Cross-Chain Intent Settlement Layer: Everclear's Innovations and Challenges

Cross-chain asset transfer has always been an important topic in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. With the increasing number of Layer 1 blockchains and the rise of Layer 2 solutions, cross-chain interoperability has become increasingly important. Currently, cryptocurrency cross-chain bridges face the dilemma of balancing speed, cost, and decentralization.

The existing cross-chain bridges are mainly divided into three categories:

1. Centralized exchanges provide cross-chain services: fast speed, low cost, but lack decentralized features.
2. Decentralized bridges: such as Hyperlane, Portal, etc., with fast speeds but higher costs.
3. Intent Bridge: Highly decentralized, but slow, costly, and only suitable for large transfers.

Although intent bridges have the potential to solve the above three dilemmas, they still face issues such as fragmented liquidity, lack of standardization, and high rebalancing costs. The clearing layer concept proposed by the Everclear project aims to address these issues, reducing friction in cross-chain transfers and creating a better experience for developers and users.

How Intent Bridge Works

Research shows that about 80% of funds in cross-chain transactions will flow back within 24 hours. The intention protocol leverages this characteristic to achieve cross-chain by exchanging liquidity across chains, rather than using traditional bridging methods.

For example, when one user needs to transfer 100 dollars from Arbitrum to Polygon, and another user needs to transfer 100 dollars from Polygon to Arbitrum, the intent protocol allows both users to directly exchange tokens on their respective chains, avoiding expensive cross-chain operations.

However, such a perfect matching situation is not common. When perfect matching cannot be achieved, the protocol needs to rely on traditional bridges for slow balance transfers and rebalancing, a process that is both time-consuming and costly.

Everclear's Solutions

Everclear has proposed a standardized clearing layer aimed at addressing the issues mentioned above. It deploys standardized contracts on each supported blockchain, allowing users to generate "invoices" of cross-chain intentions, which market makers (Solvers) can "balance" these intentions with each other.

If no market makers accept the invoice for a period of time, the system will initiate a Dutch auction mechanism. For example, if a user wants to transfer 10 ETH from Arbitrum to Polygon, and initially no market makers are executing, the system will gradually lower the transfer amount until a market maker is willing to accept.

This standardized approach benefits all participants:

• Blockchain networks can more easily integrate bridging solutions.
• The protocol can aggregate more order flow.
• Market makers gain more execution opportunities to maximize profits.

Cooperation Ecosystem

Everclear's goal is to create a win-win ecosystem. It has established partnerships with multiple projects, including aori (rebalancer), StaFi Protocol (L2 liquidity staking), Tokka Labs (rebalancer), Renzo (liquidity re-staking), and Anera (rebalancer).

This extensive collaboration helps improve market efficiency, bringing users lower cross-chain costs and a better experience.

Mainnet Launch

As the first solution to coordinate global cross-chain order flow clearing, Everclear addresses the liquidity fragmentation issues faced by modular blockchains. The project's mainnet was officially launched on September 18, marking an important milestone in the field of cross-chain interoperability.

Everclear's innovation brings new possibilities for cross-chain asset transfers, which is expected to promote further development and integration of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. However, the long-term success of the project still needs to be tested by the market and widely adopted by users.