Article reprinted from: Zetachain

TL;DR:

Gateway simplifies the development experience of cross-chain universal applications, enabling native operations on blockchain networks including Bitcoin. Explore Gateway and start your building journey!

The mission of ZetaChain is to build a universal blockchain with blockchain-native access capabilities, making crypto technology as open, diverse, and interconnected as the internet. Today, we are excited to announce a significant upgrade to the developer experience of universal applications through Gateway — a new interactive interface that will greatly advance ZetaChain's vision of becoming the unified entry point for a decentralized world.

Key Points

  • Seamless cross-chain access: Applications on the universal EVM (i.e., universal applications) can seamlessly access any blockchain network, including the Bitcoin network, without the need to switch networks for direct link access.

  • Simplified cross-chain interaction: Gateway introduces a unified central hub and single API, simplifying the complex cross-chain interaction capabilities of universal applications and enabling effective management between external linked contracts and assets within user EOA accounts.

  • Progress on new ecosystem applications: The official ZetaChain team is actively supporting the development of new ecosystem applications, such as universal yield Yield and DEX aggregators, which can simplify complex multi-step operations into single-click actions for users through Gateway, such as: accepting native BTC as collateral on ZetaChain, borrowing USDC across multiple blockchain networks, transferring funds into cross-chain yield opportunities, and consolidating all rewards to user accounts in one operation.

  • New standard support: Gateway supports new native network standards such as universal NFTs and universal tokens, empowering creators to issue tokens that can be transferred across chains and manage cross-chain liquidity on a single platform without going through the ZRC-20 protocol whitelisting process.

  • Cross-chain innovation: Upcoming upgrades include support for SPL tokens with the integration of the Solana network, making ZetaChain the 'first L1 public chain to support cross-chain operations for three major blockchain networks (Solana, Bitcoin, Ethereum) in a wholly simplified manner.'

Build universal applications, reach global users

Universal applications on ZetaChain EVM are not limited to a single blockchain network; they can execute seamless cross-chain operations across any blockchain network. Unlike conventional smart contracts that only work on their own chain, universal applications can handle contract calls, messages, and token transfers from any chain, and even initiate corresponding operations on those chains.

For developers, this means universal applications allow them to orchestrate complex multi-step transactions across different chains, triggered by a single user action, without switching between multiple interfaces or dealing with different blockchain protocols. The ZetaChain platform provides developers with tools to automate cross-chain interactions, allowing them to focus on core functionality development of the application, providing end users with an almost 'one-stop execution' on-chain abstract operation experience.

Gateway unifies the developer and user experience

The Gateway upgrade introduces a unified cross-chain interface — a standalone universal entry point for developers and users to interact with universal applications on any blockchain.

Advantages for developers: Simplified, scalable framework

1. Unified API interface: Gateway minimizes the handling of complex operations through a unified API, abstracting the characteristics and protocol details of certain blockchain networks.

2. Standardized interaction: Each blockchain network has a designated Gateway contract or equivalent entity (such as the Gateway program on Solana or addresses on Bitcoin), providing a standardized method for depositing tokens and interacting with universal applications.

3. Universal button for cross-chain calls: With Gateway, on-chain interactions are as simple as pressing a button. For example, a single user transaction can trigger a universal application on ZetaChain, helping them exchange BNB for ETH, and then purchase NFTs on Ethereum, all in one step.

Advantages for users: Unified on-chain experience

With Gateway, users can achieve cross-chain interactions in a single transaction without switching networks. From their preferred blockchain network (such as Bitcoin or Ethereum), users can access universal applications without connecting multiple wallets or using cross-chain bridges; this seamless integration effectively reduces cross-chain costs, enhances operational security, and provides a unified experience across all supported chains.

Gateway improves cross-chain infrastructure on ZetaChain

In the past, developers needed to manage separate TSS addresses, ERC-20 custody contracts, and connector contracts to achieve cross-chain functionality; now, Gateway unifies these components into a single powerful API interface, providing a clear and consistent method for calls, deposits, and asset management. This unified approach not only simplifies the development process but also enhances the reliability of cross-chain transactions. Additionally, the Gateway interface deployed on ZetaChain can mirror mappings on other EVM-compatible chains, offering a unified development and user experience across multiple blockchain platforms.

Gateway allows universal applications to manage global assets

With Gateway, universal applications can now achieve complex interactions between smart contracts and assets connected to external blockchain networks on behalf of users. Gateway accomplishes this by extending universal smart contracts through 'withdrawAndCall' (the extraction function of ZRC-20). Developers can initiate contract call operations without asset transfers or data load, enjoying built-in rollback support and other benefits.

Users can now seamlessly access and interact with multiple on-chain applications. In other words, Gateway allows an application to represent end users so that they only need to interact once with dApps on ZetaChain to perform cross-chain operations that aggregate and optimize the functionalities of blockchain networks. Applications using Gateway can help users without switching networks or signing additional transactions.

Gateway enables new standards

Gateway upgrade enables new universal standards through chain abstraction.

Universal NFT

The universal NFT standard on ZetaChain allows developers to create smoothly functioning ERC-721 NFTs across multiple blockchain networks, simplifying the cross-chain interaction process and enabling users and developers to directly access and transfer NFTs on supported chains.

Projects built with universal NFTs include: Web3 game project Eureka and Moddio — the social game Eureka built on the web allows players to mint tradable NFTs on any chain to extract in-game assets such as gold coins, ships, survival items, and other supplies. Similarly, the virtual world creation project Moddio will provide universal NFT functionality support for developers building on its platform.

Universal NFT creation tutorials can be found in YouTube videos.

Universal Token Standard

The Universal Token Standard will provide a more flexible and permissionless alternative to the ZRC-20 mechanism for creating tokens that can be seamlessly transferred across chains.

Specifically, the ZRC-20 mechanism relies on a 'lock-unlock mode' that requires assets to be whitelisted by the protocol before they can be used cross-chain. This is significant for mature assets like BTC, as it allows users to bring them into the diverse asset environment of ZetaChain.

In contrast, the Universal Token Standard allows developers to define their own token logic (such as minting, burning, transferring) without permission and meet their specific cross-chain transfer needs. This approach eliminates protocol-level whitelisting, empowering developers to create cross-chain tokens without relying on governance or pre-approved lists.

The Universal Token Standard is a new way to bring native interoperability to token issuance, expanding the scope of Web3 use cases, all cross-chain development experiences are supported by Gateway.

The new universal applications enabled by Gateway

The Gateway upgrade has made the development of the new generation of cross-chain applications, which was previously impossible, possible.

Universal Dust Aggregator

The Dust Aggregator is a standout application brought by the ZetaChain Gateway upgrade, addressing the issue of scattered and unused small tokens across multiple blockchains. The Dust Aggregator can consolidate DUST tokens into a more valuable single asset on the user's chosen chain. Utilizing ZetaChain's Gateway and other technologies, seamless execution of native cross-chain swaps and token transfers can be achieved in a single transaction, with atomic-level rollback handling and gas optimization in unlocking dormant assets greatly improving the usability and operational efficiency of DeFi.

Universal Yield Aggregator

Amana is a project aimed at simplifying the decentralized and complex cross-chain yield mining process, realizing universal yield aggregation. With the on-chain native contract linking function enabled by Gateway, this application allows users to deposit assets from a blockchain network and automatically allocate them to liquidity mining projects across multiple blockchain networks.

For example, universal applications on ZetaChain can transfer ETH from Ethereum to lending protocols on the Base chain on behalf of users, as well as perform other cross-chain interactions, such as claiming rewards on Binance and moving them into high-yield applications, and then returning these rewards to users on ZetaChain. For more information, please refer to the project's official website.

Universal DEX

Eddy Finance and the recently launched ve(3,3) project Beam DEX have already utilized universal smart contracts to achieve native cross-chain swaps, including support for native BTC tokens. With the new Universal Token Standard and blockchain-native contract calls enabled by Gateway, these DEXs can easily support new asset trading routes for connecting on-chain applications.

For example, a universal DEX can add support for CBTC on Aerodrome Finance (the DEX leader on the Base network) and enable users to trade it with ETH on Ethereum through a series of multi-step cross-chain transactions. Gateway handles all cross-chain interactions in the background, allowing applications to directly utilize the output results of cross-chain exchanges and push further operations, all of which can be accomplished through a simple and user-friendly single interface.

Visit the official websites of Eddy Finance and Beam DEX for more information.

Looking forward to Solana integration and new upgrades

Development work to extend Gateway to new networks such as Solana is ongoing, and this integration will initially support depositing SPL tokens as ZRC-20 tokens on ZetaChain. With the [withdrawAndCall] function already open on EVM chains, universal applications will eventually be able to interact with Solana's native smart contracts and manage rollback workflows, thereby expanding ZetaChain's cross-chain capabilities.

Further optimizations will include Gateway's support for new asset types and improved account abstraction features, simplifying authentication calls. For users, the benefits of these improvements are that they can easily perform any cross-chain operation (such as transferring tokens, purchasing NFTs, etc.) with a single click on their preferred wallet and blockchain.

We look forward to sharing more progress during the development of Gateway and ZetaChain, and we will continue to build a universal blockchain capable of connecting to any blockchain network, dedicated to providing a seamless user experience and unified liquidity for the next generation of billions of users.

About ZetaChain

ZetaChain is the first universal blockchain with native access capabilities to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and other blockchains, dedicated to providing a seamless user experience and unified liquidity for billions of future users. Through its universal EVM, ZetaChain empowers developers to build universally applicable applications that operate natively across chains, creating a smoothly functioning crypto ecosystem starting from a single platform.

The official ZetaChain account can be found at @zetablockchain, and you can also join the official Discord and Telegram discussions. If you are creating projects based on ZetaChain, please contact us at partnerships@zetachain.com.

Note: Any projects mentioned in this article are third-party projects and are not related to ZetaChain.