We are excited to announce Ika’s “Sign Future Transaction”, a new feature now available as part of our solution to operate as ZTPs across different networks.

Understanding Future Transactions

This feature allows users to maintain control over their assets and enforce desired logic on any future action in cross-chain interactions, such as loans and swaps, without transferring ownership to a third party, maintaining the zero trust assumption. Zero Trust means the user is always required to generate a signature, together with the Ika Network nodes. Every action, every request must be authenticated and verified, no matter where it comes from. In the context of Future Transactions, this means that future actions, like specific transactions, are only executed when the predefined conditions are met.

The Importance of Future Transactions

Web3 interoperability today often involves significant security risks. When users want to utilize assets from one chain on a DeFi protocol in a different chain, they must typically rely on intermediaries to "wrap" their native assets. Bridging protocols, consisting of a few nodes, can be compromised, leading to potential asset drains. In these scenarios, users are forced to relinquish control over their native assets, which contradicts Zero Trust assumption and creating a castle and moat protocol or CMP.

Introducing Zero Trust Protocols (ZTPs)

The solution is the user-centric approach of Ika, enabling Zero Trust Protocols (ZTPs). As we meanitiond, in this model, logic can be enforced on native assets across any network, always requiring user participation. This ensures that protocols cannot act independently of the user, maintaining user control continuously. However, this architecture presents challenges for protocols needing to enforce future actions, such as liquidations.

How Future Transactions Work

In current protocols, future actions like liquidations require users to send their assets as collateral to the protocol, thereby losing control. In a ZTP, where user participation is cryptographically required, users could potentially withhold consent to a liquidation event. This is where the Future Transactions feature comes into the picture. A Future Transaction allows a user to give consent to a specific action, such as liquidation, by signing it in advance. If a future condition is met, the ZTP can complete the transaction without further user intervention. It’s a specific, user-approved transaction, ensuring security even if the protocol is compromised.

Example of Future Transactions in Action

Let’s take an example that deals with a loan by using the new feature. 

1. Setup: Alice sets up a dWallet containing 1 BTC.
2. Connection: She connects her dWallet to a lending smart contract on Sui, which controls the generation of signatures from that dWallet.
3. Loan Request: Alice requests a loan to borrow 15 ETH, agreeing to repay 16 ETH in a month (30 epochs).
4. Collateral Lock: The 1 BTC in Alice's dWallet is locked as collateral, ensuring that the Sui smart contract won't approve any transaction without meeting the predefined conditions.
5. Transparency: Alice shares her dWallet address with potential lenders for verification.
6. Verification: Bob verifies Alice's 1 BTC collateral on the dWallet using a Bitcoin SPV (Simplified Payment Verification) light client.
7. Loan aprroval: Bob agree to the loan request and terms
8. Signature for Future Transaction: Alice signs a Future Transaction, a partially signed transaction that needs to be completed by Ika, to send 1 BTC to Bob.
9. Loan Transfer: Bob transfers 15 ETH to the dWallet, confident that he can claim the BTC if Alice defaults.
10. Withdrawal: Alice withdraws the 15 ETH from the dWallet.
11. Liquidation: Alice defaults on her loan and doesent return 16 ETH within 30 epochs. The protocol now enables bob to complete the future transaction and withdraw the 1 BTC.  

Benefits of Future Transactions

The Future Transactions feature opens the door for numerous new ZTP applications, adding useful capabilities while maintaining Zero Trust security guarantees and user control. By supporting secure, programmable, and verifiable interactions across multiple networks, Ika continues to lead in providing innovative solutions that uphold Zero Trust principles.

Start Building with Future Transaction

Future Transactions functionality is a significant step forward in transforming Web3 interactions, ensuring that users remain in control of their assets and security is never compromised. Ika is at the forefront of this revolution, making Zero Trust a reality across blockchain ecosystems.

To learn more about Future Transactions and how Ika is shaping the future of Web, read our Docs

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