Exploring Chain Abstraction: Insights And Examples

“We can change the world with blockchain technology, if we stop talking about it”, Dante Disparte, Circle's Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy.

The above quote is inextricably linked to the lingering technical complexity surrounding blockchain technology and hindering its mass adoption. As a writer who shares Dante's view, I consider it prudent to explore such emerging panacea as chain abstraction with a view to highlighting its growing significance in the context of mass adoption and web3.

For years, blockchain writers and researchers have highlighted the impact of blockchain on various industries--from finance to chain supply to health care --establishing the thesis that it can profoundly transform the world. However, despite the glowing tributes to its technological prowess, the blockchain trilemma—security, scalability and decentralization—remain a key challenge.

Added to this trio of blockchain challenges is interoperability, a pronounced issue underlying the need to unify blockchain protocols and simplify user experience.

Creating a unified blockchain ecosystem and a seamless user experience is key to realizing full potential of blockchain technology. Whether it is creating a simplified account management for blockchain wallets or abstracting away the underlying complexities, the goal is an intuitive user friendly experience.

To this end, chain abstraction has emerged not only as a tested solution to the interoperability/scalability challenge slowing down the progress of blockchain technology, but also as a new narrative for solving web3's UX problem.

Chain Abstraction Explained

Chain abstraction refers to the process of removing the complexities faced by end-users when intertacting with multiple blockchain protocols.

Simplifying blockchain complexities and unifying protocols can address ecosystem fragmentation, improving user experience and interoperability.

The emergence of chain abstraction has largely been informed by the growing number of blockchain protocols and layer 2 solutions that require users and developers to grow accustomed to fragmented user experiences.

As an abstraction technology, the concept of chain abstraction aims to create a unified interface that masks the underlying complexities of different blockchains, providing a seamless user experience.

NEAR protocol is often credited with popularizing chain abstraction; it is an ongoing area of research and development with several protocols developing their native solutions to the interoperability challenge.

According to it,"Chain abstraction is the idea that blockchain technology should be abstracted away from the user experience."

The Significance of Chain Abstraction

Chain abstraction has been hailed as a viable solution to enhance cross-chain interaction of blockchain protocols.  Its significance lies in its potential to improve user experience, enhance cross-chain communication, and accelerate mass adoption.

User Experience

Creating a unified user interface can enhance user user experience by eliminating the need to interact with multiple blockchain wallets. This technique is also geared towards making the onboarding of news users to web3 hassle-free.

Interoperability

The ability of different blockchains to communicate smoothly with one another can foster a more interconnected ecosystem, which is central to mass adoption.

This is an area of vital concern due to the need to ensure the smooth transfer of digital assets from one protocol to another without sacrificing scalability or security of the protocol.

Additionally, the importance of creating an interoperable blockchain ecosystem is that it can facilitate the development of decentralized applications (Dapps) that are capable of interacting with multiple blockchains.

Mass Adoption

Bringing blockchain to the mainstream has remained a significant hurdle. Chain abstraction creates a mainstream appeal through a more intuitive user-friendly experience for users and developers alike. A widespread adoption of this technology has the potential to drive innovation and economic growth.

Examples of Chain Abstraction

Although chain abstraction is relatively a new concept demystifying blockchain, it has been implemented on various blockchain protocols.

Defi-Based Examples

ThorChain and AnySwap are DeFi protocols that enable users to swap tokens across different blockchains, eliminating the need for separate exchanges or bridges. These platforms allow users to interact with a single interface without being bogged down by technical details or requirements.

Multi-Chain NFT Examples

OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace, is an epitome of a cross-chain communication NFT platform that supports multiple blockchain protocols. Users are able to buy, sell and list different NFTs via a single interface.

Protocol-Based Examples

Blockchain protocols such as Polkadot and Cosmos support the seamless interaction with multiple blockchain protocols, easing the movement of digital assets for users and creating a rich interoperable experience for developers. For example, Polkadot’s JAM Chain is a chain abstraction tool built on the protocol.

A more recent example is UXLINK omni chain tool built to address the user experience challenges faced by both users and developers within its ecosystem. It leverages a chain abstraction technology known as Seamless Transactions –a chain abstraction stack supported by Multichain Gas Relayer services–to eliminate the underlying complexity of its protocol  , abstracting it into the background completely. Additionally, UXLINK chain abstraction stack incorporates SocialAuth as a mechanism for addressing the shortcomings of  blockchain wallet, offering a great level of convenience to create and recover account.

Other Abstraction Technology(Account Abstraction)

Ethereum being the most popular smart contract blockchain in the world is the undisputed leader in abstraction technology. This is evident in the Ethereum Improvement Proposal(ERC-4337).

Launched in 2023, Ethereum's EIP (ERC-4337) is the ERC standard that provides for account abstraction aimed at simplifying user experience on the Ethereum blockchain.

This technology , while not a default setting, allows developers within its ecosystem to add AA options to decentralized applications, making them applicable only to externally owned accounts(EOAs) or ERC wallet addresses—simplifying user experience and significantly improving the onboarding process to the Ethereum blockchain.

An example of Ethereum-powered account abstraction is the Email-as-a- wallet, a downloadable app on PlayStore, which supports an email-based interaction with the protocol.

As a natural response to the complexity surrounding wallet management the emergence of account abstraction is Justified because users face a lot of challenges in managing a custodial wallet ranging from creating a wallet, storing a seed phrase and constantly guarding against theft.

Key Difference Between Account Abstraction And Chain Abstraction

While chain abstraction focuses on creating a single interface for multiple blockchain protocols, account abstraction addresses the user experience challenge within a single blockchain (ie Ethereum’s non-native AA integration) .

Conclusion

Chain abstraction is still in its early days. It has, however, attracted significant attention in the blockchain industry, prompting several native solutions and experimentations.

Despite the novelty of this concept, it has renewed the industry’s interest in the interoperability of blockchain protocols by offering a viable alternative to creating a unified blockchain ecosystem devoid of fragmentation.