GuShiio.com If Ethereum is the “world computer”, then Initia is the “world conductor”.
Original article: Stacy Muur, encryption researcher
Compiled by: Yuliya, PANews
Appchain was originally designed to provide customized, scalable, and sovereign solutions, but unexpectedly formed isolated “walled gardens”. Each chain operates independently, and liquidity is scattered across more than 100 chains. Users have to frequently bridge assets across chains just to meet basic service needs.
The more serious problem is the “naked chain”. These chains lack the necessary infrastructure, such as oracle machines, cross-chain bridges, indexers, etc., just like cities without public facilities, which may look attractive on the outside, but are actually difficult to use.
At the same time, the user experience remains stagnant at 2017 levels: users need to manage more than 5 wallets, each chain has a different Gas token and UI design, and the learning curve is steep and the operation is complex. Even though it is 2025, interoperability is still like a network without connections. Among the Web3 protocols that will emerge in 2025, Initia is undoubtedly a high-profile member. So what makes Initia so special that it continues to attract the attention of top researchers?
Historical review: Cosmos and Ethereum
Cosmos proposed the concept of application chain, which aims to provide developers with sovereignty and professional capabilities, but in practice it faces the following main problems:
- Verifier startup challenge:Starting a new application chain requires a strong network of validators, which not only requires technical expertise, but also requires high economic incentives, resulting in serious token inflation problems.
- IBC token fragmentation:Moving assets across chains generates duplicate tokens (for example, USDC on chain A ≠ USDC on chain B), resulting in liquidity inefficiencies.
- Dispersion of liquidity:Cosmos Hub failed to become a central router, but instead spawned multiple competing hubs, each competing for liquidity, ultimately weakening network effects.
Cosmos was right about application chains, but due to the lack of strong incentives to cooperate, these chains eventually became competing with each other rather than forming a tight ecosystem.
On the other hand, Ethereum’s Rollup has some advantages as an alternative to the application chain, but it also faces major challenges in the following aspects:
- Cross-Rollup interactions are limited:Rollup usually operates independently, and asset transfers across Rollup rely on third-party bridges, further exacerbating fragmentation of liquidity and inconsistent asset standards.
- Reliance on third-party solutions:Critical functions such as bridges, oracles, and stablecoins are not natively supported and rely on external providers.
The ecosystem urgently needs a solution:
- Unify different application chains to ensure that they follow an interoperable standard.
- Provide built-in infrastructure (bridging, oracle, mobility) to avoid the need to “rebuild the wheel” every time a new chain is added.
- Adjust the incentive mechanism to ensure that launching new chains helps strengthen the overall network rather than compete with it.
The emergence of Initia: Weaving the interconnected Rollup Network
To solve these issues, Initia combines the advantages of Cosmos and Ethereum Rollup architectures to provide a comprehensive framework that eliminates fragmentation while maintaining customization capabilities. Initia’s full-stack solutions include:
- Layer 1 (L1) Coordination Layer: Handle security, governance and liquidity coordination.
- Layer 2（L2）Rollups（Minitias）: Provides high-speed and scalable execution capabilities.
Developers can launch customized Rollup on Initia, without having to worry about mobility fragmentation or interoperability barriers, making it the first truly unified application chain network that provides scalability and enables seamless cross-chain collaboration.
Four core pillars of Initia
Inititia solves key issues in the current application chain field through the following four basic pillars, which may support the most powerful application chain theory to date:
1. Focus on user and developer experience
problem: The existing Rollup ecosystem forces developers to build critical infrastructure from scratch. Teams using existing Rollup stacks or RaaS providers can only obtain basic tools and then have to spend huge costs to integrate important components such as oracle, bridge, block browser, and wallet.
Initia’s solutions: Initia reversed this model and prioritized establishing a complete integrated ecosystem before the main network was launched. Its tool suite includes:
- A complete suite of tools including the Initia Scan, the Initia App, the.init username (similar to ENS but designed specifically for Initia) and multi-ecosystem wallet support.
- Gas abstraction technology: JIT allows users to pay Gas fees using any token, not just INIT.
- Native USDC integration: Through Noble and Circles CCTP.
- Standardize cross-Rollup communication: Adopt IBC and LayerZero protocols.
- Single slot certainty: Achieve extremely fast confirmation between L1 and L2.
- Built-in liquidity: achieved through Minitswap on L1.
This strategy allows developers to focus on application building without having to expend resources on infrastructure development.
2. Reliable cross-Rollup interoperability
problem: Transferring assets between different chains can be a nightmare for users. Users either wait a few days to extract (for example, more than 7 days in optimistic Rollup), or rely on third-party bridging, which is risky. Cosmos’s multi-chain transmission will also generate multiple versions of tokens to further decentralize liquidity.
Initia’s solutionsSolve this problem by embedding liquidity in the foundation layer.
- One token, multiple chains: The Initia L1 serves as a central hub that unifies all Rollup’s assets. For example, when ETH is transferred from EVM Rollup to Cosmos chain, it will automatically convert to the correct token standard (ERC-20 CW-20) without the need for a third-party bridge.
- Instant withdrawal: Built-in AMM (MinitSwap) allows users to withdraw cash from Rollup instantly without waiting for 7 days. In addition, L2 tokens can be seamlessly exchanged for INIT on L1 through Peg Keepers, maintaining a 1:1 anchor.
3. An “opinion-based” interconnected stack
problem: The existing Rollup framework forces teams to make dozens of decisions on infrastructure: which data availability tier to choose, which bridging provider, how to handle interoperability, etc. These choices often lead to Rollup standards being incompatible, poor user experience, and wasting development team resources.
Initia’s solutions: Initia standardizes core infrastructure through an “opinion” stack while allowing customization in key areas:
- fixation assembly: Initia enforces high-quality default settings-native Oracle (Connect), embedded AMM (IniaDEX and Minitswap), unified bridging (IBC + LayerZero), using Celestia as the data availability layer, CometBFT as a consensus mechanism, supporting 10k + TPS and 500ms block time.
- flexible execution: Developers can choose EVM, MoveVM or WasmVM as needed.
- Configurable serialization: Centralized by default, but multiple sequencers are supported through CometBFT.
- advanced features: Native integration with the Skip protocol’s POB (protocol owner builder) and Protorev’s non-toxic MEV extract.
4. VIP (Vested Interest Program): Aligning incentives across ecosystems
problem: Although Ethereum’s application chain leverages Ethereum’s security and brand influence, it does not contribute much to the ecosystem. In contrast, although Cosmos’s chain has sovereignty, they compete with each other for liquidity and users, resulting in a fragmented situation. Project parties are more concerned about short-term token increases than long-term cooperation.
Initia’s solutions：
1. VIP (Vested Interest Program) program:Rollup receives esINIT (locked token) rewards based on two indicators:
- Balance Pool: Measure the total value (TVL) of the INIT token in its ecosystem.
- Weight Pool: Measure user participation through governance voting (for example, users conduct a “quantitative vote” for their favorite Rollup).
Rollups cannot simply cash in on their rewards and leave. By tying rewards to long-term ownership, Initia ensures that projects are financially motivated to remain within the ecosystem and drive overall growth of the network.
2. Cabal governance: Rollup can “encourage” INIT holders to vote for it through tokens, benefits, etc. The more votes Rollup receives, the more esINIT rewards it receives from the VIP program. This mechanism forms a positive cycle:Better apps → Attract more users → Users vote for them → Reward growth → Further improvements to apps.
For example, suppose Uniswap needs to lobby Ethereum ETH holders (not just UNI holders) to obtain agreement rewards. This model forces Rollup to work with the wider community rather than be confined to its own small ecology.
In this way, Initia ensures that Rollup’s reward mechanism not only encourages it to operate independently, but also promotes its contribution to growth and mobility across the network.
looking ahead
Initia plans to officially launch the main network in March 2025 and deploy the first batch of interconnected Rollup immediately. At the same time, the VIP program will be further expanded to stimulate ecological growth and achieve integration with more external chains through LayerZero and IBC.
There are already multiple applications ready to go online in the Inititia ecosystem, and these projects cover multiple areas from transactions to NFT, including:
- Blackwing: Leveraged trading platform, TVL is growing rapidly;
- Milkyway: Liquidity pledge and re-pledge market;
- Civitia: An on-chain gamified social platform focusing on land and revenue;
- Echelon: A high TVL loan agreement with the goal of supporting multi-VM environments;
- Stargaze’s Intergaze: An NFT launch platform specifically designed for the Initia ecosystem.
Initia’s ecosystem follows a set of strategic cycles that gradually address key issues facing the application chain:
- Infrastructure → Applications: With a pre-built tool chain, developers receive full development support from day one, eliminating infrastructure barriers.
- Application → User: Help projects quickly attract users through grants, co-marketing and liquidity mining.
- Liquidity → Network Effects: Built-in AMM and VIP reward mechanisms integrate the ecosystem’s TVL to form a self-reinforcing growth cycle-growth in one area further drives prosperity for the entire network.
If Ethereum is the “world computer”, then Initia is the “world conductor”. Through a unified collaboration framework, it allows application chains to “play” together in an interconnected network, achieving true ecological synergy.
