Shortcut to the Enso Network
Today, the blockchain landscape is fragmented. There are thousands of different blockchains and hundreds of thousands of smart contracts, each with its own unique requirements and technical specifications. For developers, this means:
- Spending months understanding each blockchain's framework
- Learning the specifics of every smart contract they want to integrate
- Building custom integrations from scratch
- Continuously maintaining these integrations as protocols evolve
- Paying for expensive audits before they can even test their ideas
This complexity isn't just frustrating for developers—it's a major roadblock for the entire industry. While the Apple App Store hosts around 1.9 million apps, DeFiLlama lists only about 4,640 projects in the entire blockchain ecosystem. We need more apps to drive adoption, but the current development process makes this incredibly difficult.
How the Enso Network Works: Creating a Shared Network State
The Enso Network will operate as a Tendermint-based Layer 1 blockchain that standardizes onchain actions across the entire crypto ecosystem. It maps blockchain interactions to a shared engine that handles the technical complexities, allowing developers to focus entirely on their product.
The Enso Network creates a "shared network state", essentially a comprehensive map of all smart contract interactions across blockchains. Imagine every blockchain as a country (Mainnet, Base, Unichain) and every action as a city (Swap, Lend, Mint). The Enso Network is the map that connects them all, making the entire onchain world accessible through a single view. This map allows developers to focus on what they want to achieve, without needing to manage every technical detail behind it.
For example, instead of coding all the technical steps needed to "lend 10 ETH at the best yield" or "bridge USDC to Base and swap for wstETH," developers can express these high-level goals, and the Enso Network handles the execution. This represents a fundamental shift from the current model, where developers must understand every aspect of each blockchain and protocol they want to integrate.
You can listen to Connor Howe, one of Enso's co-founders, explaining the view firsthand at Dappcon 24':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQGVEFCnv5Y
From Shortcuts to the Enso Network
Enso now offers a refreshingly simple solution: Blockchain Shortcuts. As an aggregation API, these shortcuts enable developers to embed DeFi and blockchain functionality into their products without all the usual headaches.
A blockchain shortcut combines different paths that eliminate the need for extensive research, integration work, and ongoing maintenance. Instead of manually integrating with each protocol and understanding every smart contract, developers can use shortcuts to access functionality that handles all the complex interactions.
Now, Enso is taking this battle-tested concept to the next level with the Enso Network, a decentralized coordination layer that expands on the shortcuts concept to create an entirely new blockchain infrastructure.
The Enso Network: Built on Proven Success
The Enso Network isn't launching as a theoretical or untested concept. It's built directly on top of Enso's existing shortcuts system that has already processed over $15 billion in transaction volume across +10 blockchain ecosystems. This means the core technology and infrastructure that powers the network have been battle-tested in real-world conditions with significant transaction volumes.
Unlike many blockchain projects that launch with promises and whitepapers, Enso is launching with a working engine that has demonstrated product-market fit. The current Enso infrastructure provides clear evidence that the approach works and meets a critical need in the market.
By building the Enso Network on this foundation, the team is leveraging years of development experience and lessons learned from working with dozens of major protocols. This significantly reduces technical risk and provides confidence that the network can deliver its promises.
The Network Participants
The Enso Network has three key participants that make everything work:
Graphers: These are individuals who build algorithms to solve user requests. They compete to provide the most optimal solutions for executing actions across the blockchain landscape. When their solution is selected, they earn a share of the fees.
Action Providers: These developers contribute the building blocks of the system by publishing smart contract abstractions. They create standardized modules for actions like "Swap," "Lend," or "Stake" that others can use, and they earn rewards based on how often their contributions are used in solutions.
Validators: These participants secure the network by validating solutions and maintaining integrity. They ensure that the execution plans generated by Graphers are accurate, secure, and reliable.
The Future of Web3 Development with the Enso Network
The Enso Network will establish an entirely new paradigm for Web3 development. By moving from the current shortcuts system to a fully decentralized network, Enso creates the coordination layer that Web3 has been missing. With the launch of the Enso Network, we are expanding beyond our current success with shortcuts to create a truly decentralized coordination layer. This will enable new possibilities like autonomous agents, onchain automation for DePIN and real-world systems, LLM-driven smart wallets, and composable game economies.
At Enso, we have a simple mantra: "Make it real with Enso."