Unified Rollups: The Innovative Path of Omni Network

Recently, a well-known DeFi platform announced the launch of an L2 solution specifically designed for DeFi. More and more applications are accelerating the construction of their own L2s, whether to control more parts of the blockchain stack, launch new products, or acquire more value. L2 is gradually dominating trading volume and Total Value Locked (TVL), but is also facing an increasingly serious fragmentation issue. L2 chains need to make a choice between isolated environments and modular infrastructure, and these choices often depend on whether they can maintain control over rollups.

For users, this fragmentation leads to a poor experience, as they still need to frequently transfer assets between different L2s to use various protocols. The core idea of Chain Abstraction is that users should be isolated from the underlying chain infrastructure, allowing them to easily access any application regardless of which chain they are on or what tokens they hold. Although this concept is still in the early stages of development, Omni Network has already become one of the most prominent projects in this field.

Omni Network addresses this issue through two key strategies: first, by minimizing the overhead for L2 to integrate Omni; second, by ensuring that L2 does not lose control over any part of its stack. Omni introduces a front-end SDK that any application can easily integrate into its website. This approach does not have special requirements for rollups and does not require development teams to upgrade their smart contracts. From the user's perspective, it is fully compatible with existing wallet providers, meaning users do not need to download new software, perform wallet upgrades, or change their existing usage habits.

Omni simplifies the user experience in the following ways: no need to manually switch networks in the wallet; reduced waiting time for cross-rollup message transmission; automatic handling of gas fees on the target rollup; seamless fund migration without requiring users to leave the application to use cross-chain bridge protocols. These innovations address the core issue that hinders Ethereum from appearing as a single platform to end users. If adopted at scale, Omni will restore Ethereum's "holistic" user experience similar to that of certain single-chain platforms, while retaining the high throughput and low fee advantages provided by rollups.

From a technical architecture perspective, Omni is a chain specifically built to facilitate interoperability between Ethereum rollup ecosystems. Compared to other interoperability networks focused on cross-chain messaging, Omni takes a unique product approach. Above its core interoperability network, there is a coordination protocol that allows market participants (such as market makers) to provide users with prepayments, provided that the funds held by the user on one rollup are different from the rollup where the application is located.

The Omni protocol adopts a "pull" model, making the movement of tokens appear instantaneous from the user's perspective. This approach streamlines the user process, allowing them to achieve the desired results immediately, while complex market participants handle the inherent latency issues of the interoperability network. When users submit a transaction, the funds are actually deposited into a custodial contract, which will only be released upon receiving proof that a resolver has fulfilled the user's intent via a cross-rollup message. This architecture allows users to no longer consider the complexities that previously accompanied cross-rollup activities.

Omni's goal is to "restructure" the decoupled crypto infrastructure stack, recognizing that modular Layer 2 networks are where the majority of activity takes place, and creating a protocol that allows users to move instantly between chains while enabling Layer 2 networks to maintain their sovereignty. As a relatively new design paradigm, chain abstraction is in the exploratory stage, and Omni may become a key infrastructure that combines the composability of the Ethereum ecosystem with an excellent user experience.