Solana launches Blinks feature, is Farcaster in danger?

Original Title: Solana introduces Actions and Blinks: The next step in bringing onchain to everywhere on the Internet

Original Author: @tpan

Original Compilation: Ismay, BlockBeats

Editor's Note: With the development of blockchain technology, user experience and security have always been the focus of major platforms. Solana launched Actions and Blinks last night, sparking widespread discussion in the community. This also brings to mind the Frames feature on another popular social protocol, Farcaster, both of which showcase different paths to enhancing the convenience of on-chain interactions. There are concerns that X, by leveraging Blinks, may encroach on Farcaster's first-mover advantage; however, Farcaster protocol founder Dan stated in the community that Blinks can only be used on the web, implying that the emergence of Blinks does not pose a threat to Farcaster, as 88% of Twitter users are on mobile. Returning to this translation, the author explores the advantages, potential risks, and future development prospects of these two innovative features. Whether it's the permissionless Frames or the Actions and Blinks that have a registration process to ensure security, these new features are gradually changing users' on-chain experiences and raising the interaction standards of the entire blockchain ecosystem.

Here is the original text:

Earlier today, the Solana Foundation launched Actions and Blinks, an exciting feature that allows users to conduct on-chain transactions on any online platform. The announcement video released by the team showcased the practical operation of this feature and how Blinks (blockchain links) are used.

Brief Introduction to Actions and Blinks

Actions were previously known as Solana Pay transactions. The broader term "Actions" expands the original payment use case to include other operations such as minting, swapping, and voting.

Blinks (blockchain links) transform Actions into shareable, metadata-rich links, allowing the client (the user interface part of the application) to display more functionalities for user interaction.

Actions and Blinks can be distributed in various formats: links, QR codes, push notifications, messaging apps, etc.

This integration was co-developed by Dialect Labs, a company focused on messaging, notifications, and in-app operation products.

If you want to learn more, please check the official website and the developer documentation.

Demonstration of Actions and Blinks in Practice

The best way to experience the new features is to check out live examples! If you're interested in viewing these examples, please install the Phantom or Backpack extension on your desktop.

Phantom (crypto wallet) shared a live example where users can use SOL to purchase Bonk through a blink.

Jupiter also shared a live example where users can use SOL to purchase Jupiter tokens through a blink.

These initial examples are not only cool—they have broad and exciting implications for future development.

Making on-chain Easier: Pros and Cons of Blinks

The benefits of Actions and Blinks are evident. They make on-chain transactions easier to conduct, expand channels for awareness and acquisition, and are flexible enough to be used across various applications and platforms, such as X, Discord, etc.

Fewer clicks = more convenience = higher likelihood of action or participation

In the future, we might see:

Projects launching their minting activities on established markets like Opensea or Magic Eden, as well as on platforms like Discord, Telegram, and X, or only on the latter.

Projects and their respective community members creating new interaction models around participation, gamification, and referrals.

New users entering crypto and Web3 will experience on-chain operations for the first time through simple, friendly tutorial modules on trusted applications, rather than through crypto wallet extensions.

On the other hand, this new feature also raises some concerns, particularly on platforms like X, where the biggest issue is that Blinks could exacerbate scams. Imagine a world where celebrities can launch their memecoins with just a few clicks and then promote them through Blinks (PS: the trend of celebrity coins hasn't stopped: Jason Derulo, Travis Barker, and 50 Cent have all recently launched their own tokens, sigh).

Unsurprisingly, and fortunately, Solana has already recognized the potential risks and abuses, so they implemented some protective measures at the initial launch:

At launch, extension partners (Phantom, Backpack, Dialect) will only "unfold" registered Action URLs on X. Developers must register their Actions with Dialect, and Blinks will present additional user interface features to enhance security.

Users must choose wallets that support Actions and Blinks, as this is an experimental feature.

If users attempt to connect to a domain that is not whitelisted, they will be prompted to confirm trust in that site to proceed.

With great power comes great responsibility; fortunately, Solana understands the appeal of Actions and Blinks for mainstream adoption while also recognizing their potential for abuse, thus taking a slower rollout approach.

Wait, this reminds me of…

Frames on Farcaster

Putting aside the technical details (I am not qualified to delve deeply), we have two different modern "widget" features that share a common goal: to make on-chain interactions more convenient and user-friendly.

Depth vs. Breadth

Although it feels like a long time ago, Frames were only launched about 5 months ago. Fast forward to today, the usage of Frames continues to grow, and they even have their own trending tags, embedded as a core part of the Farcaster ecosystem.

On the other hand, Actions and Blinks opted for broader coverage, expanding discoverability, shareability, and virality across various channels. While there are potential concerns about clients removing support for Blinks, the enhanced user interface elements come from the Chrome extension itself, making it a game changer.

In short: X cannot "remove" Blinks because the user interface changes are based on the Chrome extension.

Who Can Deploy

Frames are almost permissionless, as anyone can create and publish Frames. In contrast, Actions and Blinks have a registration process to ensure user safety. Although the rollout is slower, I imagine the Solana developer community is excitedly experimenting behind the scenes, similar to the experiments conducted by the Farcaster community when Frames were launched in January.

Solana and Dialect are also actively providing funding to support developers in creating Actions and Blinks integrations.

Core Contributors and Ecosystem Growth

Farcaster Frames were developed by the Farcaster team and later grew into a larger community effort.

For Actions and Blinks, the Solana Foundation has taken a more proactive approach from development to announcement (the Saga phone is another example of this approach). Each ecosystem and foundation has its unique approach to ecosystem growth. This release has attracted the attention of developers in the Ethereum ecosystem, raising questions about different mindsets and coordination methods.

Whether or not there is foundation support, I believe this development will soon be emulated by other ecosystems. The benefits brought by distribution are undoubtedly significant, and its upper limits remain unknown.

On the other hand, clients are in an interesting position. Since Blinks are based on installed Chrome extensions, clients cannot "remove" them on desktop. Will they consider collaborating with Solana to create a more positive user experience? If so, how would that be achieved?

Last but not least, consumers are being introduced to a new set of interaction-based experiences that are novel, convenient, and easy to use. The standards for a "good" on-chain consumer experience are rapidly rising, and this has been long awaited.