# Solving Ethereum’s Multi Chain Fragmentation With a Single API | Philipp Zentner (LI.FI) at ETHConf

- Channel: [ETHGlobal](https://streameth.org/ethglobal)
- Date: 2026-07-09
- Duration: 13:17
- Topics: LI.FI, Philipp Zentner, ETHConf, multi-chain fragmentation, single API, bridges, DEX aggregation, cross chain, stablecoins, RWAs, liquidity, intent based, outcome oriented, Composer, virtual machine, TypeScript, atomic execution, user onboarding, dust, mercenary liquidity, AI agents, natural language, Jumper, TradFi, compliance, custom liquidity, solvers, market makers, Ethereum L2s, Base, Genius Act, MiCA, BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, MetaMask, Coinbase, Circle, Fireblocks, fragmentation tax
- Watch: https://streameth.org/watch/yt-1P8lEZpqqJM
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P8lEZpqqJM

## Description

In this talk, Philipp Zentner, founder of LI.FI, tackles Ethereum's multi chain fragmentation and how a single API can solve it. He opens by celebrating that finance is finally coming on chain after 10 years of building smart contract and distributed ledger technology, citing around $31 billion in RWAs and $400 billion including stablecoins. But the core problem is that all this value is spread across dozens of chains, and it grows more complex as banks like BlackRock and Franklin Templeton build their own permissioned systems. He notes 95% of stablecoin movement happens on Ethereum L2s with 30% on Base, all representing the same dollar, and warns that as more countries adopt frameworks like the Genius Act and MiCA, the world could see thousands of stablecoins, making fragmentation exponentially worse.

Philipp explains the cost of this fragmentation tax. Builders must bet on one ecosystem while mercenary liquidity rotates between hyped chains, leaving projects stranded, and they burn time on user onboarding instead of product. Users pay with time, money, and dust, often distrusting bridges so much that liquidity sits stuck in silos, leading to the verdict that crypto is not ready. Institutions will not deploy billions across 40 islands and will pick or build their own chains to retain customer relationships, so fragmentation must be solved from the user's perspective. Drawing the internet analogy where you type an address without caring about DNS or data centers, he argues the future is multi chain and outcome oriented, shifting to intent based flows where users simply express what they want. He positions this as critical for the next wave of AI agent users communicating in natural language. He describes how LI.FI spent five years aggregating bridges, DEXs, and trading venues into one modular system serving over 1,200 partners (including MetaMask, Phantom, Binance, Coinbase, Circle, and Fireblocks) and now serving TradFi with compliance and custom liquidity. He introduces Composer, an on-chain virtual machine expressing a TypeScript domain specific language that compiles end to end user journeys into byte code executed atomically, abstracting away chains, gas tokens, and wrapping. Having processed over $80 billion across 90 million transactions, he closes by urging the industry to stop reinventing the wheel and build on LI.FI's marketplace to stop paying the fragmentation tax.

00:00 Introduction
00:11 Finance Is Coming On Chain
00:36 RWAs and Stablecoins by the Numbers
01:00 Why Fragmentation Is the Big Problem
01:19 Being Grateful for the Progress
01:44 95% of Stablecoin Movement on L2s
02:05 Hundreds of Stablecoins and Counting
02:31 The Cost of Fragmentation for Builders
02:55 Mercenary Liquidity and Capital Rotation
03:17 Time Lost on User Onboarding
03:38 How Users Pay With Time, Money, and Dust
04:16 Why Whales Keep Liquidity Stuck on L1
04:39 Jumper and the Dust Problem
04:57 Why Institutions Will Pick Their Own Chain
05:34 The Internet Analogy: Outcome Oriented
06:00 Why It Will Be Multi-Chain
06:24 Intent Based Flows for the Next Wave
06:51 What LI.FI Has Built Over Five Years
07:20 Abstracting Away Complex Systems
07:54 Serving TradFi With a Modular System
08:20 Why We Need to Talk to the Chain
08:46 Introducing Composer
09:14 Typing User Journeys in TypeScript
09:51 Seamless Journeys for Vaults and Cards
10:20 Infrastructure That Scales: $80 Billion Processed
10:44 The 1,200 Partners Using LI.FI
11:06 Back to the Fragmentation Tax
11:33 Why the Tax Grows Exponentially
11:57 Stop Reinventing the Wheel
12:17 Why Edge Cases and Data Matter
12:36 Focus on Building Great Applications
13:03 Closing

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