AI-Powered Intents: How Aperture Simplifies the DeFi User Interactions

TL;DR:

• Aperture Finance introduces intent-based infrastructure (IBI), revolutionizing DeFi interactions. The platform’s AI-powered intents simplify user experiences by translating natural language inputs into actionable commands.
• Aperture’s milestones in 2024 include surpassing $3.2B in Intents Volume, engaging over 300,000 users, and powered by its native token, $APTR.
• The Aperture team comprises experienced professionals from tech giants like Amazon Web Services, Google, and Netflix, united in their mission to transform DeFi.

What is intent-based infrastructure? And why does it matter?

Intent-based infrastructure (IBI) is a modern networking and IT management approach. It takes high-level business goals and turns them into automated actions. Unlike traditional methods requiring manual setup and monitoring, IBI lets people set their goals, and the systems handle the rest automatically.

“Intents” refers to the expressed goals, desires, or actions users want to achieve or perform within an application or system. Intents serve as a way for users to communicate their intentions to the software, allowing third-party solvers to handle the technicalities, simplifying the process, and enhancing user experiences.

Intents mark a departure from the conventional transactional approach in Web3 and DeFi. Typical transactions can be overly complex for the average user to grasp completely. Intents simplify this process by offering DeFi users advanced execution and pricing mechanisms previously limited to large trading firms with ample resources. They serve as a valuable tool, aiding in tasks like crafting effective sales strategies, mitigating challenges, and enhancing customer experiences in B2B sales or consumer transactions.

Breaking Free from Process Constraints

Decentralized finance (DeFi) is often likened to a digital puzzle, where users piece together various financial tools and protocols to create unique financial structures. However, this process can be far from straightforward. Imagine navigating a maze of interconnected strategies, each requiring intricate steps to execute.

These strategies involve multiple steps, such as obtaining a futures loan, swapping it for the desired asset, lending the asset along with the user’s margin, borrowing against it within certain limits, and reimbursing the initial amount of the futures loan. Such intricacies can pose significant challenges for the average user.

Challenges in Traditional Infrastructure:

New User Entry Barriers: Web3’s technical complexities can overwhelm newcomers, hindering their engagement and growth in the DeFi space.

Inefficient Resource Management: Managing liquidity across multiple protocols is labor-intensive, often resulting in suboptimal resource allocation and missed opportunities.

Expensive and Complex Real-Time Monitoring: Implementing real-time monitoring tools presents financial and technical challenges, hindering access to timely and accurate data and exposing users to financial risks.

Interoperability and Integration Hurdles: The lack of seamless interoperability across protocols complicates integration efforts, limiting the accessibility and usability of DeFi solutions.

Challenges in DeFi Strategies:

Custodial Risks: Traditional custodial solutions pose security risks, eroding the trust of institutional and power users who seek more secure alternatives.

Scalability Concerns: The increasing number of users and capital inflow strains existing DeFi platforms, necessitating scalability improvements to maintain performance and security standards.

Limited Customization Options: Current DeFi strategies lack flexibility tailored to the needs of institutions and power users, hindering their ability to optimize strategy and achieve financial goals.

Now, what if there was a way users could effortlessly execute their strategies without manually navigating various protocols, clicking buttons, and signing transactions? What if they didn’t have to track and monitor each action in a spreadsheet? One company aims to simplify DeFi processes and enhance user experiences, ultimately driving greater adoption and accessibility in the decentralized finance landscape.

A Pioneer in Ai-Powered Intents

Aperture Finance employs modern language models and a specialized programming language, IntentGPT (similar to ChatGPT), to facilitate clear expression of user intentions. With IntentGPT, users can effortlessly convey their objectives in natural language, eliminating the need to navigate intricate controls. Instead, they simply type out their desires. The system then translates these inputs into easily understandable code, prioritizing clarity for enhanced user comprehension. Aperture enables effective communication of intentions by bridging technical complexities with user-friendly interfaces. This functionality extends to tasks such as discovering optimal staking protocols for Ethereum, identifying lucrative trading pairs, or claiming airdrops.

Initially introduced in 2021 as a platform aggregating investment opportunities across various blockchain networks, the Aperture Finance team now turns towards AI-powered intents, offering a native solver network with an IntentsGPT interface and an AI-powered smart solver.

In short, Aperture Finance simplifies DeFi interactions. David Stoddard explained in an interview with The Block: “The user can simply instruct the system to optimize their portfolio for maximum yield. The Intents chatbot then provides the user with a clear output, which they can review and confirm.”

How It Works

Users can specify their desired outcome through Aperture’s Intents, which are integrated with Uniswap V3, and transactions are executed accordingly. For instance, users might indicate that they want their investment portfolio to automatically rebalance when a particular cryptocurrency reaches a certain price range. They can set parameters such as the desired price range, acceptable price impact from swaps, and gas fees.

Think of Aperture Finance as a smart travel planner for your digital money within the world of DeFi. Just as you might tell a travel planner your destination and preferences, and they figure out the best route and deals, Aperture allows you to state your financial goal (like swapping one cryptocurrency for another) without worrying about the specifics. Their system then finds the most efficient, cost-effective way to complete your goal, using a network of problem-solvers to navigate the complex paths of DeFi.

Aperture’s architecture involves four main roles:

1. Orchestrator: This role efficiently manages and processes user intents. It handles tasks like managing intent mempools, storing data on the blockchain, and executing smart contracts based on user intents.
2. Solver: Solvers provide solutions in exchange for rewards from users who post intents. They manage the system’s complexity. Solvers can be transparent, handling standard intents openly, or privileged, dealing with sensitive intents privately with special credentials.
3. Sequencer: Sequencers organize and process intents on Aperture’s L2 chain. They compress these intents and transactions and send them to Layer 1 for execution.
4. Fulfiller: Fulfillers ensure that solutions provided by Solvers are properly executed. They push these solutions to the target chain and monitor their status to ensure that user intents are properly resolved.

The Road Ahead

In 2024, Aperture Finance achieved significant milestones, including surpassing $3.2B in Intents Volume, engaging over 300,000 users in the INTENTional Campaign. There have been over 2.7M transactions on the platform. This is powered by their native token, $APTR.

The DeFi Infrastructure Market Landscape

Over recent years, the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi has experienced fluctuations. At its peak during the heightened interest in crypto and Web3 in November 2021, TVL surpassed $260B. Which then dropped to a new base level of $60 billion during the subsequent bear market. This figure has since rebounded with the new growth cycle, now reaching $156B. Presently, the DeFi space holds approximately $55.95B in locked assets.

In 2024, DeFi experienced a surge in capital influx, leading to a 75.1% year-to-date increase in total value locked (TVL) to $94.9B from $55B at the beginning of the year, as reported by Binance Research. This influx of capital has positively impacted various sectors within DeFi, broadening access to financial primitives previously unavailable on-chain across major and niche markets.

Despite the influx of on-chain liquidity, the sector’s public market valuations have yet to align with the broader crypto market. Nonetheless, according to the research findings, the consistent flow of billions into DeFi indicates its potential to meet ambitious revenue forecasts, such as the projected $231B by 2030.

The Team Behind Aperture

The Aperture Finance team consists of seasoned professionals with diverse expertise in product development, investment, and technology. Lian Zhu, the Co-founder and CEO, brings a wealth of experience from his senior roles at Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Netflix, as well as founding Internest Inc. Peiqian Li, Co-founder and Co-CTO, brings in more then half a decade of experience as a Senior Software Engineer at Google to drive technological innovation. Co-founder and Co-CTO Gao Han’s also worked in software engineering at Google and Amazon Web Services. Finally, Kavi Saglani, the CMO, brings his marketing and communications experience from senior roles in fintech and leading communications agencies.

Concluding Thoughts

While numerous projects explore integrating blockchain networks and AI, only a handful of protocols combine AI, user-centric intents, and fundamental DeFi elements. Despite DeFi’s relative infancy, its enduring presence is evident as it absorbs new technological advancements. Innovations such as Aperture Finance will make things easier for the public as they streamline operations for seasoned participants and promise to make DeFi more accessible, user-friendly, and secure for beginners and retail users.

References

This is a repost of Pione3rs — Issue #12 written by Aly Madhavji on Medium on June 21, 2024.