From Multichain to Unity Web3s New Vision with ERC7683

Coin World Report:
In the multi-chain landscape of the blockchain world, achieving safer and more convenient cross-chain interoperability has always been a challenging problem. With the increasing demand for cross-chain transactions by blockchain users, the challenges faced by cross-chain interoperability are becoming more prominent. Common challenges include:
■ Security
Security is the most common challenge in cross-chain transactions. Cross-chain bridge protocols that can attract large-scale asset retention have become the primary targets of hacker attacks in recent years.
Blockchain relies on validators to verify and execute transactions, and cross-chain bridge protocols also rely on trusted third-party validators to verify and process cross-chain transactions. During this process, if the incentives of the cross-chain bridge are not sufficient, if there are few validators or if the trust model is too centralized, hackers may attack validators to disrupt the cross-chain bridge and steal assets. In addition, contract vulnerabilities in cross-chain protocols often become entry points for hackers to launch attacks.
On August 6, 2024, Ronin Bridge was suspected to have been hacked, with approximately 4,000 ETH and 2 million USDC stolen, with a total value of about $12 million. In March 2022, Ronin Bridge had already experienced a security incident known as the “largest loss in DeFi history,” where hackers attacked 5 out of 9 validators, stealing 173,600 Ethereum and $25 million worth of USDC, with a total value exceeding $600 million.
■ High Gas Fees
Cross-chain transactions tend to incur high Gas fees. This is because users need to calculate the actual transaction cost based on the Gas fees they have to pay for operations on both chains before and after the cross-chain transfer.
■ Complexity
Each blockchain operates independently, and each blockchain network has its own consensus mechanism and protocols. This scattered and isolated state between chains leads to relatively complex and cumbersome operations when users transfer assets and data across chains. In cross-chain transactions, users with frequent trading needs are more likely to encounter asset price slippage, increasing the difficulty of transactions.
To address the above problems, Uniswap Labs and interoperability protocol Across jointly proposed a new standard solution, ERC-7683, on May 20, 2024, aiming to make cross-chain transactions simpler, faster, and more secure through a shared execution network.
ERC-7683
The ERC-7683 standard is based on the CrossChainOrder structure and will provide an ISettlementContract smart contract interface to enable the implementation of a standard API for cross-chain transaction execution systems.
The core technical proposal of the ERC-7683 standard is that all “cross-chain intents” follow the same order structure, which greatly improves the flexibility and user-friendliness of cross-chain operations. As shown by Uniswap Labs on its social platform X, the goal of the ERC-7683 standard is to provide a clear path for the unification of Ethereum.


△ Figure 1: Schematic diagram of the cross-chain order structure under the ERC-7683 standard
Source: Uniswap Labs
Current Development of Applications
On August 21, 2024, Layer 2 solution Optimism announced the adoption of the ERC-7683 cross-chain standard, aiming to achieve more efficient transfer operations of ETH and USDC on Superchain, and further promote application-layer interoperability in the broader Ethereum ecosystem. Currently, Optimism has integrated the cross-chain solution of interoperability protocol Across.
In May 2024, Uniswap Labs stated when releasing the ERC-7683 standard that it would adopt the standard when collaborating with UniswapX on cross-chain operations.
It is worth noting that although the implementation of the ERC-7683 standard only provides a standard API on the entry level to ensure consistency in user experience, even with the implementation of ERC-7683, it is difficult to overcome a common challenge in cross-chain transactions:
Can sufficient cross-chain liquidity be obtained?
For the implementation of the ERC-7683 standard, if there is insufficient cross-chain liquidity, it means that the standard will struggle to attract enough active “Fillers” (refer to Figure 1 in the article) to support users’ “cross-chain intents” through competitive mechanisms. If there are not enough “Fillers,” users’ “cross-chain intents” will not be able to obtain better costs or experiences.
This means that the implementation of the ERC-7683 standard needs to form a network effect – more use cases adopting the standard, more users using the standard, and more Fillers to ultimately improve the overall efficiency of cross-chain transactions.
▶ Learn more about ERC-7683:
Please refer to:
https://www.erc7683.org
▶ View Uniswap Labs and Across’s joint Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) on the Ethereum Magicians forum:
Please refer to:
https://ethereum-magicians.org/t/erc-7683-cross-chain-intents-standard/19619
Support from the Ethereum Founder
Media reports have pointed out that Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has expressed special support for the development of the new cross-chain transaction standard ERC-7683 through social platforms. He mentioned that operations based on the ERC-7683 standard can include batch transactions, Merkle proofs, and other on-chain activities. He illustrated how the ERC-7683 standard would work and said:
“With the ERC-7683 standard, users can paste an ERC-7683 address into their wallets and simply click to easily transfer assets on any chain to another account.”
The multi-chain landscape is an inevitable development in the Web3 era, and for the next step in the development of the Web3 world, optimizing and simplifying cross-chain transactions and further unlocking liquidity will be critical challenges. The ERC-7683 standard directly addresses the pain points of cross-chain transactions and significantly enhances the interoperability between blockchains. Its application will have a profound impact on the blockchain world. Currently, users can expect that the improved user experience brought by the implementation of the ERC-7683 standard will directly benefit more DeFi projects – injecting more liquidity support and accelerating development.