Intent-based Blockchain: The New Era of Web3 Experiences and the Shift from Imperative to Targeted Thinking
The development of blockchain technology over the past decade has witnessed a major paradox: while the technical infrastructure has become increasingly more powerful and secure, barriers to mainstream users have not really been removed. Concepts such as gas fees, slippage limits, complex signature types, and cross-chain bridge management have created a "technical maze" that makes it difficult for Web3 to reach mass adoption.
However, as Tan Phat Digital observes, an architectural shift is taking place, moving from the traditional transactional model (imperative) to an intent-based/declarative model. This change is not just a user interface (UI) improvement but a profound revolution in how decentralized networks operate, shifting the focus from the "how to do it" (technical process) to the "desired outcome" (user goals).
The Paradigm Shift: From Imperative to Declarative
In the traditional blockchain model, users operate in an "imperative" mechanism. (command). This means that when wanting to perform an action, such as a token swap, the user must provide detailed step-by-step instructions to the Virtual Machine. They must specify which decentralized exchange (DEX) to use, which routing route is optimal, set slippage levels, and ensure there are enough native tokens to cover gas fees. The core problem here is that users control the steps but cannot control the final result with certainty due to factors such as price fluctuations or real-time network state changes.
In contrast, the intent-based blockchain architecture operates in a "declarative" mechanism. Instead of signing a transaction that includes detailed execution steps, users simply sign an "intent" — a set of constraints that define the desired outcome. A good example of this difference is: while a traditional transaction says "Do A then B, pay exactly C to get X in return", an intention states: "I want to receive summarizes the comparative characteristics as follows:
Core focus:
Imperative Transaction: Focuses on execution and specific technical roadmap.
Declarative Intent: Focuses on desired outcome and final target state.
Control of user:
Imperative Trading: User controls the process, but the actual outcome is often uncertain.
Declared Intent: User controls the outcome through established strict constraints.
Gas Fee:
Order Trading command: Users must manage the original token balance themselves and make payments in advance.
Intent to Declare: Fees are usually deducted directly from the transaction result or paid by a third party (Solver).
Execution Risk:
Order Transactions: Transactions can fail due to errors technical or price inflation but users still lose gas fees.
Declarative Intent: Executes only if and only if the desired conditions are completely satisfied.
Complexity:
Imperative Transaction: Requires users to have a deep understanding of dApp, RPC and infrastructure mechanisms network.
Declarative Intent: Technical complexity is completely abstracted through professional Solvers.
Optimal capabilities:
Imperative Trading: Completely dependent on the user's knowledge and manual skills.
Declarative Intent: newspaper: Take advantage of market competition between Solvers to find the best, cheapest route.
The theoretical basis of this declarative model lies in the optimization of results. In systems like Essential, intent exists directly as a constraint on the state of the system. This approach uses constraint programming, which allows users to narrow the solution space to only the optimal results, eliminating the risk of state drift. Today, Essential has completed an $11 million Series A funding round and launched a Pre-Alpha Devnet that allows developers to experiment with the Pint language — a constraint-based intent programming language.
Solver Architecture: The Engine of the Intent Ecosystem
The heart of the intent-based system is a network of “Solvers” — also known as fillers, executors or relayers. Solvers are professional entities, often possessing powerful computing infrastructure and complex optimization algorithms, competing to find the best execution path for a user's intent.
The Operational Process of an Intent-centric System
The lifecycle of an intent goes through a sophisticated coordination process:
Off-chain Intent Sending: Users perform reach a goal (e.g. "Swap 1 ETH for the highest amount of USDC") via wallet. The intent is signed but not yet posted to the official blockchain.
Intent Discovery: The intent enters a discovery pool (pool) or off-chain order book where Solvers begin scanning and evaluating.
Analysis and Route Optimization: Solvers seek liquidity from CEX, DEX, liquidity pools or direct order matching (Coincidence of Wants).
Auction and Competition:The auction mechanism takes place. The solver that satisfies the constraint with the highest efficiency will gain the right to execute.
On-chain execution: The winning solver constructs the transaction, often bundling multiple intentions (batch) to optimize gas and MEV.
Verification and Payment: The smart contract checks the results. If it matches the original intent, the assets are released to the user and the Solver receives the fee.
Classification of Solvers in the Modern Ecosystem
The 2026 Solver market has become extremely specialized:
Transactional Solver: Focus on automating basic actions like token sending or single dApp interactions Simple.
Solver Optimization: Specializes in finding the lowest gas fee route, abundant liquidity, and minimal slippage.
Cross-Chain Solver: Ensures seamless intent to work across various blockchain ecosystems.
Solver AI: Integrates machine learning to predict market behavior and optimize real-world decision making exam in real time. New integrations like HeyElsaAI are starting to put AI-based intent into practice for users.
User Experience (UX): A Leap of Simplification
The most obvious benefit is the transformation of Web3 into a user-friendly platform. Tan Phat Digital sees traditional barriers gradually disappearing.
Simplifying Complex Transactions
With an intent-based system, multi-asset investment scenarios (like dividing 2 ETH into LINK, UNI, AAVE proportionally) only cost a single signature. Solver handles all the splitting, routing, and bundling of orders, turning complex processes into a "one-click" experience similar to Web2 digital banking.
Gas and Chain Fee Abstraction
Users no longer need to hold ETH or SOL to pay gas fees. The solver can advance fees and deduct them from the transaction token (gas abstraction). With "chain abstraction", users do not need to care which Layer 2 assets are in or which bridge is used; the system orchestrates itself behind the scenes.
Detailed User Journey Comparison
Differences in real-life experiences are described through stages:
Initiation Stage:
Traditional: Must learn about RPC, Bridge, Gas and slippage yourself.
Based on Intent: Just define the end goal.
Transaction fees:
Traditional: Required to hold the network's native token in the wallet.
Intent-based: Can pay with any token or sponsored by partners.
Execute transactions:
Traditional: Multiple signing, inter-network switching Continuous.
Intent-based: Signed only once off-chain, fully automated process.
Risk level:
Traditional: Transactions can fail (Failed) and waste fees in vain.
Intent-based: Commitment does not costs if the goal is not achieved (Revert-Free).
Processing time:
Traditional: Waiting for confirmation step by step on the chain.
Intent-based: Optimize time through professional Solver network.
See more: Web1 What is Web2 Web3
Analysis of Typical Intent-based Protocols in 2026
Market The year 2026 will witness the dominance of leading protocols:
CoW Protocol: Pioneering with the "Coincidence of Wants" mechanism and batch auctions. In January 2026, CoW expanded into new ecosystems and integrated with AI agents, maintaining its leadership in MEV protection.
UniswapX: Uniswap's foray into intent modeling with a Dutch auction. UniswapX has successfully integrated with Across to support superfast cross-chain swaps. The recent launch of Unichain with an expected block time of just 250ms further strengthens the infrastructure for UniswapX and the ERC-7683 standard.
Anoma: A distributed operating system for intent-centric applications. Anoma has enabled the Protocol Adapter on Ethereum mainnet and Base, allowing the deployment of applications such as AnomaPay for secure payments using ZK-proofs.
1inch Fusion: Delivers a gas-free swap experience and protects users from predatory attacks through a competitive Resolver network.
ERC-7683 and Account Interference Abstraction
To address fragmentation, the ERC-7683 standard was born in partnership with Uniswap Labs and Across Protocol. This standard creates a common data structure for cross-chain commands, allowing a universal Solver network to serve a variety of applications.
In addition, the combination of Intents and Account Abstraction (ERC-4337) is the key to the UX explosion. While AA provides a flexible smart wallet (with features like Paymaster for gas funding), Intents provide the logic to execute the goal in the most optimal way. By early 2026, there are expected to be more than 200 million active smart accounts thanks to the combination of ERC-4337 and EIP-7702.
Security and Risk: Perspective from Tan Phat Digital
Despite the convenience, this model also has challenges:
Inaccurate definition of intent: Possible is exploited by Solver to divert funds for the wrong purpose.
Solver collusion: A less competitive market can lead to Solver colluding to offer poor prices.
Phishing Intent: Scammers trick users into signing overly broad intentions to withdraw assets.
To mitigate, protocols are in place Uses:
Solver Reputation & Staking: Margin requirements and slashing mechanisms.
Trading simulation: Tools like Rabby or Tenderly help users foresee asset changes before signing.
The Future: AI and the Economy of Agents (Agents)
The further vision of Web3 is the combination of Intents and AI. The year 2026 marks the era of AI agents having their own wallets and carrying out independent economic activity. It is estimated that the number of payments made by AI agents will exceed 1 billion transactions this year. Users just need to issue commands in natural language, and AI will coordinate with Solvers to execute the most complex DeFi strategies in a transparent and secure way.
The Intent Ecosystem in Action: A Case Study in 2026
CoW Protocol: Large-Scale "Coincidence of Wants" Order Matching
CoW Protocol (formerly CowSwap) processed monthly trading volume exceeding $10 billion by 2025. This case study stands out for its direct matching of opposing token swap orders (P2P) without going through liquidity pools (AMM). This completely eliminates slippage and gas fees for directly matched orders, while providing a uniform clearing price for all orders in the same trading batch.UniswapX: Integrated Superfast Cross-Chain Swaps Across
Using the Dutch auction and Filler (Solver) network, UniswapX has successfully executed cross-chain swaps from Ethereum to Unichain in just a matter of minutes. seconds via the ERC-7683 standard. Filler will advance capital on the destination chain to pay users immediately, while the official settlement process takes place behind the scenes, eliminating the 7-day waiting time of traditional bridges.AnomaPay: Secure payments on the Base network
In December 2025, Anoma deployed the Protocol Adapter on Base, allowing the AnomaPay application to perform stable transactions (stablecoin) security. This case study demonstrates the possibility of using Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) to hide payment intent content. Users can deposit USDC privately without creating new wallets or moving to specialized secure blockchains.Across Protocol: Solving L2 liquidity fragmentation
With over $19 billion in cumulative processing volume as of early 2026, Across has become the leading intent-based bridging infrastructure. This case study shows how Relayers frontend capital to users across more than 50 integrated protocols. Thanks to standardization via ERC-7683, Across allows L2 applications to communicate as if they were on a single chain.1inch Fusion: Gas-Free Transactions for Consumers
1inch Fusion changed the game by allowing users to sign transaction intentions without holding ETH in the wallet. Resolvers (1inch's Solver) compete to execute orders and pay their own gas fees. This is a typical case study of attracting Web2 users, where managing gas fees is always the biggest barrier.Brave Browser: Fighting ad fraud through BAT
Brave uses blockchain to automate the payment of BAT tokens for user attention. In 2026, Brave reported a reduction in bot traffic rates from 25-30% to less than 2% thanks to a real user intent authentication mechanism on the blockchain. This is an example of using Intent to clean data and optimize costs for advertisers.Guardtime: Estonian National Infrastructure Security (KSI)
Estonia has used Guardtime's blockchain-based Keyless Signature Infrastructure (KSI) to secure government and medical records for 98% of its citizens. Instead of storing vulnerable centralized data, the system uses decentralized authentication intent to ensure no one can change records without detection, creating the gold standard for national cybersecurity.Akiri: A Decentralized Medical Data Sharing Network
Akiri has built a secure network that allows hospitals and laboratories to share patient data without storing it at a central server. This case study shows how Intent-based helps control data access: data only moves when patient and physician intent is authenticated, minimizing the risk of a single point of attack by hackers.Abstraxn AI: From natural language to on-chain trading
Abstraxn AI represents the "AI + Intent" wave, allowing users to perform complex operations such as "staking 500 USDC into the protocol with the highest interest rate" just through a chat interface. The system automatically analyzes yield sources, creates intents, and calls Solver to execute commands without the user needing to touch any DeFi dashboard.Essential: The first declarative blockchain for smart applications
The Essential project is building a completely new Layer 1 based on constraint programming. This case study illustrates the future where applications are not written with executable code (Smart Contract) but with state constraints through the Pint language. This ensures that transaction logic errors never occur, because the system only transitions states if all intentions are absolutely satisfied.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Here are the 15 most common questions about Intent-based Blockchain compiled by Tan Phat Digital:
The biggest difference between Intent (intent) What is a traditional Transaction? Traditional trading is an "imperative" mechanism, requiring you to clearly specify each technical implementation step. Intents are a "declarative" mechanism, where you simply specify the desired end result and constraints, letting the system find the most optimal way to do it.
Who exactly is a Solver? Solvers are professional market participants (can be individuals, AI bots or organizations) that compete with each other to find the most effective path to fulfill user intentions and receive service fees for doing so.
Why are intent-based systems more secure against technical errors? These systems often come with a "Revert-Free" guarantee. If the Solver cannot meet the conditions you signed, the transaction will never be executed on-chain, helping you avoid wasting unnecessary gas fees on erroneous orders.
Can I make transactions without holding native tokens (like ETH) as gas fees?Yes. Through the gas abstraction mechanism, Solvers can pay gas fees on your behalf and deduct them directly from the amount of tokens you are trading or accept payments in stablecoins.
What is ERC-7683 and why is it important? ERC-7683 is a common standard for cross-chain intents co-developed by Uniswap Labs and Across Protocol. It helps unify the network of Solvers, allowing applications to share execution infrastructure and increase liquidity for the entire ecosystem.
Has Anoma launched its mainnet yet? Anoma launched phase one of its mainnet on Ethereum in September 2025, activating the XAN token and governance system. The project also integrated with the Base network in December 2025.
What role does AI play in the Intent architecture?AI can act as an "Intent Orchestrator", helping to translate users' natural language requests into complex technical intents and execute them automatically through Solvers.
"Chain Abstraction" chain) helps users? It allows users to interact with Web3 applications without worrying about which chain their assets are on or having to perform manual bridging steps. Everything is handled behind the scenes by Solver.
How to avoid phishing when using Intent systems? You should use wallets with transaction simulation features (like Rabby) to preview asset changes in the wallet and only interact with legitimate dApps through saved bookmarks.
Is CoW Swap an Intent protocol? Yes. CoW Swap is one of the pioneering projects using the Intent model through batch auctions and direct order matching between users with opposing needs.
How does the "Intent Machine" in Anoma work? The Intent Machine is the core engine of Anoma, responsible for receiving intents from users, coordinating with the Solver to find solutions, and converting them into state changes on the blockchain.
- code exam. Essential is the first pure "declarative" blockchain, where the entire system operates based on satisfying state constraints set by users.
What is Paymaster in Account Abstraction?
Paymaster is a smart contract that allows applications or third parties to pay gas fees on behalf of users, making the transaction experience smooth and cost-effective fee.
Intent-based blockchain is not just a temporary trend but a fundamental restructuring of Web3. By separating "intent" from "execution", this architecture makes Web3 invisible yet powerful. With support from Tan Phat Digital, businesses and investors can seize this opportunity to catch the wave of mass adoption, where technology serves people in the most natural and effective way.
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