bitcoin through sophisticated account aggregation.
Backend Infrastructure: Robust systems are required to enable rapid and efficient cross-chain interactions.
We define User Intents as the high-level goals of a user, which guide the state transitions in transactions. While an intent itself is not a transaction, it is "solved" when a transaction, or a series of transactions, satisfies the desired end state. This flexibility allows for simultaneous resolution of multiple intents, optimizing the transaction paths across various chains.
Transactions and intents may be viewed as two approaches to achieving user goals. Transactions require specific, predefined paths, whereas intents are flexible, focusing solely on the outcome rather than the process. This adaptability is crucial for multi-chain interactions and is supported by an intermediary layer that efficiently transfers funds between accounts, drastically reducing transaction times and complexity.
Account fragmentation is a significant challenge, requiring users to manage multiple accounts across different blockchains to access various apps effectively. This issue, along with data and liquidity fragmentation, forms the trio of interoperability challenges, with account fragmentation being the least addressed yet most impactful on users.
The development of an intermediary layer that consolidates all user accounts, allowing seamless app interactions across any chain, is essential but complex, as it must address all three interoperability issues.
In the decentralized wallet network, there are multiple nodes, each with the ability to perform actions on the user's account. These nodes receive a package of information, including signatures, from the user's application.
Each node then checks two things: first, they verify the content of the information package, and second, they check if the user's session keys have the necessary permissions to sign the package.
This verification process is done independently by each node by checking a ledger, which is like a record book of permissions. Once the nodes confirm that everything is in order, they participate in a group signing process. If the majority of the nodes agree on the signing process, the fully signed package is sent back for publishing.
And here's an ELI5 (Explain Like I'm 5) version: "Imagine you want to send a secret message to your friends. But before you can send it, you need to make sure that all your friends agree it's a good message. So, you give each friend a copy of the message and a special key. Each friend uses their key to check if the message is good and if they have permission to sign it. If most of your friends agree that the message is good, they all sign it together. Then, the message with all the signatures is ready to be sent out to everyone."
The traditional flow for cross-chain transfer of NFTs usually contains the following 6 steps:
Asset Management: Managing a diverse portfolio across chains.
Bridge Path Discovery: Identifying compatible bridge paths for target chains.
Bridge Operation: Incurring gas fees for bridge transactions.
Asset Acquisition: Securing native assets necessary for target chain transactions.
Asset Trade: Converting assets for specific uses like NFT creation.
NFT Creation: Completing the creation of an NFT on the target chain.
Conversely, the aelf Chain Abstraction Framework (or CAF) simplifies this process, allowing immediate NFT creation on the target chain after asset deposit, significantly enhancing user experience by minimizing steps and eliminating the need for gas fee management on the initial chain.
Gasless Approach: Adopting a gas-free approach eliminates the necessity for users to hold native assets on the target chain, yet they still need to own assets on that chain for transactional purposes.
Interoperable Bridge: This facilitates the execution of any transaction on the target chain, such as swaps or NFT minting. Nonetheless, users are still required to identify a bridge path, prepare assets, and cover gas fees on the source chain.
By capitalising on technologies like gas-free transactions and interoperable bridges, which have been previously developed by numerous projects, and uniquely incorporating asset management, we significantly improve the user experience.
Importantly, at no point in the process do users need to worry about "which chain to execute on", enabling smooth transactions across multiple platforms.
The Decentralized Wallet Network (DWN) operates a group of assigned Multi-Party Computation (MPC) signatories. These signatories have the authority to execute actions on the smart contract wallet or function as autonomous delegated External Owned Accounts (EOAs) for the users.
DWN comprises a network of decentralised MPC nodes. These nodes refer to the aelf chain registry of security and session policies, which are managed by end-users, to minimize their risk. The decentralisation of these nodes is achieved by a group of independent off-chain nodes independently place bids, sign a transaction and receive rewards in the form of a custom token as fees.
Due to the structure of the Decentralised Wallet Networks (DWNs), the platform is capable of supporting all chains and can manage transactions across all these chains. This is facilitated by the unified user account on DWN, which is a result of delegated Multi-Party Computation (MPC) wallets across all these chains. Users can activate on-chain permissions for various applications through the aelf Chain Abstraction - client Software Development Kits (SDKs), following app-session-risk policies.
