ShadeLink: The Cross-Chain Trigger Protocol

ShadeLink is a verifiable automation platform that enables users to set up "If This, Then That" (IFTTT) style workflows across different blockchains without sacrificing self-custody.

By leveraging the Shade Agent infrastructure (TEEs and MPC), ShadeLink solves the problem of fragmented blockchain interoperability, allowing an event on one chain (like ZEC or NEAR) to securely trigger and execute complex actions on another (like Solana).

These actions are demonstrated in this project as swaps and lending vault operations, but can be in principle extended to arbitrary workflows due to the flexibility of the shade agent paradigm.

🚀 The Problem It Solves

Currently, cross-chain operations are manual, slow, and risky. If a user sees a yield opportunity on Solana but holds funds on NEAR, they must:

• Manually bridge funds.
  

• Switch wallets and networks.
  

• Execute the trade or deposit.
  

By the time the funds arrive, the opportunity might be gone. Furthermore, existing "bot" solutions often require users to hand over private keys to a centralized server, creating a massive security risk.

💡 What ShadeLink Does

ShadeLink automates this entire cross-chain transaction lifecycle into a single "Link"—a intent that executes automatically when conditions are met.

Triggered Execution: Users can define specific triggers based on intent execution (e.g., "Bridge my USDC from NEAR to Solana and deposit into Kamino").

Atomic "Bridge-and-Action": ShadeLink detects when intent-bridged funds arrive on the destination chain and immediately executes the follow-up action (Swap, Deposit, Lend) without user intervention.

True Non-Custodial Automation: Unlike traditional bots, ShadeLink never holds your private keys. It uses the Shade Agent's Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) and Multi-Party Computation (MPC) to sign transactions securely on your behalf.

🛠️ Key Use Cases

1. The "Shielded Yield" Loop (Zcash → Public DeFi → Zcash)

User Intent: "I have 1,000 ZEC and want to farm yield on Solana without doxing my main wallet."

ShadeLink Action: Acting as a privacy proxy, ShadeLink swaps shielded ZEC into any asset available on NEAR intents, deposits inside a TEE, and deploys it into e.g. Kamino Finance using a fresh, one-time-use wallet that has no on-chain link to the user. Once the target yield is met, the agent withdraws the funds, swaps back to ZEC, and repatriates the capital + profit to a fresh Shielded Zcash address, effectively shielding the returns.

2. Cross-Chain Yield Optimization

User Intent : A user holds idle stablecoins on NEAR but sees high APY on Solana's Kamino Finance.

ShadeLink Action: The user creates a Link. ShadeLink bridges the assets via Near Intents, waits for finality, and automatically deposits them into the Kamino lending market on Solana.

3. Just-In-Time Liquidity

User Intent: A user needs to save a collateral position from liquidation on Solana, but their liquidity is on NEAR.

ShadeLink Action: A trigger moves funds across chains instantly to top up the collateral position, potentially saving the user from a total loss.

4. Intent-Based Swaps

User Intent : A user wants to buy a Solana-exclusive memecoin using ZEC assets.

ShadeLink Action: The user signs an intent to swap. ShadeLink handles the bridging and executes a Jupiter DEX swap on Solana at the optimal price. We showcase this in this project by buiying the memecoin Zcash Cat ($ZCAT) through our protocol, an asset that is not available on vanilla intents. We buy it by chaining intents with jupiter routed swaps.

🔒 How It Works (Under the Hood)

ShadeLink is built on top of Shade Agents, utilizing three core technologies to ensure safety:

Trustless Logic (TEE): The automation logic runs inside a Phala Network TEE (Intel SGX), meaning the code is cryptographically verified and tamper-proof.

Secure Signing (MPC): Transaction signatures are generated via Multi-Party Computation. The "bot" controls a derived address unique to the user, but the user's main private keys are never exposed. This means user funds remain in self-custody.

Chain Abstraction: ShadeLink abstracts the complexity of different address formats (Solana Ed25519 vs. NEAR NEP-413), providing a unified interface for defining triggers. Any address across near, solana or eth can own assets inside ShadeLink.

Disclaimer

• The ZEC intents transactions are rather slow as we currently have no way of providing the transaction hash programatically to speed up the deposit detection.

• The shade agent currently does not run on PHALA for testing purposes, the smart contract is the testnet version deployed on NEAR mainnet - no code hash attestation