The rapid development of blockchain technology has introduced unprecedented possibilities across various industries, including finance, gaming, and supply chain traceability. With regulatory compliance advancing steadily, this emerging technology is gradually being understood and accepted by the mainstream. However, large-scale adoption still faces several unavoidable challenges, such as the security of private key management, the high barrier to interacting with decentralized applications (Dapps), and the complexities of cross-chain operations, significantly hindering widespread adoption.

Self Chain aims to lower the barriers to blockchain usage and make the Web3 ecosystem more accessible to many users. By introducing a modular, intent-centered access layer and keyless wallet infrastructure services, Self Chain seeks to address core usability, security, and interoperability challenges. This approach enhances user experience and promotes democratizing access to decentralized technologies.

What is Self Chain?

Formerly known as Frontier, Self Chain underwent a community-approved rebranding in mid-January. This transformation shifted the project from a wallet-focused initiative to a Layer 1 blockchain built on the Cosmos-SDK. The token’s name evolved from FRONT to SELF, and was later finalized as SLF in early May to enhance brand recognition.

The strategic shift to Self Chain occurred as the team recognized several challenges hindering the broader adoption of blockchain technology while developing wallet solutions. These challenges include:

1. Complex Private Key Management: Users struggle with securely storing private keys or seed phrases, exposing them to risks like phishing and theft.
2. Steep Learning Curve for Dapps: New users find it difficult to grasp technical terms related to wallets, tokens, and blockchains, and there is a lack of intuitive interfaces and seamless interactions.
3. Mainstream Adoption Barriers: Obstacles include awareness gaps, technical complexities, and challenges around secure usage.
4. Lack of Interoperability: Blockchain ecosystems remain isolated, making it difficult for assets or data to transfer seamlessly between blockchains.
5. Limited Development Tools and Resources: Different blockchain platforms use varying standards, tools, and frameworks, creating a shortage of standardized, developer-friendly tools.

To address these challenges, Self Chain introduces a solution to redefine how users interact with decentralized applications and digital assets. It builds a modular, intent-centered Layer 1 blockchain and keyless wallet infrastructure services. Leveraging advanced technologies such as Multi-Party Computation (MPC), Threshold Signature Schemes (TSS), and Account Abstraction (AA), Self Chain simplifies the blockchain experience for both technical and non-technical users, ensuring seamless Web3 engagement while enhancing security and scalability.

Public information reveals that Ravindra Kumar, the founder and CEO of Self Chain, previously served as CTO at emerging technology investment fund Woodstock and the DeFi portal InstaDApp. Self Chain has received funding from Rana Capital, though the exact amount remains undisclosed.

Core Technical Architecture of Self Chain

The core of Self Chain lies in its modular intent-centric access and MPC-TSS keyless wallet infrastructure. The team aims to use Large Language Models (LLMs) to interpret user intent and automatically enable searchers to discover the most effective transaction paths. This approach significantly reduces technical complexity, ensuring that blockchain interactions are as intuitive and direct as possible.

Modular Intent-Centric Access

Intent-based narratives are becoming a new focus. Intent refers to the user’s desired outcome or goal without requiring them to specify the process details. For example, when a user interacts with a DeFi platform aiming to maximize the returns on 10 ETH, they do not need to figure out the best strategy—the platform will automatically determine and execute the optimal strategy to achieve the user’s goal.

To some extent, intent-centric infrastructure simplifies user interaction with blockchain technology, offering a seamless Web3 experience. Self Chain integrates the concept of intent into its blockchain architecture through a three-layer approach:

Source: Self Chain

• Dapps Layer: Collects user intent, typically through conversational LLM interfaces or simple forms.
• Intent Search Layer: Translates user intent into actionable blockchain queries and searches the Self Chain network for the best paths and options to fulfill the request.
• Intent Resolver: Once the intent is securely signed using TSS, the intent resolver processes the transaction. It leverages smart contracts and Dapps to meet the user’s goals, usually identifying the most optimal route.

Self Chain’s keyless wallet and account abstraction capabilities ensure ease of use and security throughout this process. Additionally, Self Chain incentivizes Dapps by automatically rewarding them when they effectively fulfill user intent. This incentive model improves transaction efficiency and fosters a positive feedback loop benefiting both users and developers.

MPC-TSS Keyless Wallet Infrastructure

The Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS) feature forms the foundation of Self Chain’s architecture. Introducing a keyless wallet system eliminates the complexities of traditional private key management, simplifying the user experience while ensuring robust asset protection.

Self Chain’s keyless wallet infrastructure uses Multi-Party Computation (MPC) and Threshold Signature Schemes (TSS) to split private keys into multiple parts distributed across different nodes. This method minimizes the risk of key leaks, as it avoids single points of failure. Key shares are regularly updated without altering the original key, further enhancing security.

Moreover, users can access their wallets using familiar login methods, such as social media accounts or biometric authentication, ensuring high security without relying on seed phrases.

Self Chain’s Tokenomics

SLF is the native token of Self Chain and plays a vital role in the network. Token holders enjoy several benefits, including paying transaction fees, staking, participating in governance, and using SLF as native collateral within the Self Chain ecosystem. Additionally, SLF supports a dynamic fee market to incentivize validators and serves as the currency for transaction fees within the internal exchange.

The total supply of SLF is 360 million, distributed and released according to the following plan:

Source: Self Chain

• Migration Allocation (90 million, 25%): Enables FRONT token holders to seamlessly migrate their tokens to SLF.
• Equity investor allocation (36 million, 10%, 36-month lock-up period): Reserved for early supporters of Self Chain
• Validator nodes/growth sales (100 million, 28%, 18-month lock-up period): Used to incentivize and expand the validator network, continuously enhancing network decentralization
• Ecosystem (68 million, 19%, releasing 1.5 million monthly): Drive ecosystem development through grants and incentives
• Foundation nodes (36 million, 10%, permanently locked): The Self Chain Foundation operates a set of foundational nodes to ensure stability and functionality during block generation
• Team (30 million, 8%, 6-year lock-up period): Allocated to the Self Chain team and core developers to support long-term research, development, and ecosystem plans

Currently, 97 million SLF tokens are in circulation. As Self Chain operates on a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mechanism, validators participate in block proposals and transaction verification by running full nodes. Validators earn token rewards through staking. There are 99 validators in the Self Chain network, with 88 active validators. The Self Chain Foundation operates the top five validators by voting power.

Source: explorer.selfchain.io

Self Chain Ecosystem Development and Future Prospects

As wallet infrastructure, Self Chain’s keyless wallet function offers robust asset custody for users and allows developers to integrate it into various projects, facilitating large-scale adoption. Additionally, Self Chain provides a complete set of well-documented development tools, including SDKs, which lay the foundation for ecosystem growth and long-term development.

In the GameFi sector, users can securely store, trade, and transfer in-game assets using Self Chain’s keyless wallet. Meanwhile, the Self Chain protocol supports cross-chain interoperability, enabling users to seamlessly manage their digital identities and assets across different games and blockchains. This approach ensures an enhanced user experience while improving the flexibility and liquidity of digital assets.

To ensure a successful mainnet launch, Self Chain implemented a three-phase strategy. The first phase, Stage 1, was successfully initiated in early June, and by mid-July, the team announced the completion of all three phases.

According to the project roadmap, the team plans to release the Alpha version of the multi-chain keyless wallet in Q4 and launch public testing of the wallet’s SDK. In 2025, Self Chain will continue to focus on product development, including wallet account abstraction, plugins, intent resolver protocols, and intent SDKs for Dapp and game integrations. These efforts aim further to enhance the experience for both users and developers.

Conclusion

With its intent-centric architecture, keyless wallet services, and comprehensive developer tools, Self Chain aims to redefine how users interact with blockchain technology. The goal is to provide a seamless and enjoyable experience that unlocks the full potential of this innovative technology.

Looking ahead, Self Chain is steadily advancing product development following its mainnet launch to foster ecosystem growth and prosperity. However, its innovative technical architecture will require time to prove itself in the market, and technical development uncertainties remain a challenge for the project. Additionally, the current size of the developer and user community is relatively small, with limited active participation and few real-world applications to demonstrate the project’s potential so far.