Conversations with a BERA: Unraveling Chain Abstraction in the World of Berachain

The following is a recount of real events. Or maybe it’s based on a Telegram interview with Berachain’s Ecosystem team in light of them joining the Chain Abstraction Coalition. Our content team won’t tell us.

Preface

We first assembled the Chain Abstraction Coalition with the goal of unifying the Web3 experience across multiple chains. This initiative assembled over 60 top blockchains, all embracing the goal of creating a borderless ecosystem.

However, from the very beginning, we knew that one of our members wasn’t human. At every meeting, a tall, furry figure would show up, growl—sometimes in approval—, and crawl back into the forest it came from. 

Needless to say, we were intrigued. However, after the Coalition announced its Berachain Co-Testnet, we finally decided to follow this mysterious character back into his den to find out why he had joined us, and what his interest in chain abstraction is all about. 

This article is a recollection of our interview with BERA, and the many thoughts this conversation stirred for the Particle team. We hope that, beyond being a valuable series of insights into BERA’s mind, our own insights can also help readers in the Berachain ecosystem understand chain abstraction as a Web3-wide vision.

Talking chain abstraction with Berachain

We’re sitting in a cozy den in the depths of a lush forest. From up close, the bear looks even smarter. He’s wearing a Berachain T-shirt.

Interviewer: Thanks for agreeing to this talk, BERA! I must say, I'm a bit nervous.

BERA: No need to worry. I may have claws, but they’re primarily for building. Now, what would you like to know?

Interviewer: Well, I suppose it’s only natural to start out with your neck of the woods. You for sure know this place better than us. What can you tell us about the Berachain ecosystem, and what makes it unique?

BERA: Right. You’ll see, this place is special because of its simultaneous breadth and depth—maybe the best of any pre-launch ecosystem to date. 

Our builders are world-class, with a DeFi hive including thoughtful innovators like:

• Shogun (cross-chain trading).
• IVX (0dte options).
• Exponents (derivatives for any on-chain asset).
• Gummi (oracle-less money market).
• Dolomite (modular money market).
• Concrete (Composable credit derivatives & facilities). 

However, although we’re strong on DeFi, we’re also big on the consumer side. This includes a really strong cohort of projects like: 

• Frequency (gaming-focused L2).
• Goy (on-chain gaming hardware).
• Puffpaw (vape2earn).
• Over/Under & BattleBucks (esports).
• Beratone (gaming).

I could go on for quite a while, and I’m leaving out a lot of really high-quality builders and dApps. In everything we do, we’re always trying to optimize for both unique and thoughtfully designed projects, with sensible go-to-market and the ability to onboard new users.

Interviewer: Very impressive. And you’re right, I’ve heard that some serious DeFi magic goes on in here. We’ll get into it. But first, I have to ask: What got you into chain abstraction? What value do you see in it, from your unique position?

BERA: scratches chin with paw. Ah, chain abstraction. Well, anything that adds convenience for the end user will win. This also applies to tech adoption for developers. The way I see it, anything that is easy to use and easy to build on top of, everyone will see the benefits, ultimately driving more users.

💡 Note from the Particle team:

BERA is spot-on here. Chain abstraction is often seen as only a way of interconnecting chains, but it also creates a whole new incentive game and feedback loop for users and developers. By allowing anyone to access any dApp from any chain, chain abstraction can allow for mass-scale products to finally surface within our industry—whether these are social, gaming, or new kinds of applications.

For illustration, in our report on Web3’s fragmentation, we arrived at the key conclusion that, in a highly fragmented Web3 ecosystem, mass-consumer applications are critical to sparking real user growth beyond the “fake” growth caused by fragmentation. This can be seen at a glance in the graphic below:

Interviewer: Word. And well, that raises an interesting question for ecosystems like your own. What specific kind of projects do you think Berachain has an edge to attract within a borderless Web3 paradigm?

BERA: nods wisely. Adaptation is key to survival.

Historically, we’ve been classified as a DeFi chain, both because of our founders' backgrounds and the benefits of Proof-of-Liquidity. While we do have a deep bench of good DeFi builders, we’re by no means limiting ourselves to a single niche. 

The benefits of PoL extend beyond just DeFi and are new building blocks to create and sustain value alignment. They allow applications in any vertical to monetize and grow in new ways. As a result, we’ve seen creativity explode in consumer, gaming, and infrastructure-based use cases as well. 

On top of that, Berachain combines a unique perspective of long-term crypto nativity with a deep pedigree in building and executing real businesses. Historically, blockchain has been an industry of product development, but taking the next step from a product to a business has (at times) been elusive. Having the support network and experience to enable a developer to not just get a product off the ground, but successfully create a novel go-to-market within a bustling ecosystem remains a massive edge.

Interviewer: Speaking of building, is PoL what you would call the proverbial honey attracting developers to your chain? Or is there anything else?

BERA: Well, apart from our irresistible charm.

Proof-of-Liquidity is probably the most unique aspect of Berachain. The consensus mechanism is a novel approach to strengthening the relationship between validators, users, and protocols by allowing block rewards to be shared between both. It's one of the reasons why we've seen so many ecosystem projects excited about deploying on Berachain, as it can jumpstart and potentially sustain developers building new projects. In a universe where technology is (rightfully) often at the forefront, we spend a lot of time trying to optimize the economic alignment of chain participation. 

The other important element of Berachain is the culture, which manages to combine lighthearted crypto-native elements with competency and openness. When you first jump into the Berachain ecosystem, it’s accessible and easy to find a niche full of people with similar interests. Berachain is like an iceberg- the surface area to start feels reasonable, but the deeper you dive into it, the more you realize how widespread and intricate things really are.

💡 Note from the Particle team:

Berachain touches on a deeply interesting subject here. 

In a pre-chain abstraction world, blockchains need to compete for projects and users based on different kinds of incentives, typically economic. These incentives might make sense with chains competing to lock users into their ecosystems, but as the borders across chains are blurred and users enjoy greater freedom, they will force ecosystems to increasingly compete based on technology and culture. This, in turn, translates into the kind of dApps created within a given ecosystem.

Having unique consensus models that adapt well to different use cases, along with a thriving, memetic community (as is the case with Berachain), may eventually guarantee the creation of products that can only exist within a given chain to offer maximum value. This would, in turn, lead to high user loyalty, regardless of their ability to access dApps outside of it—forming a perfect case for others to take note of.

Interviewer: We’re going deep into the subject of ChA and how it will undoubtedly lead to a whole new paradigm for blockchains to compete and collaborate. In what ways do you think this can benefit you, and how do you see your user and developer base adapting to this?

BERA: Every forest has its thorns. The challenge is maintaining our unique identity while becoming part of a larger ecosystem.

Given our strong focus on building rich DeFi liquidity, we anticipate that Berachain will be a frequent source for relayers to route order flows through.

Ultimately, we see our user and developer base adapting to this new paradigm by introducing new and sticky dApps that make people want to continue building and interacting with Berachain because of its effective use of liquidity.

Berachain is also not positioning itself as a ‘chain killer’. It’s simply designed to be the place to get the best yields on any asset, with top-tier liquidity depth and applications that people really want to use. In a world of chain abstraction, that would mean that Berachain could be uniquely positioned to benefit from the abstraction of the execution layer, as the liquidity depth and yield would result in deposits being routed abstractly to our chain. They can use any application - whether financial or consumer-facing from wherever, but when they live on Berachain that’s where the value and network effects end up.

💡 Note from the Particle team:

Since chain abstraction is a novel subject, it’s still fairly rare for blockchains to discuss their perspective on it. As such, we’re greatly thankful to BERA for opening up on this on behalf of Berachain!

This answer highlights a very important aspect that is already taking place in Web3’s modular era, and that will continue to occur as we evolve into abstraction: the specialization of chains. As general-purpose blockchains (regardless of their layer) increasingly grow in popularity and market share, new chains that dedicate themselves to specific sectors (RWA, gaming, DeSci, etc.) will undoubtedly grow in edge due to their unique features tailored for their target use cases.

Interviewer: Very well said, sir. So, finally, before I leave you to your own business, what else are you personally excited about regarding blockchain trends, besides ChA?

BERA: Let’s go back to first principles, son.

One of blockchain's crucial features is its ability to align incentives between ecosystem participants in novel ways. Returning value and ownership to users is a fundamental tenet of what we build—that’s readily and easily seen in Proof of Liquidity. As such, we are excited about finding novel ways to continue to do so. This can only help onboard new users and keep them incentivized to grow the system thoughtfully and sustainably.

Interviewer: Well, that's certainly an exciting vision! Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions. This has been... an enlightening conversation!

BERA: nods and pulls up a jar of honey, reclining back into his chair Any time, human. Any time.

Parting thoughts

As chain abstraction continues to pick up speed and take the spotlight in Web3, it’s only natural that more discussions around it emerge, particularly involving the ecosystem’s protagonists.

The unification of Web3’s users and liquidity, leading to a borderless panorama, is expected to yield a paradigm shift not only for its user experience but also for the ecosystem’s foundations, such as its incentives and the relationship of its multiple actors. In this context, we can only be excited about the prospect of a highly competitive, tech-driven environment where chains like Berachain can shine based on superior tech and network effects.

About Particle Network

Particle Network is addressing Web3's fragmentation of users and liquidity through Universal Accounts. Particle's chain abstraction is powered by a Cosmos SDK L1 blockchain enabling the experience of a single account, balance, and address that can be used across all chains, allowing users to interact with any dApp and pay gas with any token.

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