SIN: Solving chain Abstraction - Live today

November 30th, 2024

Today, we’re introducing Synapse Intent Network - a millisecond cross-chain market place for any asset and action:

A permissionless intent network with live fraud proofs
Off-chain orderbook competition between relayers instead of “first come first serve” completion, resulting in better prices for users
Support for arbitrary actions: relayers can quote complex destination chain outcomes (bridge and borrow, bridge and LP a pool, etc)
Full composability for other apps to build on top of SIN

Beyond Simple Intents

Cross-chain infrastructure has reached an inflection point. While the first wave of bridges connected chains, and the second wave introduced intents, we're now entering a third era: real-time cross-chain markets for any action. Today, we're launching the Synapse Intent Network, a fundamental evolution in cross-chain architecture that moves beyond traditional intent systems to create the first true marketplace for cross-chain execution.

The current landscape of cross-chain infrastructure is dominated by first-generation intent systems. These networks, while innovative at their time, are fundamentally limited by their single-dimensional competition model. Like Uniswap V2, they optimize for a single variable - in this case, execution speed.

The result? A race-to-fill model that creates inefficient markets and suboptimal user outcomes.

SIN changes this paradigm entirely. By introducing real-time price competition alongside speed, we've created a two-dimensional marketplace that functions more like traditional financial markets. This isn't just an incremental improvement - it's a complete reimagining of how cross-chain infrastructure should work.

Additionally, as cross-chain complexity has grown to thousands of chains, we recognize that users don’t simply want to bridge funds, but take an action after they bridge. The Synapse Intent Network allows any token and any action. For example: the user can bridge ETH from Arbitrum and receive sUSDe deposited into a pendle pool on Ethereum.

The Technical Evolution

At the heart of the Synapse Intent Network are three core innovations:

True Permissionless Relaying and the POS Future

For the first time, anyone can compete as a relayer completely permissionlessly. We achieve this through an optimistic proving mechanism where relay attempts can be disputed by a network of guards(fraud proofs). This creates a secure, open system that encourages broader participation while maintaining robust security guarantees.

This means that any market participant from market makers, MEV bots, trading firms and other DeFi protocols can start relaying in the network and fulfilling user intents. Today, the network of guards that catch fraud proofs are a permissioned multi-party compute system, similar to the rollout of fraud proofs on L2s. In the future, the network will further decentralize by allowing anyone to run a fraud prover. To prevent malicious fraud proofs where relayers acted honestly from delaying user funds, the network will use a POS system to incentivize fraud provers’ honesty.

Every prover and relayer will stake a set amount of $SYN(similar to ETH POS).

Staking $SYN to run fraud provers and relayers:

Scenario 1:

A relayer submits a transaction to fullfill a user intent
A staked fraud prover maliciously claims the transaction is fraudulent when it is not
The prover is slashed, their slashed $SYN is returned to the protocol
The user receives their funds once the proof is shown to be malicious and incorrect

Scenario 2:

A relayer submits a transaction to fullfill a user intent
A staked fraud prover submits an honest proof, showing the relayer is malicious
The relayer is slashed, a portion of their slashed $SYN is given to the fraud prover as a rewarded, the rest is returned to the protocol

Real Time Bidding between Relayers

SIN introduces millisecond-latency bidding for cross-chain transactions. Unlike traditional intent systems where relayers race on first to complete a transaction given a price constraint, SIN enables real-time price competition. This creates a true orderbook model for cross-chain transactions, leading to better prices through active competition.

A quick look at intent.markets will show 5 active intent networks, all of which are “First come, First serve”. Relayers only compete on who’s fastest to relay, not against each other to provide the user with a better price.

With SIN, relayers compete in an off-chain auction to give users the best price. This allows CEX like pricing with on-chain guarantees.

Intents for Chain Abstraction

Synapse Intent Network introduces a new concept: relaying with an arbitrary call for any cross-chain action.

Imagine wanting to earn yield in the sUSDe Pendle Pool. The yield is highest on Ethereum, but the user only has ETH on Arbitrum today. Traditionally, this would require:

Bridging ETH to Ethereum
Swapping to sUSDe
Finding the correct Pendle pool and depositing into it

Now, we allow relayers to bid and fill any arbitrary intent. Think of it as a highly efficient marketplace for cross-chain services:

Users specify what they want (the destination state)
Relayers compete to deliver this outcome
The market determines fair pricing through competition
Complexity becomes a relayer concern, not a user burden

SIN is the world’s largest marketplace for seamlessly executing complex cross-chain operations on behalf of users. This is how chain abstraction happens. As blockchains become more complex with the addition of new chains, protocols, and tokens, this approach simplifies user interactions by delegating the complexity to relayers. These relayers efficiently handle intricate processes, ensuring seamless and cost-effective execution for users.

This model creates powerful economic incentives for relayers:

Relayers specialize in specific types of cross-chain operations
Competition drives innovation in execution strategies
Users benefit from increasingly efficient markets

The Endgame

Step by step, world domination.

Step 1 - Build the best bridge

Step 2 - Use the order flow from the bridge to build the biggest intent network. We’re launching Synapse Intent Network today.

Step 3 - AI + Intents = The best crypto experience. Cortex is an AI agent that executes complex transactions. It understands crypto better than any human could and has access to the Synapse Intent Network to execute complicated transactions on behalf of users. Watch it in action.

This is the future we envision: