Art Of Abstraction – Charting The Next Evolution Of The Web3 Ecosystem
From conversations with many industry experts on blockchain layers and their challenges and opportunities, one theme kept emerging – abstraction.
A renewed focus on abstracting technology away from the user experience would clear a path to ... [+] adoption
The increasingly multilayered nature of the blockchain ecosystem has created a growth spurt in user activity and liquidity, but the challenges it throws up are also seemingly intractable. Scalability requires more platforms to increase bandwidth, yet interoperability barriers and the complexity of a crowded ecosystem risk constraining forward-looking innovation. How can developers focus on building user-friendly apps that meet real-world needs rather than chasing the tail of the newest problem caused by the latest solution?
Having consulted many industry experts on blockchain layers and their challenges and opportunities, one theme kept emerging – abstraction.
Alex Mizrahi, CTO and Co-Founder of relational data blockchain Chromia, explains the challenge:
“Non-crypto users are used to certain ‘nice’ features, like account recovery and being able to log in using a memorable password. The industry has made progress in making the Web3 experience more user-friendly, but I think there is still room for improvement when it comes to account abstraction. Along with gas-free transactions, this would alleviate the complexity and poor UX that is ‘baked in’ to the Web3 experience.”
Account abstraction broadly describes features that remove the need for users to manage their own private keys for secure self-custody of assets, such as those mentioned by Mizrahi above. The fragmentation challenges of a multilayered ecosystem can compound the complexity of self-custody if users need to manage multiple accounts and keys. Account abstraction would allow users to interact with their accounts more naturally and seamlessly with features such as delegated access, account recovery, and more.
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