The concept of “intents” is emerging as a powerful new paradigm in Web3, with the potential to fundamentally redefine the user experience. Instead of the current model, which requires users to act as a programmer and dictate the step-by-step “how” of a transaction, intents allow users to simply express their desired “what.”
Transactions vs. Intents: A Paradigm Shift
To understand intents, it’s essential to compare them to the traditional transaction model in Web3:
- Transactions (Imperative): This is the current, dominant model. A user must provide a fully specified, signed set of instructions for a blockchain network to execute. This involves knowing which smart contract to interact with, what function to call, and what parameters to use. For example, a user wanting to swap tokens would have to manually approve the token transfer and then execute the swap transaction, specifying the exact path and slippage. This process is complex, error-prone, and often requires users to have a deep understanding of the underlying blockchain mechanics.
- Intents (Declarative): An intent is a high-level, declarative statement of a desired outcome. The user simply states their goal, and an off-chain network of “solvers” competes to find the most efficient and optimal way to achieve it. The user signs this declarative statement, and the solvers handle the complex on-chain execution. The user’s wallet only authorizes the release of assets upon the successful completion of the desired outcome.
This shift from an imperative to a declarative model is akin to the difference between giving a taxi driver turn-by-turn directions and simply inputting a destination into a ride-hailing app like Uber.
How Intents Work
The intent-based architecture typically involves three key components:
- The User: The user creates and signs a message that declares their intent. For example, “I want to swap 1 ETH for at least 3,000 USDC.”
- The Solver Network: This is a network of specialized off-chain entities that receive and analyze the user’s intent. Solvers, which can be individuals or bots, compete to find the best way to satisfy the intent. This might involve routing the swap across multiple DEXs, utilizing off-chain liquidity, or even executing a series of complex transactions on different blockchains to get the best price.
- The Settlement Layer: Once a solver finds the optimal solution, it constructs the on-chain transaction(s) and submits them to the blockchain. The user’s wallet is configured to only execute the transaction if it meets the conditions of the original intent (e.g., receiving at least 3,000 USDC).
Key Benefits of Intents
- Enhanced User Experience: Intents abstract away the complexity of Web3. Users no longer need to worry about gas fees, slippage, liquidity fragmentation across different chains, or transaction sequencing. This makes dApps feel more like intuitive Web2 applications.
- Optimal Execution: Solvers can access both on-chain and off-chain liquidity sources, allowing them to find the most favorable execution path for a user’s request. This leads to better pricing and reduced fees.
- MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) Protection: By moving the execution logic off-chain and into a private, competitive network of solvers, intents can help mitigate common MEV attacks like “sandwiching,” where a malicious bot front-runs and back-runs a user’s transaction to profit at their expense.
- Cross-Chain Interoperability: Intents are particularly powerful for cross-chain actions. Instead of a user having to bridge tokens and then perform a swap on a different chain, a single intent can be created to handle the entire process. The solver network handles the multi-chain execution, making the experience seamless for the user.
- Gas Fee Abstraction: With intents, users can potentially pay for their transactions in any token, or even have a third party (a “paymaster”) sponsor the gas fee entirely. This removes a major barrier for new users who may not hold ETH to pay for gas.
Real-World Examples
Several projects are already incorporating intents into their protocols:
- UniswapX: Uniswap’s new protocol uses an intent-based model for swaps, where solvers compete to offer the best price, which can be fulfilled by either an on-chain automated market maker (AMM) or off-chain liquidity.
- Across Protocol: A bridge that uses an intent-based architecture to enable fast and capital-efficient cross-chain swaps.
- Anoma: A layer 1 blockchain being built from the ground up around the concept of intents, aiming to create a general-purpose, intent-centric architecture for a wide range of applications.
Intents represent a significant step toward making Web3 truly accessible to a mainstream audience. By focusing on the user’s desired outcome rather than the technical details of execution, they unlock a new level of simplicity, security, and efficiency that could finally deliver on the promise of a decentralized internet.
