Chain Abstraction

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Issues and Solutions for Interacting with Multiple Chains

1. Bridges: Users often face challenges when bridging assets across chains, making this a significant pain point in cross-chain interactions.

2. Gas Tokens: Managing separate gas tokens for different chains is a major inconvenience, requiring users to acquire and maintain multiple tokens.

3. Account/Wallet Fragmentation: Users need to manage multiple accounts and switch networks to access their full balance, especially in non-EVM ecosystems where separate wallets and applications are required.

4. Chain-Specific Applications: The fragmentation of the Web3 ecosystem results in applications being siloed within specific chains. This not only complicates user interactions but also increases development costs for deploying applications across multiple chains.

Solutions

Chain abstraction aims to simplify these challenges by creating a user experience that reduces or eliminates the need for manual processes, allowing users to interact seamlessly across multiple chains without the associated complexities.

• Fewer Gas Tokens: Users can operate with fewer tokens for gas fees, ideally zero or just one.
• Unified Balance: Users maintain a single balance that is usable across all applications, regardless of the underlying chains.
• Seamless Interaction: Users can interact with any application or smart contract without needing to manually bridge tokens between chains.

CAKE Framework

Link: https://frontier.tech/the-cake-framework

CAKE framework consists of three key layers:

1. Permission Layer: Manages user wallet interactions and transaction signing.
2. Solver Layer: Estimates fees and execution speed, managing asynchronous and potentially failing sub-transactions.
3. Settlement Layer: Executes transactions and bridges assets to target chains.

Key Design Decisions

• Permission Layer:

  • EOA Wallets: Require multiple clicks for sub-transactions and fee balances on target chains.
  • Account Abstraction (AA) Wallets: Separate transaction signing and execution but still require multiple clicks.
  • Policy-based Agents: Handle fee management and signing with minimal user interaction.

• Solver Layer:

  • EV_ordering and EV_signal: Different types of extractable values that impact how transactions are processed.
  • Information Sharing:
  • Public Mempool: Broadcasts intents publicly, exposing both EV_ordering and EV_signal.
  • Partial Sharing: Limits information disclosed, affecting price optimality.
  • Private Mempool: Keeps information private but may still expose EV_signal after block confirmation.

• Settlement Layer:

  • Cross-Chain Oracles: Facilitate information transfer between chains, requiring secure and reliable mechanisms.
  • Bridging Tokens:
    • Lock and Mint Bridges: Mint tokens on the target chain based on locked assets.
    • Liquidity Bridges: Use liquidity pools and algorithms for conversion.

Comprehensive Approaches to Chain Abstraction

NEAR (Currently Live)

Link: https://docs.near.org/build/chain-abstraction/what-is

NEAR focuses on a "Blockchain Operating System" that allows users to manage multiple accounts (EOAs) for various chains under a single NEAR account. The approach relies on Multi-Party Computation (MPC) with Threshold Signature Schemes. Here’s how it works:

• Multi-Party Computation: NEAR nodes participate in signature computation collectively.
• Signature Computation: NEAR nodes generate signatures for both EVM and non-EVM accounts.
• Cross-Chain Transactions: The NEAR account can then use these signatures to execute transactions across different chains.

Polygon’s AggLayer (In Testnet Development)

AggLayer aims to provide a Unified Bridge for Layer 2 solutions built using Polygon’s Cross-Chain Development Kit (CDK). Key features include:

• Unified Bridge: Aggregates zk-proofs from CDK L2s and submits them to the Ethereum Mainnet for settlement.
• Addressing Liquidity: Tackles the issue of asset and liquidity shortages for new CDK L2 solutions.
• Future Goals: Polygon aims to include all chain categories into AggLayer, though the current focus is on CDK chains.

Optimism’s Superchain (Concept Stage)

Superchain is a concept aimed at building a unified network of blockchains using the OP Stack. It seeks to:

• Unified Network: Allow collective sharing of security, communication, and bridging among OP Stack chains.
• Asset and Liquidity: Address the asset and liquidity challenges faced by newly launched OP Stack L2 solutions.
• Interchangeability: Enable OP Stack chains to operate interchangeably or within application-specific domains for developers and users.

Particle Network (In Testnet Development)

Particle Network acts as a universal settlement layer that coordinates interactions across chains with the following features:

• Universal Account Protocol: Synchronizes Smart Accounts across chains, providing a unified UX with the same account address and balance everywhere.
• Universal Liquidity Protocol: Facilitates automatic cross-chain transactions and swaps, enabling users to pay for gas using any token.
• Settlement: Transactions and liquidity are ultimately settled on Particle’s Cosmos SDK Layer 1.

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https://particle.network/