Problem

What problem is CRUX trying to solve?

First we'll establish the stakeholder vocabulary, then we'll try to break down how these stakeholders interact with each other and try to understand the problems they face.

We'll broadly classify our problem space into two categories -

1. User to User (P2P) Interactions
2. Interactions with Services & Applications

We'll try to stick very close to the user and try to see each interaction from the user's perspective.

Stakeholders

Stakeholders

1. Users
   Users who want to send cryptocurrencies to others
   Users who want to use a dApp
   Users who want to use an exchange or a merchant

2. Wallets
   Users trust Wallets with their Private Keys.
   Wallets are the gateway to the Blockchain.

3. Services & Applications
   Any use case which involve interactions with the Blockchain.
   Broad classification can be understood as - dApps, exchanges, merchants, gaming etc.

4. Blockchain
   Transmit value securely to another entity.
   Securely execute business logic.

Scenario 1 - P2P Interactions

P2P interactions involving Blockchain are almost wholly composed of User to User payments of cryptocurrencies.

When A wants to send money to B, a public address is required as the identifier of B.
On most blockchains it is a long string which is not practical to memorize, recognize, or communicate. This is a big mental shift from other identifiers Users are used to, such as email addresses, twitter handles and phone numbers.
This itself becomes a big barrier for entry into the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Secondly, a several technical implementation details of the underlying Blockchain technology regularly leak out to the Users, such as -

• A single Blockchain may have several different Address formats.
• A users Wallet may or may not support all address formats.
• Hard forks cause confusion.
• Lack of symbol standardization
• Decimal precision related issues
• Confusion about Secondary address identifiers (eg. destination tags in XRP)
• Confusion about token contract addresses & malicious actors taking advantage of the situation

We need to insulate the User from these implementation details if we want mass adoption. CRUX is the layer which aims to push these responsibilities of consistency, and reliability onto the CRUX protocol.

As members of the Blockchain ecosystem we need to make sure we are communicating to our Users in a language that they understand.

As a young fast growing ecosystem, there are many different use cases that many talented teams across the world are trying to solve in their own way. As a result there are many Blockchains and many cryptocurrencies many with their own unique architectures, strengths and weaknesses. We believe this will continue to be the case as the industry finds its feet.
This diversity exacerbates the cognitive load a User needs to go through when introduced to new cryptocurrencies.

Scenario 2 - Interactions with Applications

Lets try to understand the user experience when a User tries to use Services & Applications in the Blockchain ecosystem.

A large chunk of a User's interaction with Wallets happens in context of an Application. Such as

• A User trying to exchange cryptocurrencies
• A User playing a game dApp
• A User buying goods from a marketplace with cryptocurrencies

These Applications need to interact with the Blockchain via the User's Wallet. The problem is, how does the Application 'talk' to the Wallet?

• The most basic way of doing this is manually. Which means, offloading the burden onto the User. For example, while buy a TShirt, I may have to manually enter the exact amount & address I need to pay in my wallet. Payment gateways may not accept payments if the amount is not exact.
• Scanning a QR Code - this is possible only if the Wallet device has a camera and if the wallet and application are on 2 different devices. This prevents a fluid experience for Users since their options are always limited.
• More sophisticated interactions which require smart contract function calls require a special Wallet as a browser extension to bridge the gap. Or a specific App. This introduces more complications in the User flow. This forces Users to store cryptocurrencies in several different wallets on different platforms depending on the application. eg MetaMask, TronLink.

Today's Blockchain applications are forced to impose requirements on Wallet platforms due to this communication gap. Managing wallets securely itself is a big mental shift from the modern world, now our Users are forced to maintain multiple Wallets. We envision a world where any Application can work with any Wallet.