The Creation of Universal Apps

This blockchain ecosystem is still in a period of discovery as different chains and projects look to address issues such as performance, optimization based on the Ethereum architecture (Near, Solana), and the design of blockchain infrastructure for specific scenarios (Filecoin, for decentralized storage as an example).

However, the full potential of what a decentralized digital ecosystem and economy can offer has not truly been reached as a number of basic infrastructure problems still persist. Poor user experience and operating experiences are key among them.




Barriers
to Entry

The barrier to entry for users wanting to make use of dApps is extremely high. Using blockchain products means creating wallets that require mnemonics, public and private keys, and every time a user wants to utilize a new chain, the process has to be repeated from scratch. The user experience is inferior to even simple signature verification systems of internet products like fingerprint unlocking, FaceID and direct payment from things like ApplePay.

Migration costs for app developers are also extremely high. Current app developers are facing performance problems or high gas fees on ETH 1.0. Additionally, there are several other migration cost issues such as facing a new development language which means learning costs and also audit costs. More so, the issue of new customer acquisition cost after app migration comes into play.

Current cross-chain solutions are not addressing foundational problems. Achieving cross chain asset flow is actually not difficult, but it is difficult to make all chains completely cross-chain and functional at the minimum cost.

We are seeing Wrap BTC solutions, and we can also see that Polkadot and Cosmos can complete cross-chain under their own Substrate, Zone, architectures. But, Polkadot’s standards and the assets on the chain issued by Substrate will not really be able to reach the world outside of Polkadot.

The current blockchain ecosystem, surrounded by these problems, means the interaction between blockchains, assets, App products, and users becomes difficult. Without workable interoperability, the blockchain world becomes a lot less potent.

There is a real need for an infrastructure that can solve the problem of interoperability between assets, Apps, and users between multiple chains. And this is where Nervos comes in with the creation of Universal Apps through its suite of developer tools known as Your Universal Passport to Blockchain.

 




Universal
Passport to
Blockchain

Nervos has built a suite of tools which we have called the Universal Passport. This is our solution to creating a next generation of interoperability that will empower the creation of Universal Applications — Apps that transcend individual blockchains to work seamlessly across every chain in the ecosystem.

In this tool box, we have the Force Bridge, PW Core and Polyjuice.

These three important components of the Universal Passport solve the high barriers to entry, cross-chain circulation of assets, and the premise that dApps do not need to change their code to be truly interoperable.

These components are based on top of the flexible underlying public chain, the Nervos CKB. Through the power of the underlying public chain of Nervos CKB, with Layer2 components, applications, users and assets have access to a blockchain ecosystem that is likened to the internet as we know it today.

 




A Brief
overview of
the tools

PW Core: Allowing users to enter the Nervos Network through various portals

Portal Wallet is not only a wallet but also a complete dApp that leverages various features of Nervos. Users do not need to download new software or generate new keys/addresses to access Nervos, they can use their existing Ethereum addresses and wallets to receive and send CKB directly. To enjoy this seamless experience, users can open the Portal Wallet with MetaMask, imToken, or a variety of other Ethereum dApp browsers to get started.

Portal Wallet bids farewell to the old process of downloading a new wallet to use a new public blockchain App, by allowing users to simply use their existing Ethereum address to send and receive CKB. Using Portal wallet is similar to the user experience on many Ethereum Apps, and in many ways, the experience is even better. These transactions run on Nervos, so the congestion and expensive gas fees on Ethereum will not affect Portal Wallet users.

The Force Bridge: Decentralized cross-chain functionality that feels centralized

Cross-chain bridges are nothing new, but Nervos’ Force Bridge is different to other Ethereum bridges as most Ethereum bridges require users to complete several steps before moving an asset — deploying a new asset on the target chain, registering the address on Ethereum, and specifying the relationship between transferring assets, for example. With Force Bridge, users only have to deploy the ERC-20 contract to begin the movement of assets to a user or a dApp, as the bridge supports all ERC-20 contracts automatically.

By providing a native bridge that allows assets to move freely between chains and across different Apps and users without any added obstacles, Nervos is bringing more interoperability to Ethereum-heavy blockchain sectors like decentralized Finance (DeFi) and providing a more and giving DeFi applications a secure and fully decentralized blockchain infrastructure to scale users and transactions beyond the Ethereum ecosystem — all with little to no effort.

Polyjuice: a 100% EVM-compatible Ethereum on CKB Solution

Polyjuice is an Ethereum on CKB solution, which means developers can port their existing Apps running on Ethereum to CKB with minimal effort.

Polyjuice is not just an EVM compatibility layer, but a general account model. In the long run, it can achieve more virtual machine environments compatible with more public chains based on the account model. This means that developers on other chains can migrate their App to CKB and they will not incur too much development cost due to code migration or need to write a new set of code for the same logic.