Author: Kunal Goel, Researcher at Messari; Translation: xiaozou
Too many chains and too many rollups have brought two major challenges to the crypto world: fragmented liquidity and poor user experience.
Failed Attempts
We have attempted interoperability, cross-chain solutions, multi-chain approaches, but they have all failed. What’s worse, most of these practices have led to more fragmentation issues. The answer to solving these problems lies in chain abstraction.
Why Cross-Chain and Multi-Chain Failed, and Why Chain Abstraction Might Succeed
The most promising solutions have taken note of the mistakes of early attempts and created trustworthy, neutral, unbiased infrastructure to reduce the likelihood of exacerbating fragmentation issues. Furthermore, the difference in the approach that Chain Abstraction is attempting lies in gaining recognition from Ethereum and its ecosystem. Ethereum’s vision centered around rollups is inherently fragmented in design, leading its large community/developer base to realize the importance of providing solutions.
Bilateral Strategy
The fragmentation issues of capital and users must be addressed from both ends.
Bottom-up chain abstraction connects liquidity between different blockchains. The most promising project in this field is Polygon’s AggLayer, which utilizes ZK proofs to provide unified bridging and shared liquidity. It not only solves liquidity issues within Polygon but also addresses liquidity problems between different L2 and even alt-L1 solutions.
Top-down chain abstraction focuses on improving user experience. One of the most significant solutions is allowing users to transact across different chains using a master wallet. Some notable projects to watch include OneBalance, NEAR Protocol, Particle Network, among others.