Chain Abstraction
Estimated time to read: 4 minutes
In the blockchain ecosystem, managing multiple chains, tokens, and accounts fragments user liquidity. Even with sufficient balances across chains, users face challenges executing transactions due to fragmented assets. To transact, they must first convert assets into those acceptable on the target chain. This often involves complex, multi-step conversions to find the best route, a task not every user has the expertise or time for.
Chain Abstraction allows users to view the unified balance across chains and spend on any chain. With chain abstraction, users gain a simplified, cohesive view of their wallet and liquidity, empowering them to focus on specifying clear intent rather than the how part of transaction execution to realize the intent.
Unified balance
Unified balance shows all the liquidity in a user's EoA account across multiple chains in one view. It lets users transact seamlessly on any chain without needing bridges or pre-provisioning gas for token swaps.
For instance, if a user has 0 USDC , 4 ETH on Optimism, 10 USDC on Arbitrum, and 15 USDC on Base then sending 16 USDC on Optimism would typically require swapping or bridging across chains in multiple steps. With unified balance, the user simply states the intent to send 16 USDC on Optimism, and the chain abstraction handles it in one go with a single approval.
Benefits
Chain abstraction and unified balances simplify and streamline Web3 transactions by offering:
- Lower Complexity: Users specify their desired outcome and maximum price. Behind the scenes, solvers handle swaps, conversions, and routing securely and transparently.
- Unified Liquidity: Users see a consolidated view of their assets across all chains without needing manual bridges or swaps.
- Simplified UX: It eliminates the technical and time-consuming multi-step hurdles, creating a seamless experience for both experts and casual users by eliminating the clutter between user expectation and reality of blockchain ecosystem.
- Streamlined DX: Developers can enable unified balances in dApps without altering existing stacks. With the Arcana Chain Abstraction SDK, they can integrate seamlessly—no need to write smart contracts or manage chain switching for transactions on new chains.
Arcana's CA Offerings
Arcana has two CA offerings, one targeted at the Web3 Users and the other for Web3 builders and developers.
- Web3 Users: Arcana Wallet (standalone)
- Web3 Developers: Arcana CA SDK
Arcana Wallet (Standalone)
Arcana Wallet unifies user balance in the user's wallet account spread across multiple chains and tokens for supported apps out of the box.
Powered by Arcana's chain abstraction protocol, it displays user's unified balance in the wallet account across several blockchains and tokens by combining fragmented liquidity. This allows users to spend on any chain.
Download the Arcana Wallet browser extension and get started!
Arcana CA SDK
Integrate Arcana's Chain Abstraction (CA) SDK into your Web3 app to enable unified balance for app user. Let the user spend seamlessly on any chain, eliminating liquidity fragmentation.
If your app already integrates with the Arcana Auth SDK for social login, users can access the in-app Arcana Wallet directly, no browser extension is needed. Simplify onboarding and empower users with cross-chain functionality built right into your app.
How does CA-SDK work?
Arcana Network's Chain Abstraction SDK (CA SDK) offers a decentralized system that manages user's EoA state, user intents for chain abstraction, various state transitions during intent servicing, communication with the solvers that service the intents and netting the transactions to provide settlement to the solvers.
It's key components include the Arcana Vault smart contracts deployed on supported chains and a solver ecosystem. In the current form, there is no auction process. The first solver that accepts intent is allowed to service it.
High-level Overview
- Developer sets up Arcana Chain Abstraction settings enabling cross chain transactions on selected chain types and required allowances.
- App users are required to permit the allowances or reconfigure them if the app allows. Allowances enable Arcana Vault to collect required funds from the EoA account on one or more source chains, as per the user's intent.
- User submits an intent to spend
ntokens on a destination chain Y and transact via a Web3 app. - Arcana verifies that user has sufficient funds across the source chains in the user's EoA account and adequate allowances are pre-configured to enable chain abstraction, pay gas fees.
- Funds are moved to the Arcana Vault and user's intent is announced to all listening solvers.
- The assumption is that one of the available solvers in the system will agree to service the user's intent. As of today, only Arcana solver is supported. We are working with partners to onboard trusted third-party solvers into the ecosystem.
- Once the solver services the intent and provides the necessary liquidity on the desired destination chain into the user's EoA, the user can instantly spend it.
- Arcana takes care of managing the settlement at the agreed upon periodicity with the successful solvers. The settlement does not happen after every user transaction but after netting and verification process.
- In case a transaction fails, or times out waiting for a solver, user's funds deposited from the source chain are refunded within a stipulated time period after verification.