Cross-chain Interoperability New Standard ERC-7683: Simplifying Interoperability in a Multi-Chain World

In the context of the increasingly diversified blockchain ecosystem, achieving secure and convenient cross-chain interoperability has always been a significant challenge faced by the industry. With the growing demand for cross-chain transactions from users, this challenge has become even more prominent. The main difficulties include security, high Gas fees, and operational complexity.

Security is the most critical issue in cross-chain transactions. Cross-chain bridge protocols that hold a large amount of assets often become the primary target for hackers. These protocols rely on trusted third-party validators to handle cross-chain transactions, and if the number of validators is insufficient or the trust model is too centralized, it can be exploited by hackers. Additionally, vulnerabilities in the protocol's own contracts often serve as entry points for attacks.

Recently, a certain cross-chain bridge was suspected of being hacked, resulting in a loss of approximately $12 million in crypto assets. This inevitably brings to mind a security incident in March 2022, known as the "largest loss in DeFi history," when hackers successfully attacked multiple validators, causing losses of over $600 million.

Another challenge of cross-chain transactions is the high Gas fees. Users need to consider the operational costs on both chains simultaneously, which often leads to a higher overall transaction cost.

In addition, the complexity of cross-chain operations is also a significant issue. Since each blockchain network has its unique operating mechanism, users often need to perform cumbersome operations when transferring assets across chains. Users who trade frequently are more likely to encounter issues with asset price slippage, which increases the difficulty of trading.

To address these issues, a well-known decentralized exchange and an interoperability protocol have jointly proposed the ERC-7683 standard. This new standard aims to make cross-chain transactions simpler, faster, and more secure through a shared execution network.

The ERC-7683 standard is based on the CrossChainOrder structure and provides an ISettlementContract smart contract interface to implement a standard API for cross-chain transaction execution systems. Its core technical proposal is to have all "cross-chain intents" adhere to a unified order structure, which greatly enhances the flexibility and user-friendliness of cross-chain operations.

Currently, multiple Layer 2 solutions and decentralized exchanges have announced the adoption or plans to adopt the ERC-7683 standard. This will help achieve more efficient asset transfers and broader application layer interoperability.

It is worth noting that although the ERC-7683 standard provides a unified interface for cross-chain transactions, the issue of insufficient cross-chain liquidity still needs to be addressed. Users can only obtain better costs and experiences through competitive mechanisms when there are enough active "Fillers" participating. Therefore, the successful implementation of this standard requires the formation of a wide-area effect to attract more use cases and user participation.

The co-founder of Ethereum expressed support for the ERC-7683 standard. He pointed out that this standard will enable users to transfer assets more easily across different chains, completing complex cross-chain operations in just a few simple steps.

As the multi-chain landscape of the Web3 era continues to evolve, optimizing and simplifying cross-chain transactions to release more liquidity will become a key challenge. The ERC-7683 standard directly addresses these pain points and is expected to significantly enhance interoperability between blockchains. Its widespread adoption will have a profound impact on the blockchain world, especially in improving user experience and injecting more liquidity support for DeFi projects, which is expected to accelerate the development of the entire ecosystem.