What is a universal abstraction?
Universal Abstraction is a unique and all-inclusive infrastructure solution designed to eliminate inherent cryptographic complexities for all Web3 users. The key to this innovation is that XION implements it directly at the protocol level, including seamlessly abstracting accounts, signatures, gas, interoperability, pricing, devices, payments, and more. In other words, XION brings the promise of decentralization and ownership of Web3 to a global mainstream audience by fully abstracting the public chain.
Protocol-level abstraction for XION
XION's innovation lies in protocol-level abstraction, which greatly simplifies the entire technology stack and has many benefits. Compared with other current public chains, XION is not only a superior solution, but also lays the foundation for the flexibility to adapt to future dApp innovations.
In the following, we outline the problems found in other public chain ecosystems, especially in EVM chains, and how XION is designed to solve these problems.
First, XION solves multiple fragmentation issues found in other EVM chains.
The first is stack fragmentation – as shown in the diagram above, the EVM chain technology stack consists of many different layers. For dApps, the EVM chain requires 4 more layers to provide the same functionality that XION provides at the base level.
The second is standards fragmentation - a very "old" technical dilemma. A perfect example of this is Security Approach vs. Diamond Approach (ERC-2535 Diamond Proxy), which SevenX Ventures covers in depth in an article. Additionally, across the technology stack, multiple companies compete at every level. This forces developers and users to choose which platform to use for each feature. Through protocol-level standardization, XION eliminates any incompatibilities.
The third is user fragmentation - the existing Web3 ecosystem faces fragmentation problems because existing externally owned accounts (EOA) cannot be seamlessly upgraded to smart contract accounts (SCA). Again, XION’s protocol-level solution has eliminated this situation.
Future-proofing cryptography : XION’s protocol-level solution is signature curve agnostic, allowing it to seamlessly meet many existing cryptography curves – Ethereum’s Secp256K1, Solana’s Ed25519, global standard Secp256R1, JWT’s RS256, etc. . This clearly has huge advantages over existing public chain solutions in terms of interoperability, market coverage and long-term adaptability.
Additionally, XION's infrastructure offers clear advantages in terms of ease of upgradeability, cost, and security.
Upgradeability : The easy upgradeability provided by XION's protocol-level solution enhances the speed of development and upgrades for XION. One of the biggest obstacles to upgrading existing infrastructure (especially the consensus layer) in other public chains is the impact it will have on existing dApps. XION's implementation alleviates this problem, and in addition, it allows existing protocols that do not currently use common abstractions to be seamlessly integrated into their stacks as well as any future upgrades.
Cost : The cost of deploying and transacting on the EVM chain is considerable, often deterring many potential adopters. XION's innovative technology stack and low fee structure completely remove this cost barrier, making it an easier-to-use and more cost-effective solution for developers and users. Additionally, its low cost enables developers and users to perform more compute-intensive operations.
Security : XION's solution does not introduce a backup memory pool (unlike ERC-4337). This mitigates many of the risks associated with centralization, MEV capture, fragmentation, and censorship that other public chains typically face. When combining modularity and ease of upgradeability, XION provides the development speed enhancements mentioned above, while being extremely secure and resilient in the long run.
XION's Universal Abstraction: A Comprehensive Solution
In addition to the benefits of protocol-level abstraction mentioned above, XION’s universal abstraction is the only comprehensive, all-encompassing solution in the crypto industry.
In order to effectively solve the adoption problem, it is imperative to abstract all aspects of users entering the crypto space. Adding the ability for users to log in with email may simplify one step of the user onboarding process, but if users still need to take 15 extra steps to understand and manage gas fees, obtain tokens, grasp the intrinsic value of those tokens, etc., then The simplicity of getting started becomes meaningless. While the crypto industry has made some interesting attempts to solve adoption pain points, XION’s protocol-level abstraction is more sustainable, flexible, and feasible in the long run.
Next, we continue to introduce the robustness of XION's general abstraction through seven different aspects, each of which solves specific industry pain points.
Account abstraction: XION pioneered modular account abstraction at the protocol level.
Traditional wallets have caused user entry rates to drop by more than 95%. Downloading plugins, enduring complex settings, confusing pop-ups, understanding and securely storing torrent phrases, and dealing with an unpleasant user experience are major hurdles for non-technical users. The solution to this problem is account abstraction and smart contract accounts (SCA). Not only do they allow users to use familiar login methods (such as email), but they also unlock additional security enhancements such as account recovery, account permissions, and more. Beyond this, the rest of the XION abstract account remains invisible. This design is subtle yet impactful, ensuring developers can focus on creating value without any special considerations for these accounts.
Signature abstraction: Through signature abstraction, XION is the first public chain to support signatures across all encryption curves.
This technological breakthrough means XION can use Apple's FaceID, passwords, JWT, EVM curves, Solana curves, and more to sign transactions. Additionally, when using non-wallet authenticators such as JWT, FaceID, NFC, ZK, etc., there is no need for a trusted proxy or oracle as the communication is done directly against the chain. This not only improves security, but also fits perfectly with the "trustless" spirit of Web3.
Payment abstraction: XION allows users to conduct on-chain transactions directly using credit and debit cards, eliminating transaction complexities common in other chains.
In traditional public chains, purchasing goods on-chain using fiat currency is an arduous task, usually involving more than 15 steps and sometimes taking more than a week to complete. Users must endure the challenges of registering on a centralized exchange, performing KYC, waiting for fund transfer, creating a wallet, cross-chain funds, redeeming the correct token, etc. before making a purchase. In contrast, XION allows users to use bank cards to complete the on-chain transaction experience from start to finish in less than 60 seconds, providing a Web2 experience that is truly familiar to users.
Gas Abstraction: XION completely eliminates the concept of Gas charges from the end user's perspective.
Gas fees have always been one of the biggest obstacles for new Web3 users. In addition to introducing unfamiliar terminology to new users, the process of obtaining the necessary Gas tokens is also a major barrier for users to enter most public chain ecosystems. This proves to be a significant hurdle not only for end users but also for application builders, who are burdened with gas management and purchasing. XION completely removes barriers to user entry into the ecosystem by leveraging its protocol-level abstraction and being gas-free.
Interoperability Abstraction: XION is truly interoperable with all ecosystems, enabling users to cross-chain with one click and stake on XION with any token.
Especially in an industry filled with different public chains and tokens, it is crucial to make XION accessible to all users. Through its interoperability abstraction, XION enables users from any public chain and any token holder to trade/stake on XION, thus unifying liquidity across all public chain ecosystems.
Device Abstraction: XION completely abstracts the concept of a browser wallet or app, enabling users to access their XION account in multiple ways—whether via email, FaceID, password, or other methods—offering users across a variety of devices Strong support and efficient operation.
The ability to easily support all devices, especially mobile, really opens the door to mass adoption of Web3. Today, a large portion of all digital interactions occur on mobile phones. However, current mobile crypto wallets present security risks, do not translate well between different devices, require users to unsafely use seed phrase to switch devices, and currently have very poor UI/UX performance in in-app browsers. XION’s infrastructure ensures easy access to accounts from any device. Additionally, it allows users to decouple logins from assets, creating a secure way for users to interact with new dApps without putting their assets at risk. Essentially, it allows users to securely access the XION ecosystem anytime, anywhere.
Pricing abstraction: XION is the first public chain to use familiar fiat currency pricing across the entire ecosystem.
Given that USDC is crypto-native, users don’t have to worry about risk aversion. Additionally, assets denominated in fiat currencies eliminate price volatility, making many previously impossible use cases possible. Finally, it enables all assets on XION to be denominated in currencies familiar to everyday users.
Conclusion: Creating a scalable future for Web3
By introducing a modular common abstraction layer at its core, XION is the first to provide comprehensive solutions to key user adoption issues. While addressing the inherent complexities of cryptography at the protocol level, XION both simplifies the technology stack and strategically positions itself as the foundational layer for future innovation. Its powerful infrastructure is designed to seamlessly interoperate with all current public chains and adapt to future developments in the long term.
XION's universal abstractions paves the way for future innovation in consumer-facing applications. It is committed to abstracting accounts, signatures, payments, gas, interoperability, devices and pricing to make Web3 accessible to all users. By encapsulating these complex terms under a unified protocol-level abstraction layer, XION significantly moves the crypto industry closer to mainstream adoption.
About Burnt and XION
Burnt is developing the future of Web3 with the introduction of XION, the first Layer-1 blockchain built specifically for consumer adoption by abstracting the complexities of cryptography, built by Burnt. The mission is that everyone, regardless of crypto knowledge, should have equal access to true ownership. Burnt has raised over $11 million from top investors such as Animoca, Circle, Multicoin, Spartan, HashKey and more.
