Author: imToken

In the Web3 world, the narrative has always been evergreen, from "cross-chain" to interoperability (Interop).

Of course, many people may not strictly distinguish between the two concepts. If summarized in one sentence, cross-chain focuses more on assets, primarily solving the "transportation" problem; while interoperability (Interop) encompasses multiple dimensions such as assets, states, and services, aiming to solve the "collaboration" problem.

As the modular narrative has increased the number and heterogeneity of L1/L2, user and liquidity have become further dispersed. Interoperability has been recognized as a more ideal end state than cross-chain—users no longer perceive which chain they are on; they only submit an intention, and the system automatically completes the operation in the most suitable execution environment.

With the recent release of a new UX roadmap by the Ethereum Foundation (EF), along with a series of engineering advancements around withdrawal delays, message passing, and real-time proofs, the puzzle of interoperability is being methodically pieced together.

1. What exactly is "Interop"?

Simply put, "interoperability" is far more than just an "asset bridge"; it is a complete set of system-level capabilities.

It means that different chains can share states and proofs, smart contracts can call each other's logic, users can obtain a unified interaction experience, and various execution environments maintain equal trustworthiness within security boundaries.

When these capabilities are simultaneously met, users can truly focus on value activities themselves, no longer troubled by network switching, repeated authorizations, or liquidity fragmentation. This actually echoes the ultimate goal of cross-chain engineering: to let users focus on the flow of value itself, rather than the barriers between chains.

Especially as we enter 2024, the modular narrative is entering a period of full explosion, with more and more fragmented L1s and L2s emerging, making interoperability no longer just high-level discussions at the protocol layer, but truly sinking into the user experience and underlying application logic.

Whether it is an intent-centered execution architecture, cross-chain aggregation, or new forms of applications like full-chain DEX, all are exploring the same goal: to allow users and liquidity to no longer be limited to the Ethereum mainnet, nor frequently switch networks, but to complete on-chain asset exchanges, liquidity provision, and strategy operations in a unified interface and one-stop manner.

In other words, the ultimate vision of interoperability lies in completely removing blockchain from the user's view—allowing DApps and project parties to return to a user-centered product paradigm, creating a low-threshold environment that is easy to use and experiences close to Web2, clearing the last barrier for external users to seamlessly enter the Web3 world.

After all, from a product perspective, the key to mainstreaming is not to make everyone understand blockchain, but to enable them to use it without understanding it. It can be said that if Web3 is to reach billions of people, interoperability is the "last mile" infrastructure.

As early as August 29, the Ethereum Foundation released "Protocol Update 003 - Improve UX," which continues the three strategic directions of EF's restructured R&D team this year—Scale L1 (mainnet expansion), Scale Blobs (data expansion), and Improve UX (improving user experience).

Among them, the core theme of "Improve UX" is precisely interoperability.

Source: Ethereum Foundation

2. From "Cross-Chain" to "Interoperability": Signals Released by EF

EF's article emphasizes interoperability (interop) as the core, aiming for a seamless, secure, and permissionless Ethereum ecosystem experience. The main point can be summarized in one sentence: asset cross-chain is just the first step; the cross-chain collaboration of data, states, and services is the true "interoperability." In the future, Ethereum plans to make all Rollups and L2s "look like one chain."

Of course, EF also admits that while most infrastructure and technology are already mature (or about to mature), delivering these solutions to users and allowing them to naturally integrate into the daily experience of wallets and DApps still requires several key engineering steps.

Therefore, EF has broken down the R&D work of "Improve UX / Interop" into three parallel main lines: Initialization, Acceleration, and Finalization.

First is the "Initialization" step, aimed at becoming the starting point for interoperability, making Ethereum's cross-chain behavior lighter and more standardized.

Core tasks include making intents lighter and more modular, establishing universal standards, opening up paths for cross-chain assets and operations, and providing interchangeable and composable universal interfaces for different execution layers.

Specific projects include:

• Open Intents Framework (OIF): A modular intent stack co-built by EF in collaboration with Across, Arbitrum, Hyperlane, LI.FI, OpenZeppelin, etc., supporting free combinations of different trust models and security assumptions;
• Ethereum Interoperability Layer (EIL): Led by the ERC-4337 team, building a permissionless, censorship-resistant cross-L2 transaction transmission layer, making multi-chain transactions as natural as on a single chain;
• A set of new standards (ERC series): Covering interoperable addresses (ERC-7828/7930), asset integration (ERC-7811), multi-call (ERC-5792), intents and universal message interfaces (ERC-7683/7786);

The goal is straightforward: to decouple "what the user wants to do" (declarative) from "how the system executes" (procedural), and to enable wallets, bridges, and verification backends to collaborate under a unified semantics.

Next is the "Acceleration" phase, aimed at reducing latency and costs, making multi-chain more real-time.

Specifically focusing on measurable indicators such as "number of signatures, inclusion time, fast confirmation, finality, L2 settlement," the levers here include L1 fast confirmation rules (bringing strong confirmation to the 15-30 second range), shortening L1 slot time (research and engineering groundwork to reduce from 12s to 6s), and shortening L2 settlement/withdrawal windows (reducing optimistic 7 days to 1-2 days, or introducing ZK proofs and 2-of-3 fast settlement mechanisms). These measures essentially lay the foundation for cross-domain message passing and unified experiences.

Finally, the "Finalization" step includes combining real-time SNARK proofs with faster L1 finality to explore second-level end-state interoperability forms. In the long run, this will redraw the landscape of cross-domain issuance, bridging primitives, and cross-chain programmability.

Objectively speaking, in the context of Ethereum, Interop (interoperability) is no longer limited to the concept of "asset bridges," but a comprehensive term for a whole set of system-level capabilities:

• Cross-chain data communication — different L2s can share states or verification results;
• Cross-chain logic execution — one contract can call the logic of another L2;
• Cross-chain user experience — users only see one wallet, one transaction, rather than multiple chains;
• Cross-chain security and consensus — maintaining equal security boundaries through proof systems across different L2s;

From this perspective, Interop can be understood as the common language among future Ethereum ecosystem protocols. Its significance lies not only in transmitting value but also in sharing logic.

3. How is Ethereum Paving the Way for "Interoperability"?

It is worth noting that recently, Vitalik also initiated a discussion on the Ethereum Magicians forum about shortening the Stage-1 optimistic rollup withdrawal time, advocating for reducing the withdrawal cycle from the traditional 7 days to 1-2 days, and proposing to gradually introduce faster settlement and confirmation mechanisms under controllable security.

This discussion is superficially related to the withdrawal experience of Rollups, but it is actually a direct response to one of the three major directions of "interoperability"—Acceleration.

Source: Ethereum Magicians

After all, withdrawal delays are not just a user experience issue of waiting too long; they are a liquidity bottleneck for the entire multi-chain collaboration system:

• For users, it determines the speed of fund circulation between different Rollups;
• For intent protocols and bridge networks, it affects the capital efficiency of solutions;
• For the Ethereum mainnet, it determines whether the ecosystem can maintain consistency and security in higher-frequency interactions;

Vitalik's viewpoint essentially opens the floodgates for this. In simple terms, shortening withdrawal times not only improves the user experience of Rollups but also unlocks the infrastructure upgrade for rapid cross-domain messaging, liquidity, and state flow. This direction aligns perfectly with EF's goals in the "Acceleration" main line, which is to shorten confirmation times, increase settlement speeds, and reduce costs of funds in transit, ultimately making cross-chain communication real-time, trustworthy, and composable.

This series of efforts will resonate with the Devconnect event held in Argentina on November 17. According to the official agenda, Interop will be one of the key themes of this year's Devconnect, and the EF team will announce more details related to EIL (Ethereum Interoperability Layer) at the conference.

Overall, all of this points in the same direction—Ethereum is completing the transition from "scaling" to "integration."

Of course, this article, as the first in the Interop series, merely raises the foundational question that interoperability is the ultimate goal of the cross-chain narrative and provides a preliminary glimpse into the current technical roadmap from EF to Vitalik's real-time discussions, from standardized engineering layouts to gradually shortening settlement cycles. We are witnessing another structural upgrade of the Ethereum ecosystem.

In the future, we will continue to understand from different angles why interoperability is not just a bridge, but the underlying protocol connecting Ethereum's future.

Stay tuned.

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