Today, applications need to decide what blockchain to build their application on, how to choose them, how to bring users from all blockchains to their application all while building the core application itself. They also lack flexibility and direct contact with their users as the chains get in the way.

But what if we flipped this dynamic? Instead of chains competing against each other at the expense of applications, what if they worked together to help your application succeed?

That’s what chain abstraction is all about.

Applications built on SOCKET can write verifiable offchain programs that seamlessly coordinate with onchain contracts across any number of chains you want. Moreover, building on SOCKET unlocks abilities for your applications that pure onchain smart-contracts are unable to natively access: Running offchain logic, calling external APIs, reading data from other blockchains — all verifiable onchain.

Now, as we finish development and head towards mainnet, it’s time to do a little showcase, a sneak peek, a little taste of next-level chain abstraction in action.

PowerPuffs, it’s time to surge. 🌊

Introducing SOCKET Surge

SOCKET Surge is a month-long initiative to push the SOCKET protocol to its limits and showcase how powerful chain abstraction can really be.

As a chain abstraction protocol, we’re building for transaction activity that’s going to be higher than anyone has ever seen before — tens of thousands of transactions happening across every chain, abstracted into what feels like just one.

The initiative mainly focuses on just that: testing the protocol’s throughput and reliability.

With SOCKET Surge, we’re giving you a glimpse of what apps without limits can uniquely unlock.

So how are we surging?

Chain On Top, a chain-abstracted social strategy game

We’re surging with Chain On Top — a fully chain-abstracted social strategy game built on SOCKET by @0xRhic, @0xTurboTurt1e, and @SiddakBakshi.

In the game, you and your fellow PowerPuffs coordinate to capture and defend liquidity hubs across multiple chains. You pick a side, back your favorite blockchain, and compete for liquidity to put your chain on top.

Win, and your token rises. Lose and fail to defend your hub, and your chain’s liquidity is looted and migrated to other chains.

Running across 20+ chains, Chain On Top will push SOCKET to its limits — stress-testing throughput and reliability at scale. And we need you, PowerPuffs: play the game, spread the word, and be part of the chain abstraction movement.

Launch is just days away. But no more spoilers. PowerPuffs, go follow Chain On Top on X and turn on notifs for the drop. 👀

The age of chain abstraction is here

SOCKET Surge has begun. The line between onchain and offchain is fading.

PowerPuffs, are you ready? 🌊

Here’s a recap of everything we’ve been up to:

Introducing SocketSociety ⚡️

We launched SocketSociety, a space for dedicated individuals who are passionate about bringing the world onchain. If you’re someone who believes in making Ethereum feel like one seamless experience and championing chain abstraction, this is the place for you.

Technical and non-technical folks are both welcome! Join SocketSociety and become a PowerPuff.

To get a deeper understanding of the mission behind SocketSociety, stream our latest community update:

SOCKET (mainnet arc)

@SOCKETProtocol

Welcome to SocketSociety with @litocoen @vaibhavchellani x.com/i/broadcasts/1…

27

9:01 AM • Feb 12, 2025

Collaborating with Polygon to Abstract the Agglayer

We teamed up with 0xPolygon to enable Agglayer to support builders in creating Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, removing barriers and making development seamless.

SOCKET (mainnet arc)

@SOCKETProtocol

What if your application could exist everywhere, simultaneously?

Unleash the true power of @Agglayer with chain abstraction

Powered by SOCKET & @0xPolygon

155

10:22 AM • Feb 5, 2025

To further this conversation, we hosted a livestream featuring Sandeep and Kyle from Polygon, and Lito and VC from SOCKET.

SOCKET (mainnet arc)

@SOCKETProtocol

Everything, Everywhere, All At Once feat. @sandeepnailwal @merkle_haggard @0xPolygon @Agglayer @SOCKETProtocol @litocoen @vaibhavchellani x.com/i/broadcasts/1…

51

9:37 AM • Feb 6, 2025

Bringing Ethereum Closer to Users with Enclave

We’re working on onboarding grandmas (yes, really!) with Enclave, who arex is leveraging SOCKET’s MagicSpend++ framework to make Ethereum feel unified for users.

SOCKET (mainnet arc)

@SOCKETProtocol

Together, let's onboard our grandmas with chain abstraction

Welcome @useenclave to the SOCKET ecosystem!

Enclave Money

@useenclave

ETHEREUM IS BROKEN

(but don't worry, we've fixed it)

24

10:20 AM • Feb 3, 2025

Exploring the Future of DeFAI and Chain Abstraction

With DeFAI gaining momentum, our team dove deep into its limitations and how chain abstraction can unlock its true potential.

Our key takeaway: DeFAI needs chain abstraction to scale.

Check out Rishabh’s analysis on DeFAI, chain abstraction, and multi-agent interactions:

The industry is moving so fast on DeFAI, in fact AI Agents can now buy, sell, swap, or execute any onchain action effortlessly with SOCKET.

A great example? Brahma’s Console Kit for AI Agents.

Brahma

@BrahmaFi

Today's AI agents only analyze tweets and make predictions, stopping when you request actions like "swap ETH to USDC."

We believe agents can do more.

Introducing the ConsoleKit by Brahma!
The toolkit which brings agents onchain

Kakusan |Brahma.fi

@jainargh

x.com/i/article/1878…

114

11:02 AM • Jan 13, 2025

The State of Chain Abstraction with RouteScan

We collaborated with Routescan to break down the current landscape of chain abstraction and where it's headed. Read the full piece.

More Ecosystem Growth: Fluidkey Gets Abstracted

The SOCKET ecosystem keeps expanding! Fluidkey, a wallet dapp focused on protecting your privacy, allowing you to receive and manage funds onchain without publicly linking them to you–has now been abstracted!

Learn more about Fluidkey’s new update.

Touchdown HK

SOCKET Cofounder Rishabh is in Hongkong to meet new builders and work with teams looking to build abstracted. He will be attending Consensus HK from Feb. 18 - 20, so if you see him around say hi!

The Road Ahead

It’s been a busy few weeks, but we’re only getting started. Things are getting lit at SOCKET, literally. In fact, the future at SOCKET HQ is looking brighter than ever.

SOCKET has just begun.

Stay tuned for more updates as we continue pushing chain abstraction and work together to bring the world onchain.

Read the whitepaper | Build on SOCKET | Join the Discord | Follow us on X

Different people react differently to these challenges. Some people quit and go back to web2, while others fall into apathy.

However, many builders have powered through these challenges to push the space in the right direction:

• Polymarket demonstrated how on-chain applications can break into the mainstream

• Ethereum builders showed us how to scale horizontally via rollups

• Solana builders who pushed the limits of a monolithic chain

• Privy enabled a new mass movement of consumer apps

• PolygonPoS which proved scaling before any rollups existed

• Flashbots and Cowswap who helped protect users from MEV side-effects

Challenges only get resolved when individuals with high-agency step up and work together, chew glass everyday and chip at it till the challenge becomes an opportunity. This is how paradigm shifts happen.

Individuals with high agency and a strong conviction on getting the world onchain have been able to make the impossible happen, push past all challenges and contribute meaningfully no matter their core-skillset. This breed of individuals who want to be the drivers of change, act on problems, and push the world forward are what we need more of. We call these individuals PowerPuffs.

“You don’t have to be a superhero to be super.” - Bubbles

Summoning the PowerPuffs

We’re bringing together these believers in the onchain world. Individuals who don’t just want to see the change happen passively but want to contribute actively to make it happen. Individuals who are willing to look past the chain-tribalism and embrace the app-centric-future.

We’re building a collective of PowerPuffs, making up the SocketSociety, to work together fighting the single biggest problem right now: lack of unified blockspace.

Together, PowerPuffs will build a world where blockchains aren't viewed as cities and islands that need bridges. A holistic world where applications ingest the infrastructure and users interact with applications directly — without duck-tape infrastructure in between.

SocketSociety — By the PowerPuffs, for the PowerPuffs

When PowerPuffs with different superpowers come together, they can truly make the impossible happen and thats the goal with SocketSociety — to bring the world onchain. Not on your chain or my chain, but on all chains all at once.

A world where applications break free from the chains. A fat-application future

Joining SocketSociety will not be easy. Becoming a PowerPuff requires you to have an X factor.

To test your X factor and crypto knowledge we’ll be releasing a quiz later this week. If passed, you will be granted a Powerpuff role and receive access to the exclusive part of the SocketSociety Discord Server.

But the journey won’t end there. Once a Powerpuff, you will need to graduate to your final form: Bubbles, Blossoms or Buttercups. What are these? More info on discord, come join SocketSociety!

Join SOCKET Discord | Follow SOCKET on Twitter

Developers dream of building applications that seamlessly span these chains. Users want to interact with their favorite apps across multiple chains without friction. Yet today's cross-chain infrastructure remains a labyrinth of complex messaging protocols and fragile bridging mechanisms.

Using cross-chain messaging protocols and bridges development is a nightmare today. Developers must navigate complex bridging protocols, manage security risks, and handle disparate chain architectures—all while trying to deliver a seamless user experience. Each cross-chain interaction becomes a potential point of failure, deterring innovation.

What if you could build across ALL chains? What if your application could exist everywhere, simultaneously?

SOCKET’s chain abstraction protocol & Agglayer, developed by Polygon Labs and other core contributors, are coming together to allow developers to:

• Compose contracts across chains without cross-chain messaging or bridging

• Provide users with a seamless transaction experience — users never need to interact on-chain directly or face gas, bridging, RPCs or other complexities.

All of this with the security of Agglayer.

How it Works

SOCKET protocol eliminates the complexity of using cross-chain messaging protocols. Builders compose contracts just like they do when contracts lie on the same chain, now however, async. They do this by building their app-gateway, or in simpler words by deploying their solidity contracts on SOCKET.

Users interact with the app via the app-gateway by simply sending signed messages that are processed in the gateway and then executed on-chain leveraging pessimistic proofs via Agglayer.

We have this example highlighted on our Github: This is what the app-gateway for something like this would look like and this for the onchain contracts.

New Abstracted Possibilities

This introduces a completely new way to build onchain applications and unlocks powerful use cases for builders.

One of these unlocks is Chain Abstracted Accounts: wallets and accounts are currently being built on the same old infrastructure — bridges. This means the same issues that have existed so far: isolated token balances, slow transactions, failing transactions & more such stuff.

Simply put, building in a bridge-out way makes the world end up looking exactly the same as this:

Kyle Samani

@KyleSamani

How are we going to abstract multi-chain complexity when wallets are explicitly going out of their way to show me the same asset 6x?

(also i deposited 1 ETH to zk sync and it doesn't show up at all)

(CBW does the same thing)

170

1:59 PM • Dec 18, 2023

Bridging can only connect chains, not unify them -- it fundamentally isolates balances across chains. Its not a UX problem, its a deep rooted infra problem. For example: A user has 300 USDC on Arbitrum and 200 USDC on Base, and wants to buy a 500 USDC NFT on Solana.

Wallets & accounts can let go of the old bridging paradigm and instead embrace Chain Abstraction with SOCKET, resulting in a 10x improvement over anything possible today:

• Users have a "Chain Abstracted Balance", a unified balance across chains. No more isolated token balances across chains that users need to bridge between.

• Users can transact with all of their chain abstracted balance INSTANTLY, on any app or chain. Zero waiting for bridging of funds, no failures or stuck transaction, guaranteed execution

To learn more, check out:

• MagicSpend++, a framework for smart wallets to achieve this proposed by the SOCKET team.

• Check out how you can build it with SOCKET here

• And follow Enclave, who have built an implementation of MagicSpend++ on SOCKET

There are endless possibilities with Agglayer x SOCKET such as intent protocols, DeFAI agents, and more! For inspiration, check out some use cases here.

Get Abstracted

We're commemorating the Agglayer getting abstracted with a limited collection NFT.

Collect the piece, and gain the power to abstract all chains. Minting is capped at 5,000 so get on it:

https://opensea.io/assets/0x68B78bfa239Cc4964bDd6149f63b104906992F96/1

SOCKET and Polygon Labs are simplifying ways to build onchain and we can’t wait to show you more.

Stay tuned for more updates as we roll out new features, integrations, and collaborations to bring chain abstraction to the forefront of the Ethereum ecosystem.

Relevant Links

SOCKET Documentation | SOCKET Docs

SOCKET powers chain abstracted applications.

https://docs.socket.tech

This integration empowers users by enabling deposits and withdrawals from any chain eliminating the need to bridge. The result? A seamless trading experience powered by a unified liquidity layer that minimizes slippage and maximizes order execution across markets.

Unlocking a Better Trading Experience for Users

Reya Network will give traders an edge in every transaction by building on SOCKET. With SOCKET’s chain abstraction, users can onboard and trade assets from any chain in one transaction. This eliminates the need for bridging, enhancing the user experience.

Traders can enjoy lightning-fast execution, deep liquidity, and optimized capital efficiency, enhancing their trading strategies and results.

• Lightning-Quick Execution: Execute trades at centralized exchange speeds with onchain security, thanks to 100ms block times, real-time price feeds, and zero front-running.

• Deeper Liquidity Access: Reya’s unified liquidity layer ensures access to vast liquidity pools, minimizing slippage for a smoother trading experience.

• Optimized Capital Efficiency: Utilize advanced tools such as cross-margining, yield-bearing collateral, and risk management features to maximize returns and trade smarter.

Seamless Trading Infrastructure for Builders

Reya Network isn’t just for traders—it’s a powerful platform for developers seeking robust trading infrastructure. By integrating with Reya, builders gain access to unmatched liquidity and seamless capital optimization, enabling them to create innovative applications that redefine trading.

• Unified Liquidity: Builders can leverage Reya’s unified liquidity layer to provide slippage-resistant execution for large trade volumes across all markets.

• Advanced Margin Engine: Secure onchain clearing and settlement come equipped with cross-margining, risk-optimized cross-collateralization, and automated liquidations.

• High-Speed Execution: Reya’s trading-optimized infrastructure offers institutional-grade performance with 100ms block times and low-latency price feeds, delivering CEX-like speed, MEV protection, and real-time, gasless trade execution.

Empowering App Chains with SOCKET

The integration of Reya Network aligns with Socket’s broader vision of empowering app chains to deliver seamless user experiences. By abstracting the complexities of onchain interactions, SOCKET enables developers to focus on building intuitive applications. Chain abstraction is key to driving the next wave of DeFi adoption, where app chains flourish and users enjoy superior functionality.

To learn more about SOCKET’s vision, dive into our whitepaper.

If you’re considering developing an app chain, SOCKET is here to help you create a streamlined, user-friendly experience. Let’s work together to build the future of onchain interactions.

Join the conversation on Discord, or start building abstracted:

It's time to get Plugged into SOCKET Docs | SOCKET Docs

SOCKET powers chain abstracted applications.

https://docs.socket.tech

This allows users to deposit and withdraw from any chain with zero bridging fees, creating a seamless user experience.

Unlocking High Yields and Simplified Onboarding

Polynomial enables users to stake and trade with groundbreaking features:

• Staking: By staking, users act as counterparties for trading, earning up to 60% Net APR yield, primarily through OP Rewards. With SOCKET, users can onboard and stake assets like USDC from any chain in a single transaction, eliminating the need for separate bridging steps and significantly improving the user experience.

• Trading: Polynomial offers trading with up to 50x leverage. Formerly a top DEX on Optimism with over $4 billion in volume last year, Polynomial has now transitioned to its own chain, achieving $130 million in volume to date. Thanks to SOCKET, users can deposit margins from any chain with the same ease as before.

Delivering a CEX-Like Experience Onchain

Polynomial leverages SOCKET’s Chain Abstraction to ensure a consistent and user-friendly experience across its ecosystem. Here’s a short demo:

Key Features

Polynomial Chain offers zero bridging fees and maximized yields by building on SOCKET, enabling effortless access to liquidity from any chain while enhancing profitability by eliminating bridging fees.

As an L2 built to hyperscale onchain derivatives trading, Polynomial Chain addresses DeFi’s scalability and liquidity challenges through ultra-fast settlements and unified liquidity pools.

Powered by the OP Stack, Polynomial Chain leverages the robust infrastructure of the Optimism Superchain, benefiting from reduced gas fees, faster transaction finality, enhanced scalability, and robust security through Ethereum’s mainnet.

Unified Framework for Seamless Trading

Polynomial Chain integrates liquidity, abstraction, and settlement into a single framework:

Liquidity Layer

A unified pool of liquidity powers multiple financial products, such as perpetual swaps and prediction markets. This ensures:

• Deep onchain liquidity.

• Minimal slippage.

• Optimized capital efficiency.

Abstraction Layer

By simplifying complex blockchain operations, Polynomial’s abstraction layer delivers:

• A user-friendly interface akin to centralized exchanges.

• Streamlined account management via account abstraction.

Settlement Layer

Supports hybrid data submissions both onchain and off-chain, ensuring flexibility and efficiency.

What’s Next for Polynomial?

Polynomial is set to introduce cross-margin functionality, enabling users to use assets like ETH or BTC as collateral for perpetual trading. While still in the early stages of chain abstraction, further enhancements are in the pipeline.

Polynomial | Polynomial

Welcome to Polynomial - the next-generation decentralized trading platform built on Polynomial Chain. Polynomial Trade is a gasless, hybrid orderbook exchange for perpetual contracts with native cross-margin capabilities.

https://docs.polynomial.fi

Empowering App Chains

Polynomial Chain’s integration is part of SOCKET’s larger vision: empowering app chains with the tools they need to deliver seamless user experiences.

Chain abstraction is a cornerstone of this vision, enabling developers to focus on building intuitive apps while SOCKET handles the complexity of onchain interactions.

We believe this is the next wave of adoption—where app chains thrive and users win.

Ready to Build Abstracted?

If you’re developing an app chain or considering it, SOCKET would love to help you create a seamless and user-friendly experience. Let’s chat on Discord!

You can also dive into our developer docs here.

The onchain future is bright—and with SOCKET, it’s also seamless.

Zero Bridging Fees? Now Everyone’s a WINR

Here’s the deal: WINR Chain has built a smooth onboarding experience using Socket, making it possible for users to place trades directly on JustBet, their flagship app.

By building on Socket, WINR Chain enables:

• Access liquidity from any chain effortlessly.

• Players maximize their bets by eliminating bridging fees.

It’s basically a royal flush for players—effortless and rewarding.

Solving iGaming Industry Pain Points

WINR Chain is more than just a cost-effective solution; it’s a trust-building backend for iGaming platforms. It is specifically designed to completely rebuild the onchain gaming and gambling industry by offering a full-stack infrastructure that empowers decentralized, trustless, and transparent applications.

Built with cutting-edge technology, WINR empowers frontend operators, game developers, and trading platforms to build security-efficient and innovative products without intermediaries.

Sounds like a jackpot already, but this only gets better.

WINR addresses several longstanding issues in the industry:

• Trust & Transparency: Eliminates the risk of centralized scams.

• Risk Management: Provides a secure and decentralized ecosystem for transactions.

• Cost Efficiency: Reduces overhead, allowing platforms to reinvest in user experience.

This isn’t just good for users—it’s a game-changer for iGaming platforms trying to stay competitive in a growing market.

Empowering App Chains

This is part of Socket’s larger vision: empowering app chains with the tools they need to deliver seamless user experiences. Chain abstraction is a cornerstone of this vision, enabling developers to focus on building intuitive apps while Socket handles the complexity of onchain interactions.

We believe this is the next wave of adoption—where app chains thrive and users win. Read the whitepaper to learn more.

Ready to Build Abstracted?

If you’re developing an app chain or considering it, we’d love to help you create a seamless and user-friendly experience. Let’s chat on Discord!

The onchain future is bright—and with Socket Protocol, it’s also seamless.

To unlock real growth, consumer apps must deliver web2-like simplicity: one unified balance, fast, frictionless transactions, and zero visible complexity.

Nobody wants to juggle multiple accounts, gas fees, bridges, or scattered assets. The current onchain experience is clunky, slow, and confusing which holds back adoption.

Users don’t care how many chains or what infra is involved, they just want it to work. Period. They want effortless access to their app with any asset—SOL, USDC, BTC, POL, or USDT—without the mess of fragmented wallets, chains, or complex processes.

The future belongs to apps that make web3 feel like magic which is why we’re thrilled to introduce the Chain Abstraction Framework with NEAR. The goal of the framework is simple: to streamline building Consumer Apps that truly abstract onchain complexities.

The Chain Abstraction Framework: NEAR Chain Signatures 🤝 Socket Chain Abstraction Protocol

The goal of the chain abstraction framework is to tackle asset fragmentation that persists in the space today. Users today are forced to deal with different wallets & accounts with fragmented assets across these accounts. This means users are forced to manage USDC on different chains separately with different wallets, often goin through bridging & other cross-chain infrastructure.

The chain abstraction framework combines the power of NEAR chain signatures and Socket chain abstraction protocol to end asset fragmentation. The Chain Abstraction Framework at its core unlocks a single account & a single balance for the user:

• A single account that can control accounts across every chain remotely with the power of NEAR chain signatures

• A chain abstracted balance i.e an aggregated balance across chains that users can transact with on any chain without GAS, bridging, or any delays

This framework brings true chain abstraction for users across all chains: EVM, non-EVM, alt L1s, L2s, L3s-- everything. Onboarding to crypto becomes dead simple- they create wallets using social logins, deposit some funds & the funds are instantly available for them to transact on any chain. Users get a completely web2-like UX with a single balance. There are no complexities in managing multiple gas tokens, bridging, or crosschain!

Building Consumer Apps with Chain Abstraction Framework

Consumer apps can leverage the chain abstraction framework to abstract away complexities for their users with a single account & single balance. More importantly, they can leverage the ability to spend the chain abstracted balance anywhere to unlock amazing new use cases never possible before.

With user balances enabled for transactions across any chain, the application can seamlessly operate on multiple chains. Apps can use various chains as their execution environments while hosting their multichain logic on NEAR. This setup allows apps to be present on one or multiple chains without the need for bridges, cross-chain complexities, or other technical hurdles.

This opens the door to a new wave of applications with unprecedented functionality and scope.

Ideas for consumer apps leveraging Chain Abstraction Framework

Chain-Abstracted Wallet

The simplest application could be a consumer friendly wallet. Today users are forced to manage separate wallets for different blockchains with fragmented balances across chains. To make things worse, they need multiple gas tokens just to interact with each chain, not to mention bridging funds back and forth.

With the chain abstraction framework, users simply get a single wallet that works seamlessly across all chains. No more fragmented balances—just a single, unified balance that’s usable anywhere. The wallet natively allows users to use any app on any chain just as if all of their funds were on that chain.

Chain-Abstracted trading: CEX-experience to purchase any memecoin, anywhere

Memecoins and tokens are spread across different chains today. There is no single application which allows them access to all these tokens without the pains of multiple wallets & bridging.

With a chain abstraction framework, developers could build trading apps that are exactly like CEXs. A single balance that could be used to purchase any token. The user never has to care about where the token lies, they just press a button and they get the token they need.

Chain-abstracted perp aggregation: Trade with a unified margin

There are various perp platforms with varying prices across them: Hyperliquid, GMX, dYdX, Aevo, Reya & more. Today users need a separate margin account for every chain & protocol and figure out ways to bridge across them to be able to trade everywhere.

However, by leveraging the chain abstraction framework, it’s possible to build a perp aggregator that allows seamless trading across these platforms using a single margin account and unified balance.

Chain-abstracted DEX aggregators: Route trades across chains

DEX aggregators today can only route swaps within a single blockchain, finding the best path for a swap, like USDC to ETH, within the liquidity available on that specific chain (e.g., Arbitrum).

With a Chain Abstracted Framework, DEX aggregators can route swaps across multiple chains. For example, swapping USDC to ETH could be seamlessly split across chains—20% on Ethereum, and 50% on Arbitrum—without users needing to worry about the details. They simply receive the ETH they need and can use it however they like.

The possibilities are endless! If you’re interested in building with the chain abstracted framework, reach out to us on Twitter.

About NEAR

NEAR is the chain abstraction stack, empowering builders to create apps that scale to billions of users and across all blockchains.

About Socket

Socket Protocol is the first Chain Abstraction Protocol, offering a modular, extensible, and composable stack that enables chain abstracted applications.

For example, today it takes over 30+ clicks in the wallet & over 40 minutes for a user to use an app on another chain with the swapping, bridging of tokens & GAS, switching RPCs, and other actions involved.

Wallets are at the front lines of crypto UX. The current paradigm needs to change to one where users can transact across the Ethereum ecosystem without any asset fragmentation complexities.

MagicSpend++: chain abstraction for smart wallets

We propose MagicSpend++, a framework that allows users to instantly transact on any chain without worrying about which chains their tokens are on. MagicSpend++ leverages the existing Account Abstraction standard and builds on Coinbase’s work on MagicSpend - an innovative approach to allow users to leverage their assets held on Coinbase Exchange & utilize them on-chain.

MagicSpend++ fundamentally enables users to have a Chain Abstracted Balance (CAB) instead of isolated token balances across chains. Users can use their CAB to transact instantly on any chain with a signature. No fragmentation, no bridging, no GAS, no latency. It’s magic. 💫

Smart wallet users with MagicSpend++ get:

• A unified single balance across chains that users can spend anywhere

• Completely gasless experience

• Instant single chain experience - NO CROSS CHAIN, NO BRIDGING, ZERO LATENCY

From Account Abstracted to Chain Abstracted Wallets

MagicSpend++ builds on Account Abstraction as the foundation for enabling chain abstracted wallets. This allows wallets to upgrade their account abstraction capabilities into chain abstraction by leveraging the existing Paymasters without introducing new entities or account models.

For tokens to enter the Chain Abstracted Balance, they need to be locked in their smart wallets. Users can withdraw funds back to their Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) after a configurable delay. While locked, the assets remain usable via the smart account on any chain at any time.

Note that this is a one-time step as a part of the SCW onboarding workflow and is not required every time assets must be used. All assets deposited represent the user’s Chain Abstracted Balance (CAB).

This Chain Abstracted Balance can now be spent on any chain via UserOps, just like how you would spend these assets if they were on the chain you are acting on. Paymasters can fund the UserOp on the target chain with not just gas but with additional funds to facilitate the on-chain execution of the UserOp. Paymaster can then claim the funds from the CAB.

Take a deeper dive into MagicSpend++ on EthResearch:

MagicSpend++ Spend Now, Debit Later

Introduction The current smart wallet experience for users is not suited for transacting in a world with hundreds or thousands of rollups. It forces an average Ethereum user to deal with fragmented assets, forcing them to manage fragments of their assets across 100+ rollups along with complexities like GAS, bridging & RPCs for every transaction.

https://ethresear.ch

Smart wallets can leverage a whitelisted paymaster within Socket’s MOFA, or leverage competing paymasters to enable a larger pool of paymasters and better execution for end users.

Not Cross-chain but Chain Abstraction

Chain abstracted wallets provide various 10x improvements for users:

• User asset balances across chains are combined into one Chain Abstracted Balance

• Balance is instantly usable anywhere, with zero bridging latency

This is completely different than any cross-chain implementations where wallets integrate bridges like Across, Stargate, etc.

Cross-chain implementations are push-based where users start with a fragmented balance on one chain and “push” their tokens to another. On the other hand, MagicSpend++ is pull-based where the user simply uses an app, and their funds are pulled by the paymaster later. It’s like Credit first, debit later.

This has various implications for the end users.

Acknowledgments

We think MagicSpend++ enables complete chain abstraction, where users don’t have to care where their assets are.

Thank you to the following people for the many discussions, reviews, and idea-sharing that led to the creation of this proposal(in no particular order):

Wilson Cusack, Pierce Harger, Uma(@pumatheuma), Alex Watts, Partha, Ahmed Al-Balaghi, Sachin Tomar, Ivo Georgiev, Theo Gonella, Derek Chiang, Kristof Gazso, Ankit and Stephane, Kakusan, Bapireddy, Aniket Jindal

We are keen to work with existing AA players building bundlers, paymasters, and existing solvers/paymasters, wallets, dApps and together be at a place where no one needs to bridge anymore. If anyone is interested in MagicSpend++ or chain-abstraction in general we have a public group here to talk about it: https://t.me/+QygeBurngS4wODNl

Over the last few years, the Ethereum ecosystem has made tremendous strides in advancing the modular roadmap, a strategic plan aimed at enhancing scalability and efficiency through specialization and layering within the blockchain network. This has led to the development of an increasing number of chains, each specialized for distinct use cases. The cost of spinning up a new rollup has decreased significantly, blobs and data availability have made settling transactions even cheaper, and we now have L3s on top of L2s. It’s only a matter of time before we get to a world of 10,000 rollups and chains.

However, the modular future is at risk because of increasing fragmentation between chains.

0xDesigner

@0xDesigner

WHY DOES IT MATTER WHAT CHAIN IT’S ON? I HAVE ALL KINDS OF MONIES IN MY WALLET, TAKE WHICHEVER ONE YOU WANT. DON’T MAKE ME GO TO ANOTHER APP TO SWITCH MONIES SO I CAN BUY YOUR THING.

197

8:01 AM • Feb 13, 2024

Today, choosing modular means choosing pain. The average Ethereum user has to deal with a fragmented experience across chains. They need to manage multiple wallets, tokens, and assets. The experience is broken, to say the least, and it only gets exponentially worse as more chains go live.

The hard truth is, that modular experience needs to match Solana's experience. DEX trading bot volumes might be an indication of how much monolith UX matters for actual users.

We need connected abstracted chains

In the early days of the modular roadmap, a few chains emerged, so it was trivial to just connect them. But as we head towards 10,000+ chains, the connected chain approach is neither usable nor scalable. Every cross-chain protocol is fundamentally trying to replicate TCP/IP which is a low-level connectivity protocol, but in reality developers and users never use TCP/IP directly.

Moreover, over the last 2 years, we collaborated with 500+ teams and have learned that cross-chain is not enough for them. We have seen the pain points of fragmentation and we need to solve this problem better than just connecting chains.

The answer to fragmentation is not connected chains, but abstracted chains. Not cross-chain, but chain abstraction.

Chain Abstraction works and feels like a monolithic chain to users with the added benefits of composability and specialization that the modular roadmap provides. It's the best of both worlds.

Users don't need to worry about the underlying chains they are interacting with, whether there are 100 or 10,000 chains, they can just interact with applications. Users don't want or need to know about Gas tokens, RPC endpoints, or any other chain-specific details. They just want to use applications and perform desired actions like minting an NFT and depositing funds.

Introducing Socket Protocol

Socket Protocol is the first chain-abstraction protocol. Socket enables developers to compose with every protocol, user, and asset across 300+ chains and rollups through modular order flow auctions (MOFA)

What is Modular Order Flow Auction (MOFA)?

Fragmentation arises as various off-chain actors, each controlling different layers such as Data Availability (DA), sequencing, proving, relaying, and account abstraction, operate without the incentive or ability to coordinate and merge their efforts.

MOFA essentially creates an open marketplace for execution agents (Transmitters) and user-requests (signed authorizations i.e. user operations/user intents), where Transmitters compete to create the next chain abstracted bundle. Without the need to introduce any new chains or validators.

An Order Flow Auction is just like any other auction where the item being sold is the "right to execute" user requests.

MOFA is purpose-built for creating and fulfilling chain-abstracted bundles. It provides users with a higher level abstraction of the block space created across L1s, L2s, and L3s with a strong ability to control the outcome of execution. It unlocks the ability for the ecosystem to scale and modularise the ecosystem further all without losing composability.

Developers or users can incentivize transmitters to perform any activity on their behalf and abstract away any execution complexities. Just like how based-sequencing is about merging L2 sequencers with the L1 validators to enable censorship-resistant L2 users, MOFA takes it a step forward to enable chain abstraction.

MOFA enables and incentivizes various off-chain actors to function as Transmitters as it gives them an edge in the auction and the ability to earn more fees while users benefit from better execution and full chain abstraction. Here is a quick breakdown of what these will look like:

• Sequencers as transmitters will enable super-fast execution across L2s as they don't have to wait for finality

• Validators as Transmitters will enable the highest security standard via shared/mesh security

• Market-makers as Transmitters will enable the best pricing and super-tight execution for any value-related use cases built on top

• Solvers as Transmitters will enable best-in-class routing

• Keepers as Transmitters will enable conditional execution and scheduling e.g.: execute a swap when the cost is <10$ for execution

Depending on the user-request, different types of Transmitters will have an edge and the ability to win the auction.

No Chain, No Pain

Socket Protocol enables different actors to compete and collaborate while providing the best possible execution for users. These benefits are not just for users, but also the ecosystem as a whole:

• For Off-Chain Actors: MOFA creates a unified marketplace where different actors, each with unique capabilities and information, can compete and collaborate permissionlessly. This competition fosters innovation and efficiency, rewarding those who can offer the best execution and services. These actors could include Sequencers, Validators, Market-Makers, Solvers, and Keepers, each with unique superpowers and ecosystem roles.

• For Users: The direct benefit is a seamless and streamlined experience. Users enjoy fast and secure transactions without needing to navigate the complexities of interacting with multiple layers or chains. Full chain abstraction means that the underlying technical details are handled by MOFA, presenting a streamlined experience to the user.

• For Developers: It's finally possible to build chain-abstracted protocols end-to-end, not to manually compose together various modular layers, let the transmitters do it for you.

• For the Ecosystem: By reducing the gap between various off-chain actors, MOFA paves the way for a more integrated and cooperative blockchain ecosystem. This collaboration is essential for furthering the modular roadmap and ensuring that the benefits of specialization and layering are fully realized.

Conclusion

Socket Protocol is the first Chain Abstraction Protocol, offering a modular and adaptable framework for chain-agnostic applications. It simplifies interaction by abstracting chain complexities from users. As a core mechanism, Modular Order Flow Auction (MOFA) establishes a marketplace for transmitters and user requests, facilitating smooth cross-network interactions without the usual complexities.

We are excited to welcome the first cohort of developers to build Chain Abstracted Protocols with Socket Protocol and get support on development, fundraising, distribution, strategic collaborations, and much more. Apply here!

Lets make modular the new monolith, will you join us?

Discord | Twitter | Docs | Website

Stay tuned for MOFA technical explainer!

Framework Ventures is co-leading the funding round. Framework led Socket’s Seed Round earlier in 2022 and is now doubling down on the earlier investment.

We’re glad to announce a $5mn strategic investment from Coinbase Ventures & Framework Ventures. The investment is extremely exciting as it builds upon our existing collaboration with Coinbase Ventures and Coinbase products like Coinbase Wallet & Base.

One example of this partnership in action is the bridging feature within Coinbase Wallet, powered by Socket. This feature allows users to seamlessly bridge from Ethereum to Base and other L2s natively within the wallet on mobile & web.

We are also helping developers and apps expand to Base, Coinbase’s newly launched L2, with a seamless onboarding experience. Rainbow Wallet, Layer3, Bungee, Zapper & more apps leverage Socket to get their users onboarded to Base already.

We are also extremely excited to have Framework Ventures double down on their investment and continue to work with us as we scale. Having led our seed round last year, the Framework team has been extremely hands-on in helping us get here.

Journey So Far

We launched Socket in November 2021 and since then have facilitated over 2.5 million cross-chain transactions with $3.5 billion in volume over 15 chains. It’s been an unbelievable ride: 11 months to hit the first million transactions; 5 months for the next million & then only 3 months for the next!

We’re proud of the Socket ecosystem of apps that are pushing the boundaries & building the most amazing cross-chain experiences. A few highlights include Metamask, Coinbase Wallet, Rainbow Wallet, Zapper, Zerion, Instadapp, GMX, Synthetix & Premia.

Looking Ahead

Socket’s mission has always been to bring protocols unified access to liquidity and users across chains. As we head to a multi-L2 future, interoperability has become an integral part of protocols, and Socket aims to provide developers with the easiest way to build unified dApps.

In the next few months, we’re going to be bringing even more powerful cross-chain primitives that unlock completely new use cases.

Join us as we change the way protocols are built & how users interact with them in the cross-chain world!

Relevant Links: Twitter | Website | Docs | Discord

For the first time, app rollups with Socket have the ability to extend beyond Ethereum and access limitless liquidity available across chains.

App-rollups by nature, are only connected with Ethereum. There is no native way to onboard users & liquidity of other chains like Arbitrum/Optimism etc. This is actually the opposite of what’s needed for the rollup-centric roadmap.

Most users today are already on L2s & majorly move between them without ever touching the expensive Ethereum. With the majority of trading volumes on L2s today, app rollups that are isolated and inaccessible to L2 users are at a massive disadvantage.

A naive alternative for app rollups to expand their connectivity is partnering with 3rd party bridges or liquidity networks. These liquidity pools help facilitate the flow of liquidity for users but come with tons of issues...

• High bridging fee: Liquidity means cost to users

• Liquidity bootstrapping: Classic problem of emissions & incentives

• Unscalable: Millions L2s & liquidity pools just limit liquidity on each L2

• Incentivizing bridge team/DAOs: Getting deployments prioritized for your app is hard

Without access to liquidity from other chains, app rollups struggle to onboard users and their adoption is massively stifled.

Let’s change this!

Today, we’re introducing a new way for app rollups to enable seamless liquidity transfers from any L2 with no liquidity bootstrapping. For the first time ever, app rollups can allow users to onboard from any chain with 0 bridging fees by leveraging Socket!

We’re excited to unveil the first of these unique onboarding experiences with Aevo, DeFi’s largest options exchange built as an appchain on OP-stack.

By connecting to Socket, Aevo taps into the majority of L2 liquidity flows by enabling deposits and withdrawals open from Arbitrum & Optimism. This allows Aevo Chain to retain all the benefits of security & scalability of a rollup while ensuring a seamless bridging experience and no wrapped bridge assets!

Experience Aevo from major L2s

You can now enjoy a CEX-like experience while interacting with Aevo with 0 bridging fee or slippage for any transfer!

• Go to app.aevo.xyz

• Select the chain you want to deposit from

• Your funds are deposited into Aevo Exchange in minutes

• Start trading

Millions of App Rollups

Despite its benefits, app rollups so far have always come with a trade-off of connectivity & composability with other chains making them almost an unattractive option for most apps.

We’ve now flipped this such that app rollups can launch with native connectivity to any chain, unlocking benefits similar to IBC for Cosmos-based chains.

We’re working towards the next wave of adoption where apps can directly launch their own L2/chains unlocking massive benefits for protocol users & token holders.

If you’re building an L2 for your app or thinking about it, hit us up on Discord!

We began SocketSurge with this radical thought - what if we put community at the centre of interoperability security?

And at the end of our month-long Wave 1, we are glad to have accomplished this by unifying builders, security experts, and auditors in a collaborative endeavour to test our protocol!

This collaborative effort also led to an unprecedented milestone in interop history:

A fully permissionless interoperability solution, operated by third-parties pre-mainnet

The Success of SocketSurge Wave 1

During the exhilarating four-week course of Wave 1 of Surge, we saw an incredible response of 14,000 registrations. Participants embarked on a treasure hunt for code-based Easter eggs and made bug discoveries, earning themselves SurgePasses and SurgePoints.

• Among the sea of talented participants, 300 developers stood out with their impressive experience and got shortlisted.

• From the 40 planted Easter eggs, 24 were successfully discovered, giving us a chance to identify potential future collaborators.

• The process led to the discovery of 15 bugs of various severity levels, enhancing the solidity of our contracts and shielding us against potential attack vectors in the future.

• 4 Lootboxes served as our battleground to simulate known hacks and rigorously push our fraud prevention mechanisms to their limits while offering rewards to those who strengthened our defences.

• We staked $77K in these Lootboxes as a testament to our confidence, and our Surgers did not disappoint, as they successfully claimed a hefty sum of $27K.

• Throughout this journey, Surgers accumulated an impressive total of 22,250 SurgePoints, a testament to their skills and dedication to securing SocketDL.

Owing to your relentless efforts, we've accomplished a landmark feat by testing our Protocol in a completely Permissionless setting, marking a milestone in the history of interoperability.

The Community-Secured Future

It's exciting to see what began as an experiment, has culminated into a community of builders and future Sentinels. This collective shall fortify our security-first approach and ensure SocketDL is continuously battle-tested before protocols are built upon it - not after.

We now look forward to congratulating the Surgers and letting the blockchain know of your invaluable contributions by bestowing the top performers on the leaderboard with their SocketSentinels NFTs.

To all our up-and-coming Sentinels, GEAR UP for Mainnet!

Join the Surge here: surge.socket.tech

Cross-chain messaging protocols are extremely complex to build. And mistakes are costly: the long list of bridge exploits is just the start. As more & more protocols build upon messaging infra, the smallest vulnerabilities can completely destroy protocols & chains.

We need a robust & long term approach to security to ensure that developers can fearlessly build unified protocols with shared state & liquidity across chains.

Collective >> Individuals

At Socket, we believe that hard & complex problems are best solved by collectives rather than individuals. That's why we’re bringing together SocketSentinels - an exclusive community of security experts with a shared mission: secure interoperability

SocketSentinels is a collective of security researchers, interoperability and rollup experts, hackers, & developers, to drive long-term security for the Socket Protocol. SocketSentinels function as the security-arm to the core-team to lead Socket’s security-first culture.

They will also play a key role in Socket governance & have a vested stake in the long-term success of Socket. As part of our commitment to providing the most secure interoperability protocol, Socket has allocated 5% of any future Socket tokens towards this and other security initiatives.

SocketSurge — Incentivised Testnet

Surge is your opportunity to earn your place in SocketSentinels by showcasing your security expertise & competing with fellow hackers. Only the worthy can join the collective, stack SurgePoints to show us you got it.

SocketSurge Wave-1 has a generous portion of the 5% security-budget allocated towards it in addition to 150,000 USDC

When: Surge Wave-1 initiates on May1, 2023 and will be active for 4 weeks. Where: WarRoom, secret link to join will be communicated via email Register on the website: surge.socket.tech