Stripchain Secures $10M Funding to Improve Blockchain User Experience with Chain Abstraction
In Brief
Stripchain, a $10 million-raising startup, aims to improve blockchain UX through interoperability, overcoming barriers to widespread adoption due to the complex nature of blockchain networks.
One persistent challenge for the developers has been providing a smooth user experience (UX). The complex nature of blockchains, with their disparate networks, protocols, and transaction processes, can create barriers to widespread adoption across different user groups. However, a new startup called Stripchain aims to radically improve blockchain UX through an ambitious interoperability solution. Their recent $10 million fundraising suggests investors see significant potential.
Photo: CryptoRank
The Core Premise: Stripchain’s Chain Abstraction
Stripchain’s approach includes “chain abstraction” – it allows users to interact with decentralized applications (DApps) without needing to understand the underlying blockchain mechanics. As the pseudonymous researcher “0xnovachrono” leading the protocol describes: “Just like we don’t care about the backend system of Netflix, we should not care about the backend system of a decentralized application.”
This philosophy represents a fundamental rethinking of how users experience Web3. Currently, using DApps requires choosing specific chains like Ethereum, Solana, or Polygon, managing different wallets and keys, and dealing with chain-specific hassles like high gas fees. Stripchain proposes abstracting away these complexities into a seamless cross-chain experience where the particular network is irrelevant to the user.
If successful, this user-centric design could significantly lower the barriers to blockchain adoption, especially for non-technical users. The analogy of not caring about Netflix’s backend resonates – most consumers simply want user-friendly applications that work seamlessly without wrestling with esoteric infrastructure details.
The Technology: Intents and StripVM
So, how does Stripchain actually plan to deliver on this chain abstraction vision? Their solution involves two key components:
- Intents – These are essentially high-level commands that developers can integrate into their DApps to execute actions like transferring data or assets across chains.
- StripVM – A novel virtual machine architecture that allows these intents to be interpreted and executed across different blockchain runtimes.
Under the hood, StripVM maps calls from DApps and wallets into intents, determines the optimal execution engine, and routes commands to the appropriate chains. This decouples the application layer from the execution layer, providing a unified experiential layer.
A key distinction of Stripchain’s architecture is its focus on the transaction layer, which facilitates data transfers at the point of user interaction. This contrasts with earlier interoperability solutions targeting lower system levels like protocol and contract layers (e.g., Cosmos IBC, blockchain bridges). Additionally, Stripchain utilizes a unique proof-of-authority consensus mechanism among validator nodes to enhance security and efficiency compared to fully open networks.
The potential impact could be transformative. Developers could build DApps that seamlessly integrate every blockchain without custom implementations for each. Users could freely exchange assets across ecosystems from one interface. The blockchain world could coalesce around user-friendly aggregated experiences rather than being siloed.
Overcoming Persistent UX Hurdles
Even amid the rhetoric around blockchain’s potential to reshape industries, lack of user-friendliness has persistently hampered mainstream adoption. Most contemporary Web3 experiences feel aimed at crypto-natives, creating significant cognitive overhead for newcomers.
Some key UX pain points include:
- Managing numerous wallets/keys across chains;
- Dealing with crypto transaction complexities like gas fees;
- Technical jargon and lack of intuitive interfaces;
- Poor discoverability of DApps;
- Fragmentation across disparate networks.
While some protocols like Ethereum work to improve scalability and fees, the multi-chain future seems inevitable – necessitating interoperability solutions. Veteran investor Ryan Selkis, who backed Stripchain, commented: “Since we will have more and more L1s and L2s for mass adoption, we need better UX to abstract the chain-specific knowledge.”
If Stripchain delivers on its vision, it could solve several UX hurdles simultaneously. Users could have one wallet and interface spanning all networks, with intent-based interactions obviating the need to understand terms like gas or choose chains. The overall experience could feel much closer to familiar Web2 applications.
Of course, achieving true chain abstraction at scale is an enormously complex challenge – secured by novel mechanisms in Stripchain’s architecture. Even with $10 million in backing, the technical obstacles are immense. However, if realized, the payoff could be revolutionary for onboarding the next billion users to blockchain applications.
Enterprise Use Cases and B2B Potential
While simplifying blockchain UX for consumers is valuable, some of Stripchain’s most compelling opportunities may actually lie in enterprise and B2B use cases.
Corporations looking to leverage blockchain technology still face major adoption barriers around technical complexity and organizational inertia. Integrating blockchain operations seamlessly into existing systems and business processes remains extremely difficult. Even if compelling ROI exists, steep learning curves and fragmented blockchain ecosystems create prohibitive hurdles for many organizations.
By delivering true cross-chain abstraction, Stripchain could lower these barriers substantially. Enterprises could tap into blockchain capabilities through familiar interfaces, integrating decentralized services transparently across their stack. Developers could introduce blockchain utility without having to rearchitect entire systems or retrain staff on blockchain specifics.
This aligns with a philosophy of making blockchains “plumbing” – background utilities that enhance products and services behind the scenes without being explicitly visible. Blockchain becomes a ubiquitous enabler rather than a parallel paradigm.
In this light, industries like finance, supply chain, healthcare, and others could benefit from Stripchain’s ease of integration. The $10M fundraising event signals investor confidence in unlocking substantial enterprise value through seamless blockchain accessibility.
Analyzing the UX Imperative
While Stripchain’s technical architecture is novel, the driving impetus boils down to an obsession with optimizing the end-user experience.
As an industry, blockchain has often been over-indexed on technological intricacy and under-indexed on design and human factors. This has created incredible innovations but also incredibly poor user experiences, at least for non-crypto natives.
With entering the user first, Stripchain recognizes that blockchain can only achieve truly disruptive potential through interfaces that real people love using. Using technology alone isn’t enough – it has to be packaged in delightful experiences that remove complexity for end-users. The success of products like the iPhone validated this design-first ethos.
Beyond Stripchain, the entire blockchain space must continue evolving more mature philosophies and practices around user experience. This includes:
- Conducting serious user research to understand needs/pain points;
- Embracing human-centered design and rapid iteration;
- Focusing on intuitive interfaces over showing off tech prowess;
- Relentlessly simplifying and removing technical abstractions;
- Considering discoverability, onboarding, and end-to-end journeys;
Stripe’s meteoric rise showed how meticulously crafting a superior developer experience around payments could massively accelerate an industry. Perhaps Stripchain can play a similar role in finally optimizing the blockchain’s user experience.
Of course, such sweeping UX improvements won’t be trivial. Major challenges around security, decentralization tradeoffs, incentive design, and more remain. However, prioritizing user needs first could catalyze breakthroughs in adoption.
ConsenSys’ Design Director Sarah Baker Mills stressed that users should always be informed of what is occurring, what has recently happened, and what is about to happen.
Ultimately, though, Stripchain’s $10 million raise spotlights how blockchain UX is now recognized as both a huge opportunity and an existential necessity for the sector’s future growth. Innovating around better experiences isn’t a nice-to-have but a must-have if blockchain technology wants to achieve its visionary promises. Stripchain represents one fascinating path toward the goal of abstracting away complexity to let blockchain’s benefits shine through.
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About The Author
Viktoriia is a writer on a variety of technology topics including Web3.0, AI and cryptocurrencies. Her extensive experience allows her to write insightful articles for the wider audience.
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Viktoriia is a writer on a variety of technology topics including Web3.0, AI and cryptocurrencies. Her extensive experience allows her to write insightful articles for the wider audience.
