Understanding Intent and Chain Abstraction: Seamlessly Bringing Mass Users into the Blockchain?

In the previous cycle, the blockchain industry focused on scalability, with Ethereum building Layer 2 solutions and multiple Layer 1 chains raising significant funds. The industry's main goal was to solve the issue of low on-chain performance, which hindered mass user adoption. However, as market volatility persisted, Ethereums gas fees dropped to as low as 2 gwei, and on-chain performance was no longer the primary factor limiting blockchain development.

As performance issues gradually eased, the industry's focus shifted from scalability to lowering the barriers for users to enter the blockchain space. Chain abstraction and intent abstraction have gained attention, as they enhance blockchain usability and adoption by hiding the underlying complexity and simplifying user interactions. These two abstraction methods not only help users seamlessly operate across different chains but also convert high-level user intents into automated execution, making blockchain technology more accessible to the general public.

Understanding Chain Abstraction and Intent Abstraction

Chain Abstraction and Intent Abstraction are two concepts in the blockchain field, primarily used to discuss technological methods that simplify complexity, enhance interoperability, and improve user experience.

While chain abstraction and intent abstraction share similar goals of simplifying user interactions with blockchain, they differ significantly in terms of the level they address, their scope of application, and their specific implementation.

Chain Abstraction

Chain abstraction refers to hiding the technical details of the underlying blockchain networks during development, so that users or developers dont need to directly interact with the complex underlying protocols or blockchain infrastructure. For example, through chain abstraction, a user can interact with multiple blockchains within a single application without needing to understand the specific implementations of each chain. The goal is to streamline the user experience and development process, making cross-chain operations more seamless and intuitive.

Intent Abstraction

Intent abstraction involves extracting the users intent from specific transaction operations, allowing the blockchain system to automatically handle the underlying transaction logic based on the user's high-level intent. In other words, users only need to express their desired outcome, and the system will automatically determine how to achieve that goal on the blockchain.

The difference between chain abstraction and intent abstraction can be likened to two different experiences when executing transactions on the blockchain. Chain abstraction is similar to Cosmos, where users transfer assets between different blockchains, much like taking public transportation between different cities. Users need to first understand the rules of each chain, find the appropriate cross-chain bridge, manually configure various parameters, such as selecting which blockchain to operate on, and then wait for each chain to process the transaction. This approach offers users more choice and control but requires greater knowledge and effort.

On the other hand, intent abstraction is more like performing a token swap on Uniswap (V3). Users simply express their goal—such as swapping one token for another—and Uniswap automatically finds the optimal liquidity pools and trade routes in the background, handling all necessary operations. Users dont need to know which specific blockchains or smart contract calls are involved; the system takes care of everything. This method streamlines the entire process, allowing users to simply express their intent, with the system handling the rest.

In summary, chain abstraction addresses the complexity of cross-chain interactions, focusing on interoperability and compatibility in a multi-chain ecosystem, while intent abstraction simplifies user actions by allowing platforms to automatically execute a series of operations based on the users expressed intent.

Current Development Status

By comparison, intent abstraction seems to lower the barriers to entry for users more effectively. However, intent abstraction is still in its early stages of development. Although some projects like CoW Protocol, UniswapX, and Zapper have already achieved practical results, many challenges remain, such as addressing privacy concerns, improving efficiency, and preventing centralization.