UX Overhaul Blockchains Need to Reach 1 Billion Users

Below is a guest post Susanna Evans, IBC Product Lead Interchain Foundation.

The future of the Internet is becoming promising, and blockchain and Web3 technology are at the forefront of this innovation, and there is no doubt that it is promising decentralization, security and financial sovereignty. But despite all that advancement, the mass adoption of technology remains elusive. The main culprit? Low user experience. Although interoperability protocols have been significantly improved, the process of moving and interacting with assets across multiple chains remains too complicated for in-house and everyday users.

The recent Cross-Chain Interoperability Report 2024 highlights that the biggest challenge to adoption is the high frictional friction that users face when navigating the blockchain ecosystem. As of today, users need to manage multiple wallets, manually sign many transactions, and navigate complexity in identifying the best route to transfer assets across chains. These inefficiencies forced users into ecosystem silos rather than encouraging users to explore more cross-chain interactions.

When comparing the Web2 experience with Web3 experience, the difference is the daytime and daytime. Take traditional financial transactions as an example. Web2 still has a lot of complexity, but Web2 is great at hiding it. This means that users can navigate this space without thinking about the backend. For example, when sending money through a payment app, users don't need to worry about validating the bank's payment layer, messaging protocols, or various clearing mechanisms. By comparison, Web3 places this burden on users too much, and it is essential to understand the backend, thereby enforcing them to address complex transaction authorization, associated security risks, and token management systems. This has never been a problem for a crypto enthusiast audience who want to understand the technology they run. However, as the Web3 ecosystem appears to scale to a global user base, the industry needs to rethink this user experience and attract the attention of amateurs who have no prior transactions with blockchain.

Growth Pain in Interoperability – What stops Web3 from becoming mainstream?

There is no denying that interoperability solves some of the technical limitations of blockchain technology. However, for users, this experience still needs to be desired. Recent data shows that over 85 million people worldwide use blockchain wallets. However, despite widespread adoption, the challenges of wallet fragmentation remain an obvious problem. Unlike Web2, where a single login provides access to multiple services, blockchain requires users to maintain different wallets for different ecosystems. This makes cross-chain interactions painful, as the experience of switching between multiple wallets is neither intuitive nor seamless.

Managing wallets across the chain continues to be a major friction point for users. Transaction batches have eased the burden of multi-signature, but users often have to switch wallets when interacting across different blockchains. Not only is this painstaking, but it also increases the chances of human error, such as misapproving the wrong contract or sending assets to the wrong address. Seamless interoperability should mean that users can move assets and interact between chains without constantly switching wallets or navigating the complex approval process that is still manual.

Security concerns further complicate the case of Web3 adoption. With a total of $2.7 billion lost in cross-chain bridge exploits from July 2021 to August 2024, it's no surprise that many users are hesitant to move across the blockchain, as they fear hacking and trading failures. If a single mistake can lead to permanent losses of assets, it is not surprising that even experienced users remain cautious when engaged in cross-chain transactions. While there have been significant advances in addressing these challenges, it is essential that interoperability solutions are driven by differences between chains to ensure a seamless experience for everyday users.

Solver-based bridging: A new approach to UX

One new solution to the blockchain user experience crisis is a deliberate central/solver-based bridging protocol. These protocols, which act as forms of chain abstraction, operate with the “intention” or specific goals that users want to achieve within the chain. For example, exchange tokens between two chains without the need to navigate the complexity of a cross-chain itself. Instead of choosing a bridge, you must manually sign multiple transactions and monitor the process until the transaction is complete. Users are simply needed to define their intent, and an automated solver will perform the actions in the most efficient way possible. Intention-based chain abstraction solutions are becoming increasingly popular architectures, with many component-based products likely to come together like puzzle pieces to gradually form the final form of chain abstraction.

For example, if a user wants to exchange ETH between USDC and Ethereum in Solana, solver-based protocols have the ability to identify the best route, coordinate all required authorizations, and complete transactions. This is not necessary without the user having to make technical decisions. This significantly reduces the faces of high levels of friction users and improves security by minimizing errors due to manual intervention.

Intention-centric/solver-based bridging protocols do not only simplify transactions. It also feels like Web3 interactions are as smooth as traditional Web2 experiences. These solver-based protocols handle tasks such as route optimization and execution, so users no longer have to worry about the underlying infrastructure simply to get the desired results.

Make Web3 backends invisible: Are chain abstractions and ZKPS solutions?

For Web3 to reach the mass adoption phase, it needs to eliminate the underlying complexity that users currently need to navigate. Solver-based bridging protocols improve cross-chain interoperability, but chain abstractions and proofs of zero knowledge can be implemented in many other ways to make the overall Web3 UX better. While chain abstraction makes blockchain interactions feel seamless, allowing everyday users to interact with DAPP without worrying about the underlying infrastructure, Zero Knowledge Proof (ZKPS) allows information to be verified without revealing the information itself, ensuring that information is secure to individuals and organizations. These technologies eliminate the need for users to switch networks, bridge assets, and manage different token standards. Furthermore, these advances move blockchain technology beyond mere technological innovations to simply work well. If it wasn't clear yet, it's not now that the most successful technology is the least complicated. It's someone who doesn't even realize that it's used. This is reflected in the popularity of these technologies and has already gained traction.

The Web3 industry has spent years investing important resources looking for solutions to improve scalability, security, and interoperability along with trust in building. It's time to focus on the evolving needs of users and make this passbreak technology accessible to everyday users. If the Web3 ecosystem really wants to be built into the next billion users, it's time for the user experience to become a key priority and focus shifts from building infrastructure.

It can be said that it is not a clear word. The user experience is key to mainstream adoption. Solutions such as solver-based bridging protocols, chain abstractions, and zero-knowledge proofs represent fundamental changes in the way users are beginning to interact with various blockchains. By prioritizing these innovations, the Web3 ecosystem is on the path to making Web3's future seamless as we expect from Web2. After all, a billion users don't adopt blockchain technology for what they can do. Mainstream adoption is only seen when individuals can engage in it without thinking about it.

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