Layer 1 blockchain Near Protocol’s co-founder, Illia Polosukhin, stated during an interview with The Block at the blockchain event “BUIDL Asia” in South Korea that chain abstraction could lead to the next revolution in the cryptocurrency space and Web3, which is essential for mainstream adoption.
Chain abstraction involves application developers fragmenting the complex technical layers of Web3 to improve the user experience, abstracting the blockchain from the user experience. For example, in blockchain networks like Near, users can create and recover accounts using their email addresses instead of remembering complex wallet seed phrases. Polosukhin believes that chain abstraction can lower the entry barriers for users in the blockchain space.
However, there may be some considerations regarding chain abstraction. Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, recently pointed out a potential pain point of chain abstraction: as various chains connect to form a larger ecosystem, there may be systemic risks of desensitizing security issues.
Although Polosukhin acknowledges that users’ awareness of security risks in chain abstraction may further decrease, he expects that the Web3 field will continue to evolve towards more decentralized and secure systems.
The Near Foundation recently launched Chain Signatures, a feature that allows users to sign transactions on third-party blockchains through a single Near account. Chain Signatures have been deployed on the Near testnet and are expected to be enabled on the mainnet in early May.
Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence
Polosukhin also mentioned during the interview that blockchain technology can help prevent potential issues that may arise with the development of artificial intelligence (AI).
He stated that AI can be used for malicious purposes, and “this is just something that could happen, and we can’t stop it.” Last year, reports claimed that the US government stated North Korea and other countries were researching the use of AI technology to develop malicious software to enhance their illegal online activities.
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