Most cryptocurrency ecosystems adopt a chain-centric perspective. This design concept is mainly driven by the perception of the scarcity of blockchain space and is a trade-off between security and decentralization and performance and scalability. In today's multi-chain environment, the demand for cross-chain interaction is becoming more and more obvious, and the chain-centric design has led to problems such as inefficient transactions and fragmented user experience. In order to optimize cross-chain operations, the concept of chain abstraction was proposed to abstract the complexity of the underlying chain and achieve smoother interaction between different blockchains. In this context, Stephane Gosselin and Ankit Chiplunkar, researchers at Frontier Research, an independent research institution focusing on topics such as MEV, proposed a new concept called "OneBalance" to achieve chain abstraction by building an account-centric ecosystem.
The composition and functions of the OneBalance framework
OneBalance is a framework for creating and managing so-called "trusted accounts" to integrate user operations and assets in a multi-chain environment. These accounts run on trusted commitment machines, manage states through resource locking and reliably request state transitions, thereby providing a safer and more efficient way to interact across chains. OneBalance's goal is to change the current situation where any operation on the target blockchain must rely on users to initiate it with private key signatures.
Credible Accounts are a core component of the OneBalance framework and run on a trusted commitment machine to enable cross-chain functionality and high security. This account type not only manages users' assets and states on different blockchains, but also ensures that change requests for these states are reliable and secure. Credible accounts abstract the complexity of the underlying blockchain and simplify cross-chain transactions and asset management. In addition, credible accounts also abstract transaction fees, such as gas fees on different chains, so that users no longer need to pay attention to the fee structure of different chains.
Credible commitment machines are the underlying technical foundation for realizing the trusted account function. They usually refer to hardware or software environments that can execute and ensure the security of complex operations, including hardware security modules (TEEs), multi-party computing environments (MPCs), or smart contract accounts. Their main responsibilities are to ensure the security of accounts, issue resource locks, and verify the fulfillment of these locks. Through credible commitment machines, OneBalance ensures that all account operations are performed in a highly secure and verified environment, improving the reliability and tamper-proof capabilities of transactions.
Resource locks are a mechanism used in trusted accounts to lock user assets or states until certain conditions are met. Resource locks are designed to ensure the security and consistency of assets during cross-chain operations, preventing users from double spending or other types of fraud during the execution of operations. For example, a user can lock specific tokens on one chain until an operation on another chain is successfully completed, ensuring that these tokens will not be transferred or released until all predetermined conditions are met. This locking mechanism improves the security of cross-chain transactions, but it does not mean that the need for bridging is eliminated.
OneBalance itself cannot guarantee complete execution atomicity, but it can incentivize atomicity through a locking mechanism. Users can set trigger conditions for the locking mechanism: first, specific conditions must be met to trigger the lock; second, it can only be unlocked after a specific transaction is completed, that is, the fulfillment of the lock depends on the occurrence of a series of external events. If some operations between chains fail to execute as expected, the agents who perform these operations will not be able to obtain economic benefits from them, which can economically guarantee the atomicity of the operation.
Comparison with existing account types
There are two main types of accounts: Externally Owned Accounts (EOA) and Smart Contract Accounts (SCA). EOA is the most basic type of blockchain account, which is directly controlled by a public-private key pair and does not involve any smart contract logic. Since there is no mechanism on the chain to ensure that the transaction submitted by the user is the transaction that is finally decided by the user, the user can submit a new transaction by changing the nonce, thereby offsetting the previous transaction. Therefore, although EOA transactions are faster and less costly, they cannot provide credible commitments. SCA is an account managed and controlled by smart contracts, allowing more complex logic and transactions to be executed. However, SCA cannot actively initiate transactions and is costly.
Compared with the two existing major account types, OneBalance improves the security and irreversibility of transactions through resource locking and trusted commitment mechanisms, while maintaining transaction speed and cost efficiency. By implementing resource locks internally in a trusted computing environment, there is no need to consume a lot of Gas or wait for on-chain finality, achieving a balance between cost and efficiency. At the same time, OneBalance supports the use of modern authentication methods such as session keys and multi-factor authentication (MFA), providing user experience improvements similar to smart contract accounts.
In addition, OneBalance is compatible with the account system implemented by EIP-4337, and can use the smart contract logic implemented by EIP-4337 to enhance its cross-chain account management function when needed. However, OneBalance is not limited to using account abstraction and 4337 chains, it is a general framework with a wider range of applications. OneBalance can be regarded as expanding the concept of EIP-4337 and adding cross-chain functions.
By implementing the OneBalance framework, centralized management and operation of user accounts and assets in a multi-chain environment is expected to drive the Web3 ecosystem to an account-centric perspective. OneBalance provides a unified account interface, allowing users to seamlessly trade between different blockchains without having to worry about the differences between the chains. This centralized account management also provides users with more advanced security features and customized settings, enhancing user control and protection of their assets.