Case Study: How Glider Uses ZeroDev to Automate Cross-Chain Portfolio Management
This post is a collaboration with Glider.
Stepping into the world of crypto for the first time can be daunting. The process of setting up a wallet, securing private keys, and paying unpredictable gas fees is often a barrier that stops users from experimenting with blockchain technology before they even begin.
Glider sees this friction as an existential problem. If users are forced to start their crypto journey by manually funding their wallets and navigating through confusing gas settings; they may never be able to experience the product’s value: automated portfolio management that just works.
Glider knew that they needed to make the crypto onboarding process as smooth as opening an account on a traditional financial application, without compromising on decentralization.
What is Glider?
Glider is a cross-chain portfolio manager that is designed for a new generation of investors. Using Glider, anyone will have the ability to create, automate and share onchain portfolios without having to go through the tedious process of setting up a wallet, figuring out gas tokens and bridging across different chains.
The app is designed to look and feel like a consumer-grade fintech product, while remaining completely non-custodial at its core.
Working with ZeroDev
ZeroDev is a core foundation for Glider’s seamless experience. Handling wallet infrastructure, permissions (session keys), and gas abstraction, ZeroDev allows Glider to remove two of DeFi’s biggest barriers: onboarding and execution. Its permissions framework (session keys) underpins Glider’s ability to automate actions on behalf of users
Under the hood, portfolios created on Glider are powered by a non-custodial smart wallet that is generated by ZeroDev’s Kernel. Users do not need to go through a setup process, and no key management is required; just a clean, modern signup flow.
After creating these smart wallets, Glider users sign a ZeroDev session key, granting a slim set of permissions on those wallets. For example, Glider will be able to submit trades through white-listed DEX aggregators, withdraw fees up to a permissioned cap, and lend to specific vaults. Throughout this process, users remain fully non-custodial and can revoke permissions at any time. These session keys are created for each portfolio on Glider, meaning they can be customized individually and without the user granting any permissions at the EOA level. Through integrations with ZeroDev’s Paymaster, Glider can then sponsor transaction fees on behalf of its users. In combination with the session keys, trades and rebalancing all happen in the background: no gas tokens or bridging is required between different chains.
According to the Glider team, partnering with ZeroDev was a no-brainer. Its account abstraction stack offered the infrastructure it needed to be operable on day one, and was far more efficient than building a custom solution in-house.
“ZeroDev was the clear choice. Kernel provided the account abstraction architecture Glider required, with infrastructure mature enough to be trusted at scale. Alternatives either lacked coverage of the features we needed or would have required months of engineering investment to replicate in-house. ZeroDev gave us production-ready infrastructure from day one,” - Brian Huang, co-founder of Glider.
Impact
Integrating with ZeroDev solved Glider’s desired user experience. The app allows users to treat a portfolio as a programmable account, which means that as long as the user defines their intent, Glider can handle execution thanks to ZeroDev permissions.
For the Glider team, this meant months of engineering time freed up that would otherwise have been spent on wallet infrastructure. It also gave the team more time to focus on building what matters the most: a powerful portfolio editor, DEX and lending integrations and collaborative features.
For users, it means instantaneous wallet creation, automation, and invisible gas. Cross-chain actions are consistent and effortless. Users no longer have to manually sign transactions over and over again. The complexity of DeFi truly fades into the background.
“Every new application should be designed using ZeroDev’s tools. We are no longer in a time when users should have to manually sign every transaction or be required to know what gas is. Thanks to these abstractions, DeFi can go mainstream,” said Brian Huang, co-founder of Glider.
Glider's experience with ZeroDev shows that account abstraction plays an important role in shaping user experience. For teams that want to build consumer-grade crypto products, it is not necessary to reinvent the wallet or permission layers, as this is a problem that has already been solved by ZeroDev.
What’s Next?
Glider has recently launched. The team is exploring ways for its users to build collaborative portfolios, connect more directly with DeFi protocols and bring Glider’s technology to other applications using APIs. Each of these directions continue to build on the strength of ZeroDev’s smart wallets, permissions, and gas infrastructure.
Disclosure: The references and information regarding Glider and its offerings are provided solely for informational purposes. This article is not, and should not be construed as, an endorsement or recommendation of such projects nor its offerings.