Source: Covalent

Over the past few months, many concepts have trended within the crypto space, a particularly interesting one is “chain abstraction.” This article aims to demystify it. Before we jump into this, you must understand what account abstraction is.

What is Account Abstraction?

Account abstraction is the ability of users to use smart contract accounts rather than externally owned accounts (Ethereum accounts). This enables better user experience on EVM chains as the smart contract accounts have built-in already-programmed conditions to ascertain a valid transaction. You can learn more about account abstraction in this article. Chain abstraction solves certain challenges within a broader scope.

What is Chain Abstraction?

The web3 industry is like a country with many cities (blockchains). Each blockchain network has its consensus mechanism, complexity, architecture, and challenges, however, chain abstraction is a promising initiative that aims to enable better interoperability between these networks.

Chain abstraction is a context that describes primitives created to enable and unify interactions across multiple blockchains (EVM and non-EVM chains). It does so through a unified interface.

Problems Chain Abstraction Solves

1. Liquidity fragmentation: with multiple blockchains, liquidity is fragmented across various chains and protocols. Chain abstraction simplifies access to liquidity pools across multiple blockchain networks by offering a unified interface or protocol. This ensures that developers and users can interact with liquidity pools consistently, reducing fragmentation arising from various blockchain-specific liquidity pools and protocols.

2. Blockchain accessibility: even with bridges, interoperability is still complex. Chain abstraction mitigates this complexity by providing a single interface that users can operate from and have access to a number of protocols.

3. User experience.

Key Aspects of Chain Abstraction

1. Unified Interface: Chain abstraction offers an interface or API that removes the complexities of individual blockchain protocols. This enables users to interact with various blockchains using familiar methods, irrespective of the underlying technical specifics.

2. Standardized Operations: Through abstracting operations like asset transfers, smart contract execution, and data querying into standardized APIs or protocols, chain abstraction fosters consistency and simplifies development. This standardization reduces barriers for developers, enabling them to create applications that seamlessly operate across different blockchains.

3. Efficiency: Chain abstraction helps lower costs related to integrating and maintaining blockchain systems. Developers and businesses can utilize pre-existing tools, libraries, and infrastructure that support multiple blockchains, rather than spending resources on creating and managing bespoke solutions for each individual blockchain network.

4. Flexibility and Future Proofing: Applications leveraging chain abstraction exhibit greater flexibility and adaptability to evolving blockchain technologies. Integrating new blockchain networks into existing applications becomes simpler, and applications can potentially transition between blockchains with minimal disruption.

Particle Network is an example of a project implementing account abstraction and chain abstraction.

Chain abstraction fosters a more connected ecosystem where users can freely and seamlessly interact with multiple networks. It is a pivotal concept for better crypto UX, interoperability, and usability.