原文标题:Solana introduces Actions and Blinks:The next step in bringing onchain to everywhere on the Internet
Original author: @tpan
Original translation: Ismay, BlockBeats
Editor's note: With the development of blockchain technology, user experience and security have always been the focus of major platforms. Solana launched Actions and Blinks last night, which triggered widespread discussion in the community. This also reminds people of the Frames function on another popular social protocol Farcaster. They both show different paths to improve the convenience of on-chain interaction. Therefore, some people are worried that X will erode Farcaster's first-mover advantage with the help of Blinks. However, Dan, the founder of the Farcaster protocol, said in the community that Blinks can only be used on the web, but 88% of Twitter users are on mobile phones, implying that the emergence of Blinks does not pose a threat to Farcaster.
Back to this translation, the author discusses the advantages, potential risks, and future development prospects of these two innovative features. Whether it is the permissionless Frames, or the Actions and Blinks with a registration process to ensure security, these new features are gradually changing the user's on-chain experience and improving the interaction standards of the entire blockchain ecosystem.
The following is the original text:
Earlier today, the Solana Foundation launched Actions and Blinks, an exciting feature that enables users to conduct on-chain transactions on any online platform. The announcement video released by the team shows the feature in action and how Blinks (blockchain links) can be used.
A brief introduction to Actions and Blinks
Actions were previously known as Solana Pay transactions. The broader “Actions” term expands the initial payments use case to cover other operations such as minting, swapping, voting, etc.
Blinks (Blockchain Links) turn Actions into shareable, metadata-rich links, allowing the client (the user interface part of the application) to display more functionality for users to interact with.
Actions and Blinks can be distributed in a variety of formats: links, QR codes, push notifications, messaging apps, etc.
The integration was co-developed by Dialect Labs, a company that specializes in messaging, notifications, and in-app actions products.
If you want to learn more, check out the official website and developer documentation.
Actions and Blinks in action
The best way to experience new features is to see live examples! If you’re interested in seeing these examples, install the Phantom or Backpack extensions on your desktop.
Phantom (crypto wallet) shared a live example that allows users to purchase Bonk using SOL through blink.
Jupiter also shared a live example, allowing users to purchase Jupiter tokens using SOL through blink.
These initial examples aren’t just cool — they have broad and exciting implications for future developments.
Making onchain easier: the pros and cons of blinks
The benefits of Actions and Blinks are clear. They make on-chain transactions easier to conduct, expand awareness and access, and they are flexible enough to be used across a variety of applications and platforms, such as X, Discord, etc.
Fewer clicks = more convenience = higher likelihood of action or engagement
The following may happen in the future:
Projects can launch their minting activities on established marketplaces like Opensea or Magic Eden and on platforms like Discord, Telegram, and X, or only on the latter.
Projects and their respective community members can create new interaction models around engagement, gamification, and referrals.
Users new to crypto and Web3 will get their first experience with on-chain operations through a simple, friendly tutorial module on a trusted application, rather than a crypto wallet extension.
On the other hand, there are some concerns about this new feature, especially on platforms like X, with the biggest being that Blinks could make scams more rampant. Imagine a world where celebrities could launch their memecoin with a few clicks and then promote it through Blinks (PS: the celebrity coin trend hasn’t stopped: Jason Derulo, Travis Barker, and 50 Cent have all recently launched their own tokens, alas).
Unsurprisingly, and fortunately, Solana is aware of the potential risks and abuse, so they implemented some protections during their initial launch:
At launch, extension partners (Phantom, Backpack, Dialect) will only "expand" registered Action URLs on X. Developers must register their Actions with Dialect, and Blinks will also present additional UI features for enhanced security.
Users must choose a wallet that supports Actions and Blinks as this is an experimental feature.
If a user attempts to connect to a domain that is not on the whitelist, they will be prompted to confirm that they trust the site before they can proceed.
With great power comes great responsibility, and fortunately, Solana understands the appeal of Actions and Blinks for mainstream adoption, but also recognizes that they are prone to abuse, so they are taking a slower rollout approach.
Wait, that reminds me...
Frames on Farcaster
Leaving aside the technical details (which I’m not qualified to delve into), we have two different modern “widget” features that have a common goal of making on-chain interactions more convenient and easy to use.
Depth vs. Breadth
Even though it feels like a long time ago, Frames were only launched about 5 months ago. Fast forward to today, Frames usage continues to grow, they even have their own trending tab, embedded as a core part of the Farcaster ecosystem.
Actions and Blinks, on the other hand, opt for greater reach, expanding discoverability, shareability, and virality across channels. While there are potential concerns about clients removing support for Blinks, the enhanced UI elements come from the Chrome extension itself, which makes it a game changer.
In short: X cannot "remove" Blinks because the UI changes are based on the Chrome extension.
Who can deploy
Frames are virtually permissionless, as anyone can create and publish them. Actions and Blinks, on the other hand, have a sign-up process to ensure user security. Despite the slower rollout, I imagine the Solana developer community is excitedly experimenting behind the scenes, similar to the experiments the Farcaster community did when they launched Frames in January.
Solana and Dialect are also actively providing grants to support developers creating Actions and Blinks integrations.
Core Contributors and Ecosystem Growth
Farcaster Frames was developed by the Farcaster team and has since grown into a larger community effort.
With Actions and Blinks, the Solana Foundation has taken a more proactive approach from development to announcements (the Saga phone is another example of this approach). Each ecosystem and foundation has its own unique approach to ecosystem growth. This launch has raised concerns among developers in the Ethereum ecosystem, raising questions about different mindsets and coordination approaches.
I believe this development will be quickly emulated by other ecosystems, with or without foundation support. The benefits of its distribution are undoubtedly huge, and its upper limit is yet to be known.
Clients, on the other hand, are in an interesting position. Since Blinks are based on an installed Chrome extension, clients cannot “remove” them on desktop. Will they consider working with Solana to create a more positive user experience? If so, how?
Finally, and most importantly, consumers are being exposed to a new set of interaction-based experiences that are novel, convenient, and easy to use. The bar for a “good” on-chain consumer experience is rising rapidly, and this has been long overdue.