An overview of the Particle Network ecosystem

By Carlos Maximiliano Cano, Content Manager, Particle Network 0xjs@;

Particle Network is a Web3 intent-centric, modular access layer that is always evolving.

We were the first to launch a Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS) tool for developers to leverage MPC-TSS and social login to implement self-hosted, dApp-embedded wallets that can be accessed through the user’s Web2 account. Then, as Account Abstraction (AA) debuted and became a fundamental part of Web3, we saw an opportunity to integrate it into our products to accommodate the upgraded account structure. Our goal was to provide developers with a seamless experience while achieving maximum flexibility, and that is why modular intelligent WaaS was born.

After more than 800 integrations and over 15 million active users, we have been focused on driving Web3 growth and decided to shift our focus. We’re announcing the upcoming release of the Intent Fusion Protocol and Confidential zkStack to cover privacy, data sovereignty, and efficiency for a dynamic that is truly in line with the spirit of Web3.

After a series of deep dives, we hope to give you a glimpse into the full vision of Particle Network: a deeply intertwined, collaborative ecosystem that drives Web3 adoption, enabling developers to create better products and simplify the user experience across the board. This article will also look at the different components that make up this vision, as well as their underlying technologies and token economy. It will also focus on interactions within the Particle Network ecosystem, as well as possible evolutionary steps.

Unique location of the Particle Network

As we all know, the accumulation of financial value has been a major growth driver for our industry. However, for Web3 to cement itself as a paradigm shift, it needs to develop consumer-friendly applications that address real needs that Web2 peers can’t. While it’s true that some use cases have gathered momentum, in order for Web3 to continue to accelerate and attract creativity and talent, our ecosystem needs to address the infrastructure and design constraints that are holding it back.

With this goal in mind, and with modular, intelligent WaaS already on the market, we see the next evolutionary step in our mission being to build infrastructure that will make Web3 interactions easier for developers and end users. For the former, this means creating tools that allow for maximum flexibility and easily leverage Web3 capabilities. For the latter, this means being able to access Web3 and manage its assets with maximum efficiency, interoperability, and privacy. Thus was born the idea of the Intent Fusion Protocol and the Confidential zkStack.

We initially conceptualized these two components (which we’ll discuss in depth below) as v2 versions. However, in the process of bringing v2 to life, we began to change the way we think about the process, understanding it as an ongoing evolution rather than an extension. Since the multiple components of our upcoming tech stack rely on synergies to reach its full potential, the system needs to be considered by looking at the sum of its various parts and their interactions.

Finally, to unify these ideas, we envision a transition to a token-centric economic model powered by the Particle Network token. Particle Network sits in a unique location within the Web3 ecosystem, connecting dApps and end users (similar to B2B2C). Because of this, we are able to capture and distribute the value created by our contributions to Web3 efficiency and privacy. This motivated us to complete an ecosystem design to meet the following needs:

• End-users who demand simplicity and security.
• Developers, who need low development costs and high efficiency and user acquisition effects to be successful.
• Public chains, which need to drive value and promote the development of their ecosystems.

All of the above forms the blueprint for our evolution, which we’ll dive into next.

Particle’s unique position in the Web3 ecosystem

Particle Network Ecosystem

Now let’s explore the different components of the Particle Network ecosystem. We conceptualize our evolution as a combination of three pillars, their underlying technologies, and the economic systems that bring them together.

The three pillars are:

Modular Smart Wallet-as-a-Service: :P article’s Smart WaaS allows developers to flexibly leverage their dApps to tap into the potential of account abstraction in a WaaS environment. This allows them to easily build complex applications and business scenarios with embedded wallets and social login capabilities, while retaining the flexibility to choose the components that best suit their needs. Regardless of how a developer intends to implement AA in a given application, we have built-in the modularity needed to natively leverage ERC-4337 at any level of the underlying technology stack, supported by Particle’s AA-SDK. Confidential zkStack: Particle is improving the WaaS framework by addressing the issue of identity compromise in WaaS offerings (which is currently the privacy issue of these tools) and the inherent transparency of the most popular L1 and L2 blockchains. It provides users with two main features, both of which rely on zero-knowledge technology: Confidential Login, which allows users to verify Web2 social identities without revealing them to Particle or a hosted dApp, and Confidential Transaction, which combines Confidential Paymaster with Stealth Smart Accounts are used in conjunction to allow users to transact privately. As a result, Particle is facilitating a system where user data is fully owned and managed by the user. The Intent Fusion Protocol: The Intent Fusion Protocol is a permissionless, general-purpose framework for expressing, transforming, and executing a user’s goals. It can create intent- and user-centric products that integrate DSLs (Domain Specific Languages) to radically simplify the dApp development experience. Developers can use the DSL of the Intent Fusion Protocol to express user intent through input and output constraints rather than transactions, and submit it to the solver network for on-chain execution. This transforms the user and developer experience, relieving users of the burden of customizing and executing all the necessary steps to achieve their goals, while simplifying the task for developers, shifting their focus to simply outlining intent, ultimately improving the usability and efficiency of Web3 dApps.

The three pillars of the Particle Network, supported by Particle zkEVM and Omnichain AA, are unified by the Particle Network token.

As shown in the diagram above, the remaining components of that vision are:

Omnichain Account Abstraction (Omnichain AA): As the foundation of the Particle Network ecosystem, this technology solves two key problems in Web3 adoption: 1. Management and standardization of user cross-chain accounts. 2. Cognitive load and friction of interacting with complex multi-chain ecosystems.

With Omnichain AA, users can have a unified smart contract account address across different EVM chains. Users trigger the generation of new accounts on the Particle chain, and then trigger the deployment of contracts on different chains to achieve the consistency of multi-chain smart accounts. Omnichain AA additionally addresses the issue of facilitating compatibility with EVM-friendly chains with different AA implementations, so it cannot be unified with ERC-4337 addresses.

Omnichain AA can also facilitate seamless cross-chain interactions in combination with third-party cross-chain messaging solutions such as LayerZero, CCIP, Axelar, Connext, and more. This system uses the Particle Network token as a unified gas payment method, abstracting a complex gas mechanism and simplifying the use of cross-chain smart accounts.

Particle Chain: Particle Network proposes to use an independent zkEVM as a full-chain storage database for smart accounts. Changes to account storage are handled by Particle Chain and eventually synchronized to the local storage of other on-chain accounts. This zkEVM not only functions in Omnichain AA, but also acts as a zk-proof generator for our Confidential zkStack. The Particle Network token serves as the native token of Particle Chain. Particle Network Token: Inspired by previous successful models, Particle Network’s economic model evolution allows us to create value for the network and its stakeholders through network effects. This coordinates incentives from different types of stakeholders, helps accelerate the growth of the network, and triggers a virtuous cycle of value accumulation. In addition to incentives, the token also serves as a unified gas token in the Omnichain account abstraction, helping to secure Particle Chain through a proof-of-stake system, and potentially ultimately for governance.

The following diagram illustrates how a typical user uses and interacts with the above components:

User interaction flow with UI examples

Therefore, a specific user flow might look like this:

• Users log in to social games native to the zkSync ecosystem they are interested in.
• With a Google account, they can access the wallet generated for them within three seconds. This process is completely privacy-preserving, and the resulting wallet is built directly into the app.
• Users do not need to know what gas or Layer 2 bridges are. They can start collecting and trading in-game NFTs directly. Any additional on-chain requirements are expressed through intents and are immediately satisfied by the underlying solver network.

Contrary to the current transaction-focused, user-driven setup, the above process enables a natural entry path with an intuitive difficulty curve.

Roles and synergies of components

Modular Intelligent WaaS: Guides users to Web3 while accelerating development

Particle’s smart wallet-as-a-service modular stack is designed to create an ERC-4337 AA implementation that enables end-to-end onboarding and utilization of AA, enabling developers to build next-generation Web3 experiences. Particle is designed to create a flexible experience for developers that enables them to interact natively with AA while tying directly to Particle’s WaaS instance for social login and simplified interactions.

The AA modular approach to Particle and the overall implementation are shown in the following diagram:

Modular stack of Particles

As mentioned earlier, Particle’s modular intelligent WaaS is designed to address the diversity of smart account implementations and options in the AA ecosystem through modularity and flexibility. Particle has also built its own AA interactions, such as a proprietary Paymaster and a fully open-source Bundler for scalable and reliable ERC-4337 interactions. Our AA ecosystem includes some of the most popular providers, making us the only player in the industry to offer such a vertical, integrated, comprehensive self-developed suite.

Particle’s modular stack contains a wide range of AA solutions, some of which were developed in-house

Modular intelligent WaaS is the foundation for Particle Network’s improved design, laying the foundation for the rest of the components to function. Next, we’ll introduce Omnichain Account Abstraction, a technology developed by Particle Network to take AA to new heights.

Omnichain Account Abstraction (Omnichain AA): Enables cross-chain user operations and seamless smart account management

Particle Network introduces a way to improve AA by combining the best of different proposals. By decoupling the storage and code of smart accounts, Omnichain AA solves existing challenges in both cross-chain transactions and multi-chain account abstraction.

Omnichain AA architecture

As mentioned earlier, Omnichain AA allows users to have a unified smart contract account address on different EVM chains. To achieve this, we rely on a set of deployer contracts deployed on different chains. The user must trigger the generation of a new account on the Particle chain, which will cause it to trigger the deployer contract on a different chain. This ensures that the generated addresses are consistent between them. Alternatively, users can interact with multiple chains through contracts on Particle Chain without actively managing multiple addresses, and can use Particle tokens as a unified gas payment method.

Omnichain AA also enables cross-chain user operations by executing transactions on the destination chain and paying the corresponding gas on the source chain. The coordination between the deployer contract and the cross-chain messaging component is achieved through message bridges. Particle Network’s solution also solves the problem of facilitating compatibility between chains that are EVM-compatible but have different AA implementations, which they cannot unify with ERC-4337 addresses. This is possible thanks to the implementation of the Particle Chain ZK proof validator.

As you can see, Particle Chain plays a structural role in Omnichain AA, but is also leveraged by other components, such as our confidential zkStack, to process transactions and provide privacy to users. Now let’s look at this component.

Particle Chain: Bridging Omnichain AA and Particle Confidential zkStack

A key component of our vision is Particle Chain, a proprietary zkEVM backed by the network’s universal gas token. Particle Chain is highly flexible and enables different functions within the ecosystem.

Particle Chain sits at the intersection of other components

For example, Omnichain AA relies heavily on Particle Chain. This is because Omnichain AA is achieved by decoupling the administrative privileges of smart accounts from the account logic – which can be reduced to the separation of storage and code (logic). Particle Chain stores the data of users’ smart accounts, coordinates cross-chain deployment contracts, processes cross-chain messaging components, and ensures the storage and update of users’ multi-chain smart accounts. It also plays a key role in generating ZK proofs of confidential logins, helping to authenticate users without revealing their information to third parties.

Evolution steps of Particle Chain account abstraction and Particle Chain

The AA framework is still in the making, creating room for more improvements, including ecosystem adaptation (e.g., EIP-1271), modular capabilities (e.g., EIP-6900), and continuous improvement in dynamic environments while ensuring security. Omnichain AA can play an important role here, specifically, in several directions for further growth:

**1. Optimistic cross-chain UserOperations. Some cross-chain settlement oracles may be difficult to use due to their slow or expensive nature. The Optimis cross-chain protocol mitigates settlement latency issues, effectively enabling fast and cost-effective cross-chain messaging on any slower bridge. This can help users perform cross-chain UserOperations faster (e.g. using Polygon USDC buy NFTs on the Base chain in under 5 seconds. ）

2. Ensure the privacy of user accounts and transaction data through the combination of confidential login and confidential transactions.

3. Optimize the gas consumption of cross-chain transactions to improve execution efficiency.

4. Continue to advance the AA framework, including modularization and ecosystem adaptation.

Particle’s Confidential zkStack: Protects user identities and transaction privacy

Particle’s Confidential zkStack is designed to solve the problem of WaaS end users sharing data with third parties when connecting to social logins, while enabling private transactions.

For confidential logins, the system uses JWT (JSON Web Token) as a private witness in a zero-knowledge circuit, verifying the provider’s digital signature and user information. As mentioned above, the system uses Particle Chain to generate ZK proofs. For private transactions, Particle uses:

1. Confidential Paymaster, which decouples the gas fee paid from the user’s identity.
2. Stealth accountsManage the smart accounts of the Stealth Accounts, following the design proposed by Vitalik Buterin to protect the privacy of the recipient.

The confidential login system is shown in the following figure:

Confidential login flow

The privacy transaction system of Particle v2 is also shown in the following figure:

Particle Network’s private transaction system

The above process guarantees the privacy of individual transactions. It also provides a solid foundation for secure and confidential smart contract interactions. In addition, the system supports guardian accounts and social recovery of self-control.

A typical wallet under this framework contains the following information:

• Account settings

•Owner

•Guardian

• Modules/plugins/hooks

The role of the guardian account is to achieve a social recovery of self-control. With confidential logins, we can achieve a truly user-controlled social recovery experience. Users create wallet accounts by logging in with their social accounts (e.g., Google). Subsequently, users can add other social accounts as guardians. This way, users are no longer dependent on other guardians (i.e., friends, family, etc.), significantly reducing setup and maintenance friction.

Evolution steps for Particle Confidential zkStack

Other interesting directions that Confidential zkStack explores might be:

1. Support for heterogeneous chains: Confidential logins can implement validators on any chain, allowing other chains to benefit from the privacy-preserving user login process.

2. Advancing decentralization: Our design consists of two core components – Salt Service and Prover. These components can be further decentralized by allowing users who complete the social recovery process to self-host their passwords and proofs through local computation, respectively.

3. Sender Privacy Protection: While our confidential transactions primarily protect the privacy of the recipient, sender privacy concerns can be addressed by supporting a new ERC-20 token standard with cryptographic features, such as homomorphic encryption. Exploring new directions, such as users proving their own proof of token burn (private proof of burn), can obtain on-chain privacy protection throughout the lifetime of an address at minimal cost.

Intent Fusion Protocol:: A general intent expression and execution protocol

With the Intent Fusion Protocol, the Particle Network adopts an intent-centric design that lets users express their desired outcome and outsource their execution (or “resolution”) to a third party. Currently, Web3 requires users to manually perform all the necessary (and sometimes complex) steps to achieve their goals. Intent-centric design solves this problem by allowing users not to specify “how” to perform an action, but simply point out the outcome they want.

As mentioned above, the Intent Fusion Protocol is a permissionless, generic framework for expressing, transforming, and enforcing intent. It introduces a common data authorization and transfer method capable of expressing the data transfer of any smart contract, aggregating data mobility across environments. With a concise DSL that allows users to specify input and output data constraints, we can eliminate the (currently almost mandatory) trade-off between product complexity and simplicity of use, simplifying interaction with various Web3 protocols and improving the overall user experience and efficiency.

Computationally, intents are expressed as input and output constraints. The execution logic simply transfers the input constraints required by the user to the address of the solver and the output constraints provided by the solver to the address of the user. This is ensured by unifying all results with a one-time atomic execution (see figure below).

In our protocol design, the user and solver work together to construct the intent object. Users can provide input and output constraints. The solver then scans the intent memory pool and proposes their solution after finding a solvable intent. If the user accepts this solution for on-chain execution, the user grants the solver permission to execute on their behalf.

In the future, there will undoubtedly be a highly competitive market for solvers. In this marketplace, users can initiate bids for multiple solvers to come up with different solutions. The optimal solution can be selected through local simulated trading and an incentive is provided to the solver. The Particle network plans to use its native token to incentivize activity in its own solver auction marketplace. Note that intent resolution can occur on a single chain or across chains (as shown below).

Cross-chain intent solving

Evolutionary steps of the Intent Fusion Protocol

We will continue to iterate on the Intent Convergence protocol, focusing on the following areas:

1. Public Intent Mempool: In our current design, the Request For Solver stage uses an off-chain system design. We can further decentralize by integrating it with the Particle Chain to create a permissionless competitive framework for solvers.

2. MEV: We acknowledge that the MEV problem will persist in the public chain. For the public Intent Mempool and Solver Network, we need to explore further collaborations with builders to increase the value users get from transactional conversions.

3. Privacy: Using ZK technology to combine intent with confidential transactions,

We can design confidential intents. This will provide privacy protection for the user in the construction, transmission, and execution of the intent.

Particle Network Token

The Particle Network’s token-centric model represents a shift from a system that charges developers based on the number of monthly active users to a system that captures and distributes value. In this new model, the Particle Network token has a variety of key features, all of which lead to positive network and value accumulation effects.

Some of the initial and anticipated use cases for the Particle Network token include:

Unified Gas Token: It can be used as a GAN token to execute transactions and smart contracts on various blockchain networks. This provides convenience to users as they can use a single token to cover transaction costs across different chains. Along with confidential Parmaster, it also brings privacy. Proof fee token: This token is also used to pay for the fees associated with generating cryptographic proofs, specifically JWT proofs in the confidential login system. These proofs are used for various purposes, such as verifying transactions and interactions on the blockchain. Pledge: Intent solvers can use the particle network token to prove their commitment to participate in the intent competition. Stake them as collateral to ensure the integrity and competitiveness of the market of intent. Governance:P article Network token holders can play a role in the governance of the Particle chain. They can use their tokens to participate in the decision-making process regarding network upgrades, protocol changes, and other important matters.

The Particle Network token provides users with a number of benefits, including:

Convenience: Users can use a single token (Partilce Network Token) to execute transactions across different networks. This eliminates the need to hold multiple tokens on hand and simplifies the trading process. Security:P article Network tokens are used to pay for the fees associated with generating cryptographic proofs. These proofs enhance the security and trustworthiness of blockchain operations. Aligning Incentives: Perhaps more importantly, the Particle Network token transforms dApps and developers from paying customers (in Particle’s pre-SaaS model) to growth partners who can use Particle products for free to co-acquire end users. This model reduces the burden on dApps and greatly accelerates the growth of the Particle network.

These different use cases make the token a core element in the operation and development of the Particle Network ecosystem.

Capture value through the Particle Network token

Too long to read the version:

The development of Particle Network aims to enhance the Web3 ecosystem through a deeply connected, collaborative approach. Our goal is to provide a framework for developers and users to improve the efficiency, privacy, and interoperability of Web3 and capture the value generated through innovative economic models. Key aspects of this evolution include:

Modular Smart Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS): This service allows developers to efficiently integrate account abstraction (AA) into their decentralized applications (dApps), enabling complex application builds while maintaining flexibility. Intent Fusion Protocol: A permissionless, general-purpose framework designed to simplify the dApp development experience. It enables developers to express user intent and outsource their execution, simplifying interactions with various Web3 protocols. Confidential zkStack: This component enhances privacy by allowing users to verify their information without revealing it and execute transactions privately using zero-knowledge technology. Omnichain Account Abstraction (Omnichain AA): This technology facilitates a unified smart contract account address across different EVM chains. It also removes the friction of users making cross-chain transactions through the Particle Network token. Particle Chain: A proprietary zkEVM that acts as a full-chain storage database for smart accounts and plays a central role in Omnichain AA and Confidential zkStack. Particle Network Token: The key to the network’s economic model, with multiple uses, such as paying gas fees, generating cryptographic proofs, and participating in governance. It plays an important role in capturing value for the network and its stakeholders.

Particle Network’s three product modules combine with Particle zkEVM to abstract the concepts of chain, account, and gas, creating a user- and developer-friendly open network access layer. In addition, this approach builds a flywheel of value accumulation for the stakeholders of the Particle network. Overall, the Particle Network has grown to create an integrated ecosystem that enhances the Web3 experience for developers and users alike.

Source: Golden Finance