Particle Network V2

Introducing zkWaaS and Intent Fusion Protocol, Particle Network’s V2 Builds an Intent-Centric, Modular Access Layer of Web3

This article was originally published in Particle’s official blog. For a better reading experience, click on this link.

1. Particle Network’s Evolution: v1 Product and Business Progress

Key Business Milestones of Particle Network’s v1 Product Evolution

Particle Network officially launched its v1 product at the end of last October, a Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS) product based on MPC-TSS (Multi-Party Computation — Threshold Signature Scheme). When ERC-4337 was officially introduced, it also launched a Wallet-as-a-Service solution based on MPC+AA (Multi-Party Computation + Account Abstraction).

Key Business Milestones of Particle Network’s v1 Product Evolution.

In the 10 months following v1’s launch, Particle Network celebrated a significant milestone, with more than 800 dApps integrating its products and services. This impressive achievement includes globally recognized projects such as Xter.io, Hooked Protocol, ApeX, 1inch, and CyberConnect. In its pursuit of progress, Particle Network has upheld an open and collaborative approach, establishing partnerships with key players like Linea and op-BNB Chain.

Empowering Innovations: A Glimpse into Particle Network’s InfraCon — Where Ideas Meet Implementation.

Furthermore, by spearheading events like the InfraCon developer conference, Particle Network fostered collaborations with more than 500 prominent builders in the industry. This collective achievement underscores Particle Network’s dedication to propelling Web3 infrastructure forward and promoting global collaboration.

2. Particle Network’s Guiding Principles to a Dynamic Web3 Landscape

At its core, WaaS (Wallet-as-a-Service) aims to simplify user interactions with the blockchain and enhance efficiency. Since its inception, Particle Network has adhered to the following product principles:

• Future-Oriented Web3 Infrastructure: We look beyond today’s users, innovating to meet the future’s evolving needs and driving technological advances for paradigm shifts.
• User-Centric Approach: We prioritize user experience, seamlessly and effectively enhancing the user journey to meet their demands.
• Upholding of Web3 Ethos: Our design adheres to Web3’s fundamental principles — user sovereignty and composability.

Particle Network’s unwavering commitment to these principles has guided the team to refine its focus on privacy, product composability, and transaction efficiency in the design of V2, addressing pivotal questions along the way. Throughout this journey, our team has embraced a comprehensive approach, conducting thorough analyses across various dimensions. This comprehensive approach encompasses upholding Web3’s fundamental principle of user data sovereignty, ensuring robust conversion rates, fostering an open mindset in product design, and enhancing transaction efficiency for the seamless onboarding of Web2 users into the Web3 ecosystem.

3. Overall Design Philosophy of Particle Network V2

In envisioning Particle Network V2, our primary goal was to ensure seamless access to Web3 products and services for end-users across diverse scenarios. This includes interaction with application-layer products, standalone retail wallets, and AI interaction scenarios facilitated by the LLM model. Our commitment is to eliminate any unnecessary barriers to entry, making Web3 accessible to all without compromising privacy or security. Furthermore, once within the Web3 ecosystem, users should be able to fulfill their genuine intentions in the most straightforward and efficient manner.

4. Introducing Particle Network V2: Intent-Centric, Modular Web3 Access Layer

Particle Network V2: Introducing zkWaaS and Intent Fusion Protocol to Build an Intent-Centric, Modular Web3 Access Layer

The solution provided by Particle Network V2 is to introduce zkWaaS (Zero-Knowledge Proof Wallet-as-a-Service). By adding a zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology stack on top of MPC-AA, it provides Confidential Login and Confidential Transactions, granting users absolute sovereignty over their assets and information. At the same time, it introduces protocol-related products centered around Intent-Centric design, specifically the Intent Fusion Protocol. This further abstracts the interaction requirements between end-users and the blockchain, improving end-user transaction efficiency. The goal is to create an intent-centric, modular Web3 access layer.

5. User Journey of Particle Network’s V2 Modular Web3 Access Layer

Visualizing the Seamless Experience: User Journey through Particle Network’s V2 Modular Web3 Access Layer.

With Particle Network V2 modular access layer, we’ve meticulously designed a user journey for the utmost simplicity:

• Step 1: Users seamlessly log into an application-layer product powered by Particle Network’s zkWaaS, leveraging Confidential Login that ensures the protection of their Web2 identity
• Step 2: The user expresses their intent within the product, for instance, the desire to earn a specific yield on their ETH holdings.
• Step 3: Particle V2 will process the intent and in turn, automate the necessary transactions to bring their intent to life. For example, it seamlessly bridges their ETH to a Layer 2 and securely deposits it into Lido for staking yield, all achieved without requiring users to sign a series of manual transactions.

In this user journey illustration, Particle Network’s V2 Intent Fusion Protocol is designed with a strong focus on meeting user needs and expectations, instead of overwhelming users with a complex array of features and settings. This will fulfill the user’s genuine intent with the minimum cognitive and operational demands.

6. Particle Network V2: An In-Depth Look at Its Architecture and End-User Scenarios

Blueprint of Innovation: The Architecture of Particle Network’s V2.

In V2, we have achieved a fusion design of infrastructure and protocol products. The core technology stack here involves the addition of Zero-Knowledge Proofs, and we have built three core foundational infrastructures and protocols:

1. zkWaaS is used to empower application-layer projects, accommodating various types of user intentions.
2. Particle zkEVM provides a multi-chain fusion account abstraction engine and Intent execution & settlement layer
3. Intent Fusion Protocol handles the structuring, deconstruction, and execution of user intentions.

Guarding Privacy at the Forefront: Particle Network’s zkWaaS Confidential Authentication in Action.

Particle’s Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS) simplifies the transition for Web2 users into the Web3 world by offering features like Social Login and MPC-TSS/AA, granting them access without the need for a private key while ensuring self-custody through decentralized MPC-TSS sharding. Nevertheless, a challenge arises during the login process as it links users’ Web2 identities with their wallet addresses. To maintain login privacy, a technical solution is required to conceal this connection from Particle and its partners. In this regard, there has already been a lot of exploration in the industry in areas like ZK Decentralized Identifiers (DID), such as Holonym, Polygon ID, Chainlink’s CanDID, etc. By combining ZK, MPC, and Oracle tech, Web2 Credentials can be transformed into Web3-compatible formats. This way, users only need to keep their Web3 Credentials secure and generate the corresponding ZK Proof when using them, which can be verified both on-chain and off-chain.

However, balancing credential management with a smooth user experience is a key challenge for zkWaaS. To achieve this, we introduced a fast mode, combined with Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) and extended support for familiar methods like Email and Phone. In this design, users can create wallets effortlessly without compromising privacy. In the background, Web3 Credentials are generated, relieving users of additional cognitive load. zkWaaS is able to seamlessly assist users in managing their Web3 credentials as they engage in various operations, maintaining a frictionless experience.

zkWaaS ensures user login privacy, streamlines Web3 Credential management, and maintains user-friendliness. It simplifies the developer experience as well. This novel design reflects our vision for Web3 wallet infrastructure: comprehensive data management beyond signatures and private key management. It underscores our commitment to prioritize user privacy, ease of use, and holistic data management in the evolving Web3 landscape.

Securing Transactions with Discretion: An Inside Look at Particle Network’s zkWaaS Confidential Transactions.

Web3 public chains in their current state lack privacy features, as any transaction records associated with an address are fully accessible to the public While transparency has its merits, it poses significant risks to the individual user. For example, a user who is buying coffee at Starbucks will reveal all their assets and transactions through their public address, compromising privacy in real-world interactions. Users often find managing multiple addresses complex, necessitating user-friendly privacy mechanisms. The industry has explored various solutions, but not all are fit for purpose. For example, Zero-Knowledge (ZK) token mixing protocols may not be the best design choice in this context.

Our approach is to safeguard user privacy at the address level rather than the asset level, in line with Vitalik Buterin’s thoughts on Stealth Addresses and Privacy. Particle Network V2’s goals, focusing on Zero-Knowledge Proofs (zkWaaS) and the Intent Fusion Protocol to create a modular Web3 layer. This approach streamlines Web2 user onboarding without sacrificing privacy, further enhanced by the implementation of Stealth Addresses. These one-time, temporary addresses prevent any form of linkage without the need to introduce additional smart contracts or consensus layer forks, and therefore making this approach feasible.

An additional question arises: how can transfers occur if stealth addresses lack the necessary gas for transaction fees? Transitioning from Externally Owned Accounts (EOA) to Smart Accounts in the Ethereum ecosystem partially addresses this challenge. However, for a comprehensive solution, we’ve introduced Smart Stealth Addresses, enabling user interactions through Smart Stealth Accounts in collaboration with Gas Stations to effectively overcome the gas issue. Furthermore, this address-centric approach has the least impact on the existing ecosystem, requiring no changes to foundational architecture/asset re-issuance and places no specific requirements on existing projects.

Expanding upon our earlier discussion about Particle Network V2, our primary objective is to streamline the onboarding process for Web2 users while safeguarding their privacy. The introduction of Smart Stealth Addresses adds an additional layer of privacy and functionality. zkWaaS, through Confidential Auth and Confidential Transactions, provides a holistic solution to user privacy concerns, maintaining user control and regulatory compliance while securing the foundation for Web3 mass adoption. This aligns perfectly with the larger theme of seamlessly onboarding Web2 users into the Web3 space, ensuring both privacy and security.

7. Delving deeper into the Intent Fusion Protocol and Particle’s zkEVM

The current Web3 framework, featuring dApps as the entry point and Wallets as the foundation, is functional but cumbersome. New Web3 users grapple with a steep learning curve, even for basic tasks like using a Web3 dApp on Layer 2 networks. Although zkWaaS has enhanced the user experience for wallet creation and introduced Gasless interactions via our AA solution, there’s still room for further enhancement.

User interactions with dApps invariably revolve around their intent. Unfortunately, translating this intent often requires users to navigate complex, sequential steps. While solutions like Cow Swap, 1inch Fusion, and UniswapX have made notable strides in this direction, the need for a unified “General Intent Fusion Protocol” remains imperative to simplify these processes for both developers and users.

Our Intent Fusion Protocol accomplishes this by:

• Allowing the user to express their intent through a zkWaaS integrated dApp, Wallet, or LLM Based UI. Here, we’ve designed an Intent DSL and provide a DApps Intent Framework for developers to easily structure any user intent.
• The structured user intent goes through an Intent Bidder Network for deconstruction, combining on-chain and off-chain bidders to create an optimized Confidential Intent Object.
• The user signs the Confidential Intent Object, and the Intent Solver Network carries out the execution, providing the user with their desired result.

From an end-user experience perspective, the user simply interacts with a button or expresses their intent through a ChatGPT-like UI. The structured intent is then automatically deconstructed and executed by the Intent Bidder and Solver, so the user’s perception is that they only clicked a button or sent a message.

Particle zkEVM functions as a crucial component, facilitating a range of functions, which encompass:

• Enabling account abstraction across chains, allowing multi-chain execution with a single user signature.
• Operating a unified Intent Mempool through IntentVM, which passes the structured Confidential Intent Object to the Solver for transaction building and execution.
• Staking Manager and Intent Registry form the basis for secure on-chain and off-chain consensus cooperation.

With all the building blocks coming together, the Intent Fusion Protocol allows users and developers to focus solely on building intents. The structuring, deconstruction, and execution are automated, offering an inevitably better experience.

8. Simplified Visualisation of Intent-Centric, Modular Access Layer of Web3

Decoding the Future: Particle Network’s Simplified Layering for an Intent-Centric, Modular Web3 Access.

In conclusion, the visualization presented in this graphic effectively encapsulates the key elements discussed in this article, showcasing how zkWaaS empowers application-layer projects, Particle zkEVM provision of a multi-chain fusion AA engine and the Intent Fusion Protocol adeptly handles the structuring, deconstruction, and execution of user intentions. Together, these components contribute significantly to the advancement of a user-friendly, privacy-conscious Web3 ecosystem. Particle Network’s Intent-Centric, Modular Access Layer of Web3 stands poised to accelerate Web3’s transformation and pave the way for widespread adoption.