Blockchain
Interoperability protocol Connext has introduced chain abstraction with the goal of simplifying the layer 2 experience.
Similar to how account abstraction is designed to simplify the end-user experience with wallets, chain abstraction is designed to allow users to interact with multiple decentralized applications (dapps) on different chains without ever having to leave the user interface.
Traditionally, when interacting with layer-2s, users may need to bridge their funds to chain A if they want to use a specific pool of liquidity on chain A, but they only have tokens available on chain B.
This makes for a complicated user experience and can often deter new users from wanting to transact in the space as they have to navigate the process of bridging, paying for gas and depositing funds across different networks.
Many different protocols are working to solve this problem, including Chainlink, LayerZero, and Wormhole, just to name a few. All of these protocols focus on cross-chain messaging, which allows smart contracts to communicate with each other.
Most of these protocols fall under the three most common bridges that exist today:
- Original
- Externally verified
- Optimistic
Native bridges are completely reliable, Max Lomuscio, marketing lead at Connext Labs, told Blockworks. Transactions on native bridges are fully verified by one blockchain, but often only work in one direction.
Another type of bridge – externally verified – uses external parties to verify transactions and is based on trust.
This includes Chainlink and LayerZero, among others. For example, on Chainlink, users have to trust that the oracle is correct. With LayerZero there is a 2/2 multisig, where two parties are responsible for all token bridging.
“The problem is that nothing prevents these parties from working together if they wanted to,” Lomuscio said.
Optimistic bridges are a third type. Just like rollups work, transactions that go through optimistic bridges must be quarantined for 30 minutes before they are valid.
Lomuscio notes that “any viewer can submit a tamper-proof and slash transaction, so you only need one good actor to stay in the room watching the transactions to keep the system safe.”
Connext claims that what it introduces with chain abstraction is completely reliable and fast.
“Connext connects to native bridges to move the data through the safest path. In addition, we have an optimistic system so we can reduce the time to move messages from roll-ups that would otherwise take seven days,” said Lomusico.
There’s also a liquidity and execution layer, Lomusico explains, “where liquidity providers immediately provide cash to users and then wait for the 30-minute refund on the optimistic layer.”
The Connext toolkit has been reviewed and is available to developers on Ethereum, BSC, Arbitrum, Polygon, Optimism and Gnosis, Lomuscio said.
To use the toolkit, dapps on these platforms will need to import it into their own architecture, Lomuscio notes.
“It doesn’t require any change to their smart contracts, although we recommend tweaking their UI to make it seamless for their dapp,” he said.
Other chains that may deploy the toolkit in the near future include Linea, Scroll, zkSync, Base, and Polygon zkEVM, to name a few.
“The idea is that with hundreds or thousands [layer-2s] And [layer-3s] that will come to market in the coming years, the user experience will be completely fragmented and distorted,” said Lomusico. “The only way for dapps to enable a seamless experience is to abstract the concept of chains and the underlying tech stack in general.”
This is similar to what exists in the Internet world today, where users don’t know what server or storage system websites are running on, Lomusico noted.
Dapps that have already adopted the concept of chain abstraction today are betting platform Prode and winding up the bootstrapping protocol Fjord. Other dapps that integrate the Connext toolkit still largely remain on the testnet, with mainnet launches planned for the coming weeks.