Are Solana Actions and Blinks a flash in the pan?

Author: Chain Tea House

In the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, user experience is an important factor in driving the popularization and application of technology.Based on this, Solana Labs recently launched two tools with Dialect: Actions and Blinks.These tools are designed to seamlessly integrate blockchain operations into every corner of the Internet, allowing users to complete various on-chain operations without leaving their current applications.

Specifically, Solana Actions is a set of APIs that allow developers to create blockchain transactions directly from their applications.Users can perform various Web3 native transactions without leaving the current environment, including asset transfer, NFT interaction, voting, pledge and even reward content creators, or browse, sign and send from the client, with social media native buttons., QR code or URL start calling Action.The ease of use provided by Actions lowers the threshold for blockchain interaction, and users can complete transactions without navigating complex decentralized applications (Dapps).

Blinks (Blockchain Links), which converts Solana Actions into a shareable, metadata-rich link, allowing users to initiate blockchain transactions directly from the URL.This feature allows execution of on-chain transactions on a variety of platforms, including websites, social media, and even physical QR codes, without switching to different applications.It is worth noting that Blinks can display additional features through clients such as browser extensions, wallets, or robots to improve the user experience.For example, Blink on a website may trigger a transaction preview in your wallet, allowing users to complete transactions without leaving the website.Popular Solana wallets such as Phantom and Backpack support this feature, and other platforms are expected to integrate this feature soon.

Simply put, Actions is a standardized API for developers on Solana’s chain, providing users with a simple tool to control various blockchain transactions. Whether it is buying tokens, voting, or minting NFTs, users willEverything can be done in one place without opening multiple apps or websites.Blinks is an interactive front-end for users, which can convert any Solana Action into a shareable link, allowing users to directly operate on-chain on social media.By using plug-ins to access traditional centralized social platforms, we can truly achieve “use Solana everywhere”.

To accomplish this function, Solana is also further integrated with various other platforms and protocols, such as Jupiter, Solflare, Phantom, etc.

Although Blinks is still in beta, it has now integrated more than 50 features. Here are a few use cases:

1. Forecasting the market and voting: Users can pay cryptocurrencies directly on Twitter for sports betting, event predictions or vote on future proposals.

2. Use Blinks to operate multi-signature wallets in private messages: Users can send Blinks links in private messages so that other wallet holders can approve transactions.

3. Airdrop Checker: Users can check their NFTs and tokens’ empty investment spaces through message signatures and charge small fees.

4. Small game: Developers can create interactive mini-games and quizzes and capture user input through Blinks.

5. NFT Casting and Bidding: Users can cast, bid, and purchase NFTs directly on Twitter streams.

6. Encrypted paid messages: Users can send paid messages, and creators can view and reply to these messages through the dashboard.

7. Event registration: Users can connect to their wallet, register through action posts and check event eligibility.

8. Token-based content market: Creators can control access to their content through Blinks and use NFT to make content more exclusive.

9. Transactions in private messages: Users can send, buy and trade Meme tokens and NFTs directly in the chat interface.

10. Payment requests and settlements: Users can send and request USDC in chat and settle transactions in chat interface.

11. Clean up useless NFT and token accounts: Users can destroy unnecessary NFTs and junk tokens through Blinks.

12. Create tools around Meme:Blinks allows the Meme community to create mini-games and tools on Twitter to interact directly with the community.

13. Verifier native pledge: Users running validators can attract liquidity and native stakes by creating Blinks.

14. Time to buy: Users can buy their favorite encrypted Twitter influencers’ time directly from Twitter.

15. Platform operation: Users can directly perform operations on various encryption platforms on Twitter, such as lightning transaction fees, support or objection proposals, etc.

16. GitHub Sponsorship and Tips: Users can tip or sponsor their favorite developers directly through Blinks in GitHub.

17. Developer interaction: Developers can directly monetize their open source work through Blinks.

18. Operations in NFT: Users can create interactive NFTs containing operations to enhance their usefulness.

19. YouTube and Blinks: During the live broadcast, YouTube creators and viewers can interact via encrypted Splash.

20. Blinks in Telegram private message: Users can send, receive, trade and mint NFTs and tokens in Telegram private messages.

21. Apple Device Integration:Blinks can be integrated with Apple’s App Clip and NFC.

22. Super App: Developers can create super applications more easily and embed Blinks into any website.

Judging from the above use cases, Solana Actions and Blinks provide a convenient way to embed blockchain transactions into social media and other platforms, simplifying user operations, improving user experience, and promoting the broader blockchain technologyuse.

Here are the steps to use Blinks: (It should be noted that Blinks is currently only available on desktop and cannot be used on mobile devices.)

1. Set up a wallet:

1. Wallets that support Blinks include Phantom, Backpack, and Solflare.

2. Users need to enable the Solana Actions feature in their wallet settings.

2. Execute transactions:

1. Users can copy and paste the transaction URL to Twitter or other platforms.

2. After clicking on the link, users can complete transactions without leaving the platform, such as purchasing JUP, NFT or participating in a governance vote.

Judging from the evaluation, some say that it will bring a revolutionary innovative experience with unlimited possibilities; others say that this is just a superficial improvement to the convenience of PC users.But in the short term, the views “extremely praise/extremely belittle” are not objective.We still need to analyze this new technology critically.

From the advantages, Blinks allows users to trade immediately by clicking on links, improving the immediacy and convenience of operations.Users can complete blockchain transactions directly on social media platforms, such as purchasing tokens, voting, minting NFTs, etc., without jumping to other applications or websites, simplifying the operation process of blockchain transactions and reducing users’ use of blocks.The threshold of chain technology helps to attract more users to enter the crypto market.In addition, Blinks can be used in various scenarios such as prediction market, airdrop inspection, mini-games, encrypted paid messages, event registration, content market, etc., greatly expanding the application scope of blockchain technology.Blinks can be embedded on various platforms, such as Twitter, Telegram, GitHub, etc., expanding its usage scenarios and user base.

But currently, Blinks only supports desktop users and has not yet covered mobile devices, which limits its application scope and user experience.Moreover, while Blinks provides convenient ways to operate, traditional Web2 users lack the security and risk awareness of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, which may cause doubts about new technologies.Such technology requires users to have sufficient trust in the security of the platform and links during use, and how to build this trust is still a challenge.