DeFi Revelations - Particle Network

In this episode of DeFi Revelations which took place on July 3, 2024, Kirk from Revelo Intel hosted Ethan from Particle Network to discuss the innovative concept of chain abstraction, its benefits for developers and users, how Particle Network is streamlining interactions across multiple blockchains, and more! Read our notes below to learn more.

Background

Kirk (Host) – Head of Business Development at Revelo Intel

Ethan aka TABASCOweb3 (Guest) – Contributor at Particle Network

Particle Network – a comprehensive development platform that aims to make the transition from Web2 to Web3 smoother and more efficient for developers

Enhancing Web3 User Experience: Chain Abstraction and Particle Network’s Innovations

Ethan describes his journey, starting at age 15 by building his own projects, including an application popular in the Harmony community. He later joined Chainstack as a Developer Relations specialist and moved to Particle Network in September last year.
Ethan details his role at Particle Network, which includes handling external communications, marketing, developer content, and engagement. He highlights the focus on improving user experience (UX) in Web3, considering it essential for consumer onboarding.
Ethan explains that his shift from an RPC provider at Chainstack to Particle Network was driven by his desire to enhance UX, which he sees as critical for Web3 adoption. He highlights Particle Network’s dedication to chain abstraction over the past two years and its evolution to improve the product stack.
Ethan begins by defining chain abstraction, highlighting the lack of a clear, widely accepted definition. He explains that chain abstraction is an experience, not a specific technology, aimed at removing manual processes required to interact with multiple chains, such as bridging and managing balances.
Ethan describes the current user experience, where interacting with applications on different chains requires managing separate balances and wallets, which creates significant friction. Chain abstraction seeks to eliminate this by allowing users to leverage applications across any chain without needing to know or manage the underlying chains.
Ethan explains Particle Network’s focus on chain abstraction at the account level, introducing the concept of “universal accounts.” These accounts provide users with one account and one balance applicable to the entire ecosystem, eliminating the need to manage multiple wallets and balances.
He elaborates on the three main issues Particle Network aims to solve:
- Fragmentation of Access Points: Users should be able to use the same wallet across multiple chains. Universal accounts enable this by allowing a single account to be used on any chain.
- Fragmentation of Liquidity: Users should be able to use their total balance across any chain without manually bridging funds. Universal liquidity achieves this by automatically routing funds across chains to meet user goals.
- Managing Multiple Gas Tokens: Users should be able to pay for gas with any token from any chain. Universal gas allows users to pay for gas on one chain using tokens from another chain.
Ethan highlights that these solutions aim to make the chain irrelevant to the user experience, allowing users to interact with applications seamlessly without needing to manage the complexities of different chains.
He says that while the concept of chain abstraction sounds simple, implementing it in a decentralized, secure, and trustless manner is complex. Particle Network is addressing these challenges through a Cosmos SDK-based blockchain used for coordination, ensuring the process remains decentralized and efficient.

Enhancing User Experience with Particle Network: Seamless Gas Fee Swaps and Universal Accounts

Kirk asks Ethan to explain how Particle Network facilitates these swaps into the native gas of the destination chain.
Ethan explains that their infrastructure includes a Cosmos SDK-based blockchain for coordination. This blockchain hosts a paymaster that temporarily covers gas fees with tokens received from users, facilitating the transactions across different chains. The paymaster then swaps these tokens back to the required token to complete the transaction. The process involves multiple sequential but atomic transactions, coordinated and verified by their chain and executed by bundler nodes.
Ethan details how the transactions are coordinated, verified, and executed across chains, ensuring security and decentralization. The process involves using bundled user operations, allowing multiple transactions to be sent as a single ledger entry, and settling transactions in Particle’s native token, which users do not need to hold themselves.
Ethan outlines Particle Network’s product evolution, starting with wallet-as-a-service for social logins, then moving to smart wallets with account abstraction, and finally developing BTC Connect to bridge the gap between Bitcoin layer-2s and native Bitcoin wallets. BTC Connect enables users to use Bitcoin wallets like Unisat or Xverse on EVM-compatible Bitcoin layer-2s by converting Bitcoin accounts to EVM accounts.
Ethan highlights that the goal is for all products to become unified under the universal accounts framework, enabling seamless chain abstraction. This will allow users to onboard via various methods and automatically upgrade to universal accounts, providing a streamlined experience without manual upgrades. Universal accounts will offer the benefits of chain abstraction, allowing users to interact with any application on any chain with simplified account management, liquidity, and gas payment processes.

Uniting the Ecosystem: Particle Network’s Approach to Developer and User Engagement

Kirk asks Ethan about Particle Network’s target audience, whether it’s L1s and L2s or applications.
Ethan explains that while they have close partnerships with L1s and L2s, their main audience is applications. They aim to have developers integrate their SDK, enabling universal accounts in applications. Particle already has around 900 to 1,000 applications using their products, and they plan to expand this ecosystem.
Ethan agrees, emphasizing that current applications are limited to the ecosystems they deploy on, which restricts their user base. With chain abstraction, applications can attract users from any chain, making the ecosystem more competitive and fostering innovation. He believes this shift will push developers to focus more on user experience and security.
Kirk asks about strategies for building the community, especially in the context of developers and retail users.
Ethan highlights that Particle Network is very developer-focused. They produce extensive developer content, including videos, documentation, and tutorials. They aim to have their information available on major blockchain documentation and educational platforms. This has helped them build a robust developer community, with around 40,000 active users of their developer dashboard.
For retail users, Ethan explains that as an infrastructure project, their goal is to raise awareness and familiarize users with their technology. They recently launched the second phase of their Testnet, which introduced universal balance, universal liquidity, and universal gas functionalities. They run incentivized campaigns to help users understand and transition to the concept of chain abstraction.
Ethan notes that while initially challenging, users have been receptive to the idea of not needing to think about chains. These campaigns also help Particle Network gather valuable feedback and build a community excited about their technology.

Particle Network’s Roadmap and Chain Abstraction Highlights

Ethan appreciates the opportunity and outlines the roadmap, mentioning the upcoming Mainnet launch and TGE scheduled for Q3. He highlights their presence at ETHCC, where they will sponsor Chain Abstraction Day and Modular Summit, and notes exciting releases around the SDKs and Mainnet shortly after the event.
Ethan expresses excitement about the growing traction of the chain abstraction narrative and acknowledges other incredible teams working towards the same goal. He encourages looking into projects like Everclear, NEAR, and Socket for their contributions to chain abstraction.
He mentions that Particle Network has extensive content on their blog explaining chain abstraction and its impact on the industry. Ethan invites everyone to stay tuned for their Mainnet launch in the coming months and to explore their offerings in the interim.
Kirk appreciates the collaborative nature of the chain abstraction sector, contrasting it with other competitive areas in the industry.

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Show Information

Medium: YouTube (Video)

Show: Revelo Intel – DeFi Revelations

Show Title: How Particle Network Leverages Chain Abstraction to Unify All Chains

Show Date: July 3, 2024