Modular March EP 13: Where Across Fits In The Modular Thesis

Again, we find ourselves returning to the interoperability and fragmentation problem of the modular expansion. We’ll keep it real, there is nothing innovative of building hundreds of siloed execution environments. Even if you value sovereignty as much as the rest of us, having reachable allies in the onchain world is a necessity. As new L2s and appchains are launched (which is happening at an alarmingly high rate), the ability to seamlessly interact across chains becomes crucial for the broader adoption and user experience. In today’s video, we set out to learn if an intent-based design is a viable solution. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Hart, co-founder of UMA & Across, to discuss why he believes intents are the future of interoperability. This design employs third-party actors, known as relayers or solvers, who provide the liquidity needed for cross-chain transactions, thereby allowing sub one second transfers and enhanced security (no ‘honeypots’ for hackers). But, as always, we pushed back. Is there really a way to scale an intents based design to 1000s of chains? Is value transfer the only necessity of bridging in crypto or is there also a demand for messaging? Why are solvers sometimes slow to fill orders vs. extremely quick in other scenarios? We really vibe with Hart well, and he wasn’t fearful of any questioning on his mental models. We enjoyed hearing his perspectives and learning from him. You probably will, too.