The Unified Developer Journey: Blockchain Needs Shortcuts
A common phrase for crypto natives is "onchain is the new online." But when we look at the numbers, the Apple App Store hosts 1.9 million apps while blockchain has just over 4,330 projects. This disparity raises a critical question: Why is blockchain development lagging?
The answer lies in the complexities developers face when building onchain. From fragmented ecosystems to high barriers of entry, creating a blockchain app is difficult.
The Reality of Building Onchain
For example, let's say we want to create a new decentralized app (dApp). Here's what we would encounter:
- Over 637.9 million EVM smart contracts deployed across just seven EVM chains since January 2022
- 120 L2s, 24 testing tools, and 72 wallet options just for Ethereum mainnet
- 1.4 million tokens on Ethereum alone
- 75 auditors to choose from
- Billions of potential connections between smart contracts
This fragmentation isn't just numbers on a page. Each blockchain framework locks developers into its unique environment, limiting flexibility and creating long-term dependencies. Tokens, liquidity, state, and users live in silos across chains, creating massive inefficiencies.
Builders want to innovate, but they're stuck dealing with the intricacies of blockchain tech. Instead of creating features users want, they're buried in infrastructure work and security issues.
When developers spend 80% of their time making basic features work, there's little room for building something great.
Enter Shortcuts
Think about Uber for a moment. When you request a ride, the app easily handles maps, payments, messaging, and driver matching. But Uber didn't build their entire infrastructure from scratch. Uber used Google Maps for location, Stripe for payments, and Twilio for messaging. They focused on what mattered: creating the best ride-sharing experience possible.
Now, imagine if Uber had to build their own mapping system, create a new payment network, and develop a messaging platform before they could even start on ride-sharing. That's blockchain development today.
This is exactly what Enso shortcuts do for blockchain. Just like Uber combined existing services to create something new, shortcuts let you build powerful onchain applications without starting from zero.
Want to add NFTs? There's a shortcut for that. Need to integrate lending protocols? There's a shortcut for that. Looking to add yield optimization? There's a shortcut for that.
Making Innovation Possible
Over 60 projects are already using shortcuts to create things that seemed impossible before. DeFi applications are launching with deep protocol integrations that would typically take a year to build in a few days. Yield aggregators work across multiple chains without teams needing to become experts in every protocol. Brand new primitives are being built with ease, bringing brand new use cases to blockchain.
These aren't just incremental improvements—they're transformative changes in how blockchain applications are built. Teams are combining protocols in new ways and creating DeFi experiences that are better than traditional finance.
The Path Forward
Mass adoption won't come from just better blockchains or faster networks. It will come from making blockchain development as accessible as Web2 development. That's what Enso shortcuts enable.
The 60+ projects built with Enso prove that when developers can focus on innovation instead of infrastructure, amazing things happen. Want to get started with Enso shortcuts? Visit our docs.
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