Intents go mainstream (ERC-7683)
Stop signing transactions, start signing outcomes. You say what you want, solvers compete to deliver it. Cross-chain UX stops being a bridge maze.
A transaction is an *instruction*: call this function, on this chain, with this calldata. An intent is a *goal*: "I have 1000 USDC on Base, I want ETH on Arbitrum, best price." You sign the goal; a competitive network of solvers figures out the how.
The shift
TRANSACTION (you do the routing)
you → bridge → swap → bridge → ... (5 txs, 3 chains, 4 popups)
INTENT (solvers do the routing)
you ── sign: "1000 USDC@Base → max ETH@Arb" ──→ [ solver auction ]
│ best fill wins
↓
you receive ETH@ArbERC-7683 standardizes the format of a cross-chain intent — the order, the settlement, the way solvers prove they filled it. Standardize the order and any solver can fill any app's intents, so liquidity and competition pool instead of fragmenting.
Why it's a big deal
Who are the solvers?
A solver is anyone running a bot that watches for signed intents and competes to fill them — often by fronting its own capital on the destination chain, then reclaiming it through the settlement system once it proves the fill. Competition is the point: many solvers bidding drives the user's price toward the best available execution, the way order-flow auctions do in traditional markets.
user signs intent ──→ solver fronts ETH on Arb (instant fill)
│ proves fill to settlement contract
↓
escrowed USDC@Base released to solver
(no fill → no funds move; the user is protected)The risk shifts from the user to the solver and the settlement layer: solvers carry inventory and bridge risk, and the standard has to make "prove you actually filled it" airtight. Done right, the user just sees one signature and the right asset on the right chain.
It moves complexity *off the user*. The maze of bridges, gas tokens and slippage settings collapses into one signature. The user states the destination; the market races to get them there.