DL Research Content

A conversation with Chris Li, Founder & CEO at Ava Protocol

A conversation with Chris Li, Founder & CEO at Ava Protocol
Illustration: Andrés Tapia; Photo: Courtesy of Ava Protocol

Ava Protocol uses super-transactions to combine multiple smart contracts into a single, seamless autonomous transaction flow. What are some overlooked use cases for this function?

Super-transactions enable innovative applications across DeFi, NFTs, and real-world assets (RWA), automating complex web3 transactions and enhancing user experiences. Developers can focus on building unique features instead of managing intricate integrations, streamlining workflows, and speeding up deployment.

Developer Use Cases:

  • Automated Payment Streams: Facilitates subscriptions, scheduled payments, and recurring billing, increasing efficiency.
  • On-chain Interest Rate Updates: Simplifies updating on-chain interest rates, improving yield farming reliability.
  • Liquidity Management: Automates liquidity management functions, optimizing returns and minimizing impermanent loss.

NFT Use Cases:

  • Cross-Chain NFT Minting: Mint NFTs across various blockchains, reducing costs and expanding market reach.
  • Dynamic NFT Updates: Create NFTs that evolve based on real-time data, adding an interactive dimension to digital art.
  • Event-Based Minting: Automatically mint limited-edition NFTs based on specific events, like sports events or market trends.

RWA Use Cases:

  • Dynamic Mortgage Backing: Represent real-world assets like mortgages with dynamic NFTs, updating variables like interest rates based on market data.
  • Identity-Based NFTs: Monitor and update digital identities on the blockchain, ensuring accurate and secure identity management.

More than 30 projects have committed to developing decentralised apps (dApps) using Ava Protocol’s private payment technology. What themes do these projects follow, and how do you expect their range of services to evolve?

Currently, projects focus on payments and DeFi, such as liquidity pool reward auto-compounding, recurring payments, cross-chain asset auto-bridging, and auto-restaking. As Ava Protocol’s technology matures, we expect increased synergy between different applications, facilitating NFT and RWA platforms and enhancing gamification in various applications.

How does Ava Protocol plan to leverage its acquisition of blockchain data firm Openstory?

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The acquisition of Openstory integrates advanced real-time data streaming and analytics into Ava Protocol’s infrastructure, improving decision-making, scalability, and performance for blockchain apps. This enhances support for complex DeFi applications, optimizes transaction flows, and offers enhanced data-driven functionalities, positioning Ava Protocol as a leader in web3 automation.

Event-based NFT minting is a feature Ava Protocol offers for traders to benefit from specific events. Can this function be applied to RWA management or cryptocurrency trading beyond price target executions?

Absolutely. Our goal is to enable user actions based on various information sources. For instance, if an RWA platform commits news events to Ethereum smart contracts, our EigenLayer AVS can consume those data points from the blockchain. Users can choose their trusted sources using Oracles.

Ava Protocol’s super-transactions can dynamically adjust a user’s commodity exposure based on significant news events, enhancing user strategies in RWA management and cryptocurrency trading.

How has leveraging EigenLayer’s actively validated service benefited Ava Protocol?

EigenLayer simplifies launching our super-transaction service on Ethereum by providing a secure network with a proof-of-stake consensus. This security is essential for accurate automations. We quickly onboarded operators post-mainnet launch, backed by significant ETH value. EigenLayer’s innovative restaking mechanism supports cross-chain interoperability, enhancing our automation services and enabling synergy between different AVSs. This positions Ava Protocol to validate layer-2s and EVM-compatible chains, providing secure and efficient automation services.

What is Ava Protocol’s long-term vision? What milestones are you most excited about?

Post-EigenLayer AVS launch, we’re focusing on a demo app to showcase our wallet automation capabilities, including features like auto-pay and auto-compound, with added functionalities for EigenLayer users. We are partnering with WalletConnect to leverage their Notifications feature, enhancing real-time updates for users. Our developer, Bagpipe, is creating a no-code drag-and-drop tool for wallet automation, while C3 Labs is developing a standalone interface for limit orders on any EVM-based DEX.

Our mission is to establish Ava Protocol as a leading developer in web3 automation, with initiatives like our open grant program and new Developer Enablement page to support this goal.