The Rise of Intent-Driven Ecosystems: A Review of Noteworthy Projects

In the constantly evolving landscape of Web3, the intent-driven ( Intent-Centric ) user interaction model is rapidly developing. Users only need to express their needs without worrying about the complex implementation process to achieve the desired results while maintaining control over their assets. This model is similar to the experience of placing an order on an e-commerce platform or asking an AI assistant a question.

Intent-driven methods can significantly enhance the user experience, composability, and privacy protection of Web3. It simplifies user operation processes, enhances interoperability between protocols, and avoids the disclosure of personal details by expressing only intentions.

Currently, the high threshold user experience in the Web3 field remains one of the main obstacles to its large-scale application. Even the most basic token exchange operations involve cumbersome steps such as wallet creation, connection, and signing. The emergence of intent-driven solutions aims to address this issue, pushing Web3 towards broader applications alongside technologies like account abstraction and chatbots.

Intent-Driven Infrastructure

Account Abstraction

Account abstraction is a popular concept that emphasizes that users should use smarter accounts. The ERC-4337 standard implements smart accounts, supporting multiple login methods and social recovery features, thus lowering the usage threshold for new users. The capabilities of smart accounts such as bundled transactions and Gas payment on behalf of others also help to achieve intent-driven actions.

Currently leading account abstraction wallet projects include Safe Wallet, Biconomy, ZeroDev, Argent, Ambire, Sequence, etc.

artificial intelligence

Integrating AI assistants similar to Siri or ChatGPT in wallets allows users to express their intentions through conversation, which could be the ultimate form of intent-driven interaction. AI based on large language models is an effective tool for deciphering user intentions. The award-winning project Bob the Solver from the ETHGlobal Paris hackathon is a great example. The established MPC wallet Particle Network is also developing a similar project.

However, AI still faces challenges in accurately capturing complex user intentions and needs further development.

MEV

MEV( miners can extract value) has long been a significant challenge in the DeFi space. In an intention-driven model, transaction execution needs to be outsourced to solvers, so how to address the MEV issue is worth following. Currently, projects like Essential and Flashbot SUAVE are exploring solutions.

Other infrastructure

Juvix is a programming language designed by the intention-driven public chain Anoma, facilitating developers to implement application logic that includes public, private, and encrypted data.

Bob the Solver is committed to developing AI solvers and account abstraction wallets. Its AI solver is equipped with machine learning models that can classify user intentions and find the best execution path.

OKcontract has created the "Low-Level Intent" standard, simplifying the difficulty for developers to integrate transactions into web pages or applications.

Delegatable is a tool and framework for implementing universal delegation on Ethereum, allowing users to delegate operations to others without having to pay Gas fees.

Applications with Specific Intent

Many existing DeFi protocols have already demonstrated intention-driven characteristics:

• Aggregators like 1inch, Blur, etc. help users find the best trading paths and yield strategies.
• Telegram bots like Unibot simplify complex on-chain operations into chat options.
• CoWSwap, 1inch Fusion, UniswapX, etc. optimize the trading experience through off-chain matching and on-chain settlement.
• Seaport serves as a decentralized alternative to OpenSea, facilitating off-chain matching and on-chain settlement.
• Symmio is an intent-based on-chain peer-to-peer derivatives trading platform.
• BASED Markets is a blockchain trading platform built on the Symmio framework.
• BananaHq builds smart wallets using intent-driven, ERC-4337, and zero-knowledge proofs to lower the barrier for new users.

General Solutions

Some projects are creating universal solutions for intent-driven applications to support more complex application scenarios:

Anoma

Anoma is a public blockchain focused on intent-driven and privacy-preserving features, used for counterparty discovery, resolution, and multi-chain atomic settlement. Its core workflow includes:

1. Users send transparent, private, or protected intentions to the "Intent Dissemination Network".
2. Solvers in the network collect intents and perform matching.
3. The matched transactions are submitted to the memory pool, executed and validated by validators.

The technical core of Anoma includes components such as Taiga, Typhon, MASP, Vamp-IR, and Juvix.

Essential

Essential is building an intent-driven universal solution, including:

1. Establish standards for user expression of intent.
2. Intent-driven account abstraction Ethereum standard.
3. New intent-driven blockchain.

dappOS

dappOS is the first Web3 operating protocol and is also an intent-driven protocol. It provides a multi-chain smart account dappOS Account and a solver network dappOS Network, integrating over 20 leading DApps, simplifying user cross-chain operations and asset management.

Particle Network

Particle Network V2 is an intent-driven Web3 access layer. It builds a solver network on top of the existing MPC+ account abstraction wallet and adds AIGC functionality to the wallet. Users can directly express their intentions to the AI, which calculates the best execution path from hundreds of integrated DApps.

These universal solutions each have their own characteristics: dappOS is similar to a WeChat mini-program platform, abstracting public chains and interaction processes; Particle Network V2 is more like ChatGPT, allowing users to complete complex transactions through dialogue; Anoma and Essential are focused on iterating the current Web3 architecture to maximize the potential of intent-driven applications. Although the development path is long, these projects are expected to drive a new round of growth in the DApp ecosystem and usher in the next era of Web3.