Chain Abstraction Isn't Real - VC

In this episode of Deeply Intents, we chat with Vaibhav Chellani, co-founder of Socket, about chain abstraction. VC recounts his journey from building Polygon POS to working on Plasma and ZK rollups at the Ethereum foundation to building Socket and Bungee Exchange. The conversation illuminates misconceptions around chain abstraction and replaces them with emergent mental models. In particular, we discuss chain abstracted applications, bootstrapping marketplaces, and the role of transmitters, solvers, fillers, and market makers in counterparty discovery and settlement. We finish by discussing the future of chain abstraction and playing a win-win strategy. Timestamps(00:00) - Scaling Ethereum(05:21) - Building Polygon(06:56) - Shoutout to Cosmos(08:29) - Experience at EF & Polygon(12:47) - Builder recognition(14:58) - Scaling(20:06) - Chain Abstraction in practice(24:16) - Chain Abstraction rants(33:18) - Pivot from cross-chain to chain abstraction(36:18) - Take users to a global state(39:57) - Permissionless watchers(42:39) - Transmitters, Solvers, Fillers, Market Makers(47:47) - Chain Abstracted Swap Applications(49:53) - Bungee Exchange(52:37) - Counterparty discovery(56:48) - Bootstrapping a marketplace(59:29) - Magic Spend++(1:02:54) - Ethresearch aura  (1:05:44) - Modular order flow auctions(1:10:34) - Positive sum games(1:14:21) - Advice for new developers DisclaimerNothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.