TLDR
Native interoperability allows seamless, low-cost asset transfers within Ethereum’s Layer 2 (L2) stacks, reducing settlement times and trust assumptions. Across complements this with lightning-fast crosschain execution, filling orders in seconds, and adapting to any messaging system. Together, they form a unified liquidity network, optimizing capital efficiency for relayers and lowering fees for users. This combination paves the way for a more connected, trust-minimized Ethereum multichain ecosystem.
Introduction
Imagine this: You're moving assets across multiple chains, and the experience feels just like a single-chain transaction—fast, cheap, and seamless. No unnecessary fees. No long settlement times. No extra trust assumptions.
That future is not theoretical; it is here.
By combining Across with native interoperability, we’re enabling liquidity to flow seamlessly across Ethereum’s multichain landscape and creating the foundation for a unified, capital-efficient Ethereum. This is the next evolution of Intents.
What Is Native Interoperability and Why Is It Important?
Native interoperability enables chains within the same stack to communicate and transfer assets without relying on third-party bridges. This approach ensures lower costs, faster transactions, and minimal additional trust assumptions.
For example:
Optimism's native interoperability allows direct transfers between OP Stack chains like Base and Optimism in minutes.
Other native messaging systems, such as ZKsync’s Elastic Chain, Polygon’s Agglayer, and Superchain messaging, enable similar functionality for different ecosystems.
The Key Benefits of Native Interop
Reduced bridging times. Settlement speeds improve from days to minutes, and as native interoperability matures, this could shrink further.
Lower transaction costs. Because native interop does not rely on external relayers, transaction fees are minimal.
Trust-minimized transfers. Native interop leverages existing security assumptions within each L2, eliminating the need for additional third-party validators.
However, while native interoperability is a major step forward, it does not address every crosschain liquidity challenge. This is where Across steps in.
How Across Enhances Native Interoperability
Native interop is excellent for same-stack transfers of large amounts of funds, but what about fast transfers or cross-stack transactions? What about optimizing settlement for relayers and users? Across fills this gap as a crosschain execution engine.
Using our proven Intents-based architecture, Across executes crosschain transactions in seconds. In fact, our competitive relayer networks fill orders in as fast as 2-3 seconds for L2-L2 transfers, providing near-instant bridging experiences for end-users.
Additionally, Across is compatible with any messaging system. Rather than forcing all transactions through a single pathway, Across is messaging-agnostic and dynamically adapts, ensuring efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
By combining native interoperability with Across, you get lightning-fast crosschain execution paired with the most capital-efficient pathways—all while maintaining the speed and trust minimization that native interop provides.
The Across + Native Interop Workflow
A user submits a crosschain intent. Instead of specifying a rigid bridging path, the user expresses a desired outcome.
Relayers fill the transaction instantly. Liquidity providers execute the transfer, ensuring rapid execution.
Across finalizes on the most optimal system. It could be native interoperability, UMA's settlement, storage proofs, or another mechanism, depending on which offers the best speed and cost.
This model ensures:
Fast execution (2-3 second finality for users).
Optimized capital efficiency for relayers (faster repayment cycles).
Lower fees (since relayers can recycle liquidity more effectively).
Across does not compete with native interoperability—it amplifies it.
Capital Efficiency: The Key to Lower Fees
For relayers, capital efficiency is everything. The longer relayers have to wait, the more they charge users (higher fees compensate for longer capital lockup periods). By integrating native interoperability, Across significantly reduces repayment times to minutes. This allows relayers to recycle their capital faster, lowering the fees they need to charge.
The Impact of Faster Repayment
Users pay lower bridging fees. Since relayers recover their capital faster, they can reduce costs for users.
Relayers fill more transactions. Faster repayment means relayers can process more volume with the same capital.
Greater efficiency benefits the entire ecosystem. More liquidity moves efficiently across Ethereum, creating better user experiences and reducing costs at scale.
Who Benefits from This Model?
The beauty of combining native interop with Across is that it benefits everyone. It’s a win-win-win for builders, relayers, and users. Here’s how:
Builders
Seamless liquidity composability across Ethereum’s L2 ecosystem.
Trust-minimized execution without sacrificing user experience.
Cost optimization for both frequent small transactions and larger treasury transfers.
Relayers
Faster capital recycling enables higher transaction volume with the same capital.
Lower fees through optimized settlement attracts more users and order flow.
Settlement system flexibility reduces reliance on any single stack or trust assumption.
Users
Near-instant crosschain execution for swaps, trades, and liquidations.
Lower bridging fees, thanks to more efficient relayer repayment.
A trustless, seamless experience powered by Ethereum-native systems.
The Multichain Future Needs Unified Liquidity
Ethereum has evolved beyond a single-chain ecosystem. Today, it consists of an expanding network of L2s, app chains, and modular rollups. Each of these scaling solutions improves transaction efficiency and reduces costs, but they also create liquidity silos that complicate capital movement. This fragmentation presents a set of challenges:
Liquidity is isolated. Funds are locked within different chains, reducing capital efficiency.
Bridging is slow and costly. Transfers between L2s can take hours or longer, leading to high opportunity costs for users and relayers.
External trust assumptions. Many bridging solutions introduce additional security risks, increasing the complexity of crosschain interactions.
For Ethereum to reach its full potential, liquidity must move freely and efficiently across chains. Native interoperability provides the foundation for solving this problem and Across enhances it by optimizing settlement and execution.
The Future: A Unified Liquidity Network for Ethereum
Ethereum's scaling future is not about building more chains. It is about connecting them intelligently. The combination of native interoperability with Across ensures that liquidity moves seamlessly across the Ethereum ecosystem without introducing unnecessary trust assumptions. With open standards like ERC-7683 embracing a settlement-agnostic approach, anyone can build with the power of Intents and the flexibility of settlement system optionality.
Instead of forcing users to navigate different bridging solutions, Across provides a universal liquidity router, making Ethereum's multichain landscape feel as unified as a single network.
The future of trustless Intents is fast, cost-efficient, and Ethereum-native.
Get Started: Build with Across
If you are a builder, relayer, or Ethereum stakeholder, now is the time to explore how Across can help you optimize crosschain liquidity. By integrating with Across, you can connect the fastest crosschain execution with the most capital-efficient settlement pathways while benefiting from the speed and trust minimization of native interoperability.
Ready to add Across to your stack? Get started here.