LD Capital: Exploring dappOS, Intending to Promote the Flourishing Development of Centralized Infrastructure

Author: Alfred, Duoduo

I. What is Intent

Since Paradigm explained the concept of intent in its publication "Intent-Based Architectures and Their Risks" on June 1, 2023, "Intent-Centric" has become an important concept and development direction in Web3.

1. Definition of Intent

In Paradigm's definition, "Intent is a set of signed declarative constraints that allows users to outsource transaction creation to third parties without relinquishing full control over the transaction." Simply put, intent is result-oriented, downplaying or ignoring the implementation process. For example, I want D and am willing to pay A as the cost, without needing to go through the A-B-C-D process, outsourcing the intermediate steps to third parties. Abstractly speaking, intent-centricity is a declarative paradigm, while most previous transactions or operations in Web3 have been imperative paradigms.

2. The Significance of Intent-Centricity: Web3's "1995 Moment"

The early development of computers began in the era of imperative paradigms, which required users to interact and operate through command lines, imposing high professional demands on computer usage and limiting large-scale applications and technological development. However, with the release of Windows 95, graphical user interfaces and browsers were introduced to computer operating systems, significantly lowering the user threshold and expanding the number of computer users from less than 50,000 to hundreds of millions. This transformative moment is referred to as the "1995 Moment" of the internet, marking a fundamental change in user interfaces that allowed ordinary people to easily access and use the internet.

Similarly, with the maturation of Web2, many intent-centric products have become commonplace for users. For example, when using Didi to hail a ride, the user's intent is "from point A to point B," while how to match drivers, optimize routes, settle fees, and provide information to both parties is handled by the platform. However, in the current Web3, users still face complexity in interaction operations, such as the series of steps involved in purchasing an NFT. If there were intent-centric products, user operations would be greatly simplified.

In the world of Web3, by introducing more intuitive, user-friendly interfaces and operational processes, we can expect a breakthrough similar to the "1995 Moment of the Internet," thereby enabling hundreds of millions of new users to easily access and use Web3, further promoting large-scale technology adoption and industry development. This transformation will greatly facilitate the popularization and development of the Web3 ecosystem, bringing blockchain technology closer to the daily use of ordinary users, thereby achieving widespread acceptance and application of technology.

3. Key Points for Achieving Intent

(1) Focus on Results, Not Processes

Intent projects should allow users to clearly express their transaction and operational intents declaratively, rather than specifying the exact execution steps.

(2) Delegated Execution

Intent projects provide a mechanism that allows users to delegate the execution of their intents to systems, smart contracts, or third-party service providers. Whether executed automatically or manually, the execution process should align with the user's original intent and provide sufficient flexibility and optimization space when appropriate.

(3) Verifiable Results

In the world of blockchain, an intent project must ensure that the results of transactions or operations are verifiable and traceable, so that users and relevant parties can clearly understand and verify the execution of intents, ensuring that the final results meet user expectations.

II. Overview of dappOS Fundamentals

1. Introduction to dappOS

dappOS is an intent execution network that creates a two-way market to transform intents into on-chain results: on the supply side, service providers stake collateral and choose to run one or more execution services. On the demand side, it enables developers to find solutions that meet user intents.

2. dappOS Underlying Mechanism: Optimistic Minimum Stake (OMS)

In terms of the underlying mechanism, dappOS introduces Optimistic Minimum Stake (OMS), which requires each task to be associated with a predefined value and potential compensation in case of failure, allowing tasks to be executed before verifying results. If a task fails, the network punishes the responsible service provider through a consensus process, ensuring that either the user-submitted task is executed successfully, or the user receives predetermined compensation, significantly enhancing the efficiency and versatility of the network.

The OMS of dappOS has certain technical similarities with EigenLayer's AVS, where the service provider in dappOS is akin to the operator in EigenLayer. The main difference is that EigenLayer focuses primarily on general scenarios, such as DA, oracles, ZK processors, etc.; dappOS is more oriented towards intent-centric task-related scenarios, stipulating that each intent has a defined settlement value, ensuring that as long as the stake exceeds the settlement value, the system is secure and efficient.

3. Application Scenarios of dappOS

Currently, dappOS has numerous application scenarios, including the following examples:

(1) Unified Account

dappOS features a unified account compatible with the intent execution network. Similar to centralized exchanges, the assets within can be used in any integrated dApp on-chain, and most mainstream tokens can be used to pay fees. This means that when a user's assets are distributed across various blockchains, they can still achieve simultaneous control over different on-chain accounts through signing.

At the same time, the unified account of dappOS enables flexible external interaction methods. Any externally owned account (EOA) can interact with applications through the unified account using highly scalable execution interfaces and custom service logic.

(2) Intent Assets

The intent assets launched by dappOS will enable seamless use of different forms of assets across various scenarios. For example, the intentUSD issued by dappOS can serve as an intent asset for the US dollar stablecoin, functioning as USDT when needed, as USDC when required, and automatically earning yield when idling in the account. This type of asset addresses the major scenario issues of stablecoins and LSD assets, allowing new users to easily use these homogenized assets without needing to understand the differences between USDC/USDT.

In simple terms, dappOS's intent assets can become the "Yu'ebao" of Web3. It handles the complex details behind through the intent execution network of dappOS, further improving the efficiency of digital asset usage and lowering the usage threshold.

(3) Real-time dApp Contract Interaction

The intent execution network of dappOS provides an excellent execution framework for real-time interaction with dApps. This framework allows users to achieve seamless transitions from initial states to final states with a simple signature. Many traditional implementation processes of intents involve numerous on-chain operations such as cross-chain, asset conversion, and authorization contracts, which are essentially means rather than user goals; the real-time interaction execution framework of dappOS allows users to achieve their objectives directly with a single signature, optimizing the user experience.

Moreover, through mechanisms like OMS, dappOS ensures that all operations throughout the process comply with the decentralization and security standards of blockchain, while also ensuring efficiency and low costs. This method of simplifying complex blockchain operations based on user intent not only greatly enhances user convenience but also promotes broader application and development of blockchain technology.

3. Advantages of dappOS

(1) Innovative Underlying Mechanism Design

As the infrastructure for the intent track, the underlying mechanism OMS of dappOS is meticulously designed specifically for intent scenarios, significantly enhancing the execution efficiency of intent tasks while ensuring user safety. The importance of dappOS's OMS to the intent track is comparable to that of EigenLayer's AVS to the restaking track. Such an underlying mechanism positions dappOS at the core ecological position of intent track infrastructure.

(2) Rich Application Scenarios and First-Mover Advantage

The intent execution network of dappOS already has numerous application scenarios, including unified accounts, intent assets, real-time dApp interactions, etc., which is rare in the potential explosive growth phase of the intent track. Compared to many other infrastructure projects in the intent track that are still in conceptual and development stages, these application scenarios enable dappOS to collaborate with many current Web3 projects, taking the lead in expanding its ecological network, iterating, and forming a first-mover advantage, becoming a leader in intent track infrastructure.

III. Development of the dappOS Ecosystem

Since the second half of 2023, the dappOS ecosystem has entered a phase of accelerated development. Due to the user-friendliness of intent-centric interactions, integrating dappOS's intent infrastructure often brings considerable growth to projects. Consequently, many leading and emerging projects have collaborated with dappOS, such as Manta, GMX, BENQI, KiloEx, etc.

For example, after KiloEx integrated dappOS on April 16, 2024, its trading volume increased by 217% within a week, and DAU grew by 3000%.

IV. Financing Information

dappOS has an excellent financing lineup, receiving support from top-tier investment institutions including Polychain, Binance Labs, Sequoia, IDG, and Hashkey. The lead investor in this round, Polychain, has shown strong investment performance during this cycle, investing in leading projects like EigenLayer and Celestia. DappOS is its project in the intent track layout.

V. Conclusion

With the development of underlying blockchain technology and the gradual maturation of various projects, future development will transition from infrastructure-focused to application and user-friendly approaches, with intent-centric projects becoming a focal point for the entire industry's development. dappOS has solid underlying technology, excellent investment support from institutions like Polychain and Binance Labs, and an expanding ecosystem with leading projects (such as GMX) joining, positioning dappOS to potentially become the next leader in the intent track, initiating a moment of large-scale application and traffic introduction.