What is Network Abstraction?

Why does Web3’s fragmentation matter?

By the end of 2024 the decentralised-app (dapp) industry had grown 485% year on year, reaching an average of 24.6m unique active wallets (UAW) a day. These operate across more than 350 blockchains, handle millions of tokens and come with their own quirks.

Because architectures differ, many ecosystems are isolated from one another. At a macro level that hinders mass crypto adoption, seamless communication between protocols and liquidity pooling. At a micro level it creates constraints for anyone transacting in Web3.

Drawbacks of fragmentation for dapp developers include:

• juggling a large number of integrations across different platforms;
• having to choose a specific network and live with its trade-offs;
• a limited audience of users who trust a given blockchain.

For users:

• the need for specialist knowledge to use dapps; a more complex UX than in Web 2.0 apps;
• time spent on cross-chain transfers between networks;
• having to maintain multiple wallets that support the required dapps;
• keeping balances in the right tokens across all the blockchains they use.

Seeking simplicity, users often turn to centralised exchanges (CEX). Their teams provide familiar web interfaces with L2 withdrawals and support for swapping a multitude of tokens. That runs counter to the original goal of the first cryptocurrency—decentralisation—and shifts responsibility for safeguarding funds to exchange operators.

Some first steps towards homogeneity have been taken. Introduced in Ethereum in March 2023, account abstraction (AA) addresses part of the fragmentation and poor UX. This network-level method eliminates externally owned accounts (EOA) and turns a crypto wallet into a programmable smart contract.

In practice, interacting with dapps becomes simpler and safer. AA enables account recovery after key loss, gas payments in stablecoins and transaction batching.

Account abstraction has become a building block of a broader approach: chain abstraction (CA), sometimes dubbed “blockchain abstraction”.

What is chain abstraction?

In its annual report, Messari’s analysts predict that “chain abstraction will be one of the key trends to watch in 2025”. In their view it is meant to solve on-chain interaction problems faced by both developers and users.

In information technology, abstraction means simplifying the UX by hiding technical details and processes. They still exist, but are invisible to the user.

Chain abstraction is akin to AA, but tackles fragmentation across entire ecosystems. The rapid proliferation of public blockchains, L2s and L3s impedes mass Web3 adoption by demanding high technical proficiency and skills to manage scattered liquidity. That, in turn, isolates dapps within an ever-expanding, disjointed infrastructure.

Put simply: with CA in place, a user connects to a multichain application through a single interface and signs an operation that is then executed automatically. The person need not know—or care—what a blockchain is or how it works; the focus remains on the dapp itself, be it GameFi, DeSoc or DeFi.

According to a blog post by the crypto start-up Particle Network, community debates over a precise definition converge on a simple phrase:

“A user experience free from the need to manually interact with multiple blockchains.”

How does chain abstraction work?

CA is not a single technology but a combination of cross-chain bridges, interchain messaging platforms, intent infrastructure, validator aggregators, shared-sequencer protocols and AA.

In short, CA coordinates smart contracts, messaging protocols and middleware to enable seamless interaction with multiple fragmented blockchains through a single interface.

Smart contracts in the abstraction layer are a dedicated blockchain, or a multi-layer solution built atop networks such as Near or Particle Network that it seeks to abstract. These smart contracts mediate between dapps and the base environment. Designed to understand specific protocols and transaction formats, they act as translators, converting user requests into the appropriate format.

Messaging-protocol platforms. The abstraction layer needs a reliable communications channel to talk to base blockchains—messaging protocols. They ferry information between the abstraction layer and the networks. Popular options include LayerZero’s omnichain asset-transfer protocol, the IBC standard and Wormhole, which connects disparate blockchains.

Middleware plays a key role in CA by providing auxiliary functions and services that improve the system as a whole. It may include:

• relayers such as Across and Socket, which monitor new transactions in the abstraction layer and forward them to the right blockchain;
• validators, including Avail and Polygon AggLayer, which verify transaction authenticity and uphold the system’s security and integrity;
• oracles, which supply smart contracts with real-world data so they can interact with external information;
• AA solutions such as Coinbase Smart Wallet, Privy and Safe;
• shared sequencers—Optimism Superchain, Arbitrum Nitro, Espresso;
• intent-based infrastructure, which lets users express an outcome rather than the exact steps to achieve it. Execution is selected by solvers such as Wintermute and Amber, or solver networks such as Enso or Valantis.

An approximate CA flow:

1. User interaction. A user initiates a token transfer request via a dapp built on the CA layer.
2. Request translation. A smart contract at the CA layer receives the request and converts it into the target blockchain’s format.
3. Message transmission. The transformed message is sent to a relayer network and then routed to the relevant blockchain.
4. Transaction execution. The target blockchain receives the message and executes the command.
5. Operation confirmation. The relayer network confirms the transaction back to the CA layer.
6. UI update. The CA layer updates the dapp’s interface to reflect the successful asset transfer.

How are developers implementing chain abstraction?

Pioneers of CA are experimenting with different approaches to make Web3 simple and convenient. Here are the core functions of several notable start-ups.

Particle Network—an EVM-compatible network built with the Cosmos SDK—implements CA to deliver a single-account UX, automatic asset unification and simplified payments. A universal smart-contract account lets users pay gas in any token. Key protocol functions:

• a single address manages a unified balance across multiple ecosystems;
• assets in any blockchain are used automatically, without the need to transfer funds.

The relayer Socket implements CA via a Modular Order Flow Auctions (MOFA) mechanism. The system lets different layers of the Web3 stack interact freely.

Key capabilities:

• flexibility and universality: developers can integrate with any applications, users and assets across rollups and blockchains;
• a modular architecture that makes it easy to add new networks and features as things evolve;
• Magic Spend++ enables one-click, single-signature interactions with apps across networks.

The start-up XION uses a Generalized Abstraction Layer to remove technical barriers for users. It rests on several features:

• AA. Meta Accounts—smart contracts that act as user accounts—simplify sign-in and enable dapp interaction without a wallet. Log-in via email or biometrics (FaceID, fingerprint) is available;
• signature abstraction with support for all current and future cryptographic signature curves via email and FaceID;
• no transaction fees.

In December 2024 the team launched mainnet, and on 13 March 2025 XION said it had attained verified-blockchain status in the EU under MiCA.

Agoric offers an Orchestration API—a key tool for CA. It lets developers program and coordinate complex cross-network transactions without grappling with low-level details.

The NEAR blockchain team uses multi-party computation (MPC) to manage shared private keys across blockchains, plus three core technologies for CA:

• NEAR Intents, a system in which users express an intention without specifying technical details such as the exact platform or transaction path. A solver network competes to fulfil these intents, managing cross-chain operations in the background;
• Chain Signatures, which allow NEAR accounts—including smart contracts—to sign and execute transactions on other blockchains;
• OmniBridge, an asset bridge that combines Chain Signatures with chain-specific verification methods for secure, rapid cross-chain transfers, reduced verification time and optimised gas use.

What are the prospects for a “single blockchain”?

In striving to build a unified, comprehensible interface for Web3, developers face challenges that expose CA’s downsides.

Main drawbacks of CA include:

• security risk: unifying blockchains behind one interface complicates precautionary measures. A poorly implemented CA interface could introduce risks for individual chains;
• centralisation risk: a single point of failure if one CA interface fronts all kinds of dapps;
• compatibility problems: ensuring interoperability among blockchains with distinct consensus algorithms and programming languages creates new headaches. For example, Ethereum smart contracts are not directly compatible with Solana because of architectural differences.

The outlook for CA is promising, as it addresses core problems of UX complexity and fragmentation of users and liquidity. As it matures it should spur innovation, shape the future of dapps and mitigate the issues that hobble the Web3 ecosystem.

As CA spreads, Web3 can offer a simpler, more convenient experience—attracting a global audience and accelerating the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies.