Gasless Trading Explained: How Velora Enables Gasless, Crosschain DeFi

DeFi was supposed to simplify access to financial markets. But for most users, the reality remains fragmented, expensive, and operationally complex. Nowhere is that more visible than in how users interact with gas fees.

Every trade, swap, or liquidity action requires holding the correct gas token, often across multiple chains. It adds cost, creates friction, and prevents many from participating in the first place.

Velora fixes this directly. Through intent-based trading with gas abstraction, Velora removes one of DeFi's most persistent bottlenecks, allowing users to trade crosschain without holding or spending gas tokens.

Here’s how gasless trading works, where existing models fall short, and how Velora’s architecture delivers a technically sound, user-first alternative.

The Role of Gas Fees in DeFi

Gas fees are fundamental to how blockchains operate. They compensate validators for securing networks and processing transactions. On chains like Ethereum, gas costs are measured in gwei and fluctuate based on network demand and transaction complexity.

This system works at the protocol level, but for end users, it introduces several well-documented problems:

• Cost volatility: Fees can spike unpredictably, especially during market volatility or network congestion.

• Operational friction: Users need to hold native gas tokens for every chain they interact with, complicating wallet management.

• Barrier to entry: New users often abandon DeFi when faced with confusing gas mechanics and failed transactions.

These challenges have been partially addressed through Layer 2 networks and batching, but the gas requirement itself remains, especially for crosschain DeFi trading.

What Is Gasless Trading?

Gasless trading removes the need for users to manually pay gas fees from their wallets or hold native gas tokens. Instead, the protocol or its architecture handles gas payments programmatically, either through relayers, solvers, or by deducting fees from the resulting tokens.

Several approaches exist:

• Meta-transactions: Users sign a transaction off-chain; a relayer broadcasts it and pays gas.

• Layer 2 solutions: Reduced gas costs, though users still need gas tokens on the L2.

• Application-specific subsidies: dApps cover gas temporarily to boost adoption.

While these methods improve UX, they often introduce trade-offs like centralization, hidden costs, or temporary incentives that don't scale.

In Velora’s model, users don’t need ETH, MATIC, or any other native token. Gas is covered by deducting a small amount from the asset received, ensuring that users don’t face upfront friction or failed transactions.

Velora’s Model: Gasless, Intent-Based, and Crosschain by Default

Velora delivers gasless trading by combining intent-based architecture with a competitive agent network. This structure shifts execution away from the user and enables gasless, crosschain transactions by design.

How It Works:

1. Users sign intents, not transactions
   An intent is a signed off-chain message expressing the desired outcome ("Swap 500 USDC on Ethereum for ETH on Optimism"). It defines what the user wants, without prescribing how it gets executed.

2. Agent networks compete to fulfill the intent
   The signed intent is broadcast to Velora's coordination layer, Portikus, where a decentralized network of agents competes to fulfill the trade. Agents are responsible for:

   • Scanning onchain and off-chain liquidity

   • Optimizing price, slippage, and latency

   • Covering all gas costs required for execution

3. The best agent executes the trade and pays gas
   Once a agent wins the auction, they execute the trade onchain. Gas is deducted automatically from the output token during settlement, so the user doesn’t need to hold or spend native gas tokens, manage approvals, or bridge funds. 

How Velora Improves the DeFi Trading Experience

Velora’s architecture addresses both technical and user experience barriers that have limited DeFi adoption:

1. Reduced Friction for Crosschain Trading

With Velora:

• No need to preload wallets with gas tokens across multiple chains

• No manual bridging or multi-step workflows

• One signed message replaces what traditionally required multiple transactions

The result is crosschain trading that feels like a single, unified experience.

2. Self-Custodial, Risk-Reduced Execution

Velora does not introduce new custody risks. Users maintain control of their assets throughout the process. The architecture protects users from:

• Mempool exposure: Intents remain off-chain, minimizing front-running and MEV exploitation

• Failed transactions: Execution occurs only after a agent commits to fulfillment, reducing failure risk

3. Competitive Execution, Better Pricing

Agent networks introduce a two-sided market for execution:

• Users express outcomes

• Agents compete to fulfill them efficiently

This dynamic incentivizes better pricing, optimized routing, and access to both onchain and off-chain liquidity.

4. Onboarding Without Barriers

Gas fees disproportionately block new users. By abstracting gas entirely, Velora enables:

• First-time DeFi participation without holding native tokens 

• Use of hardware wallets, multisigs, or embedded wallets

• Reduced complexity for institutions exploring DeFi strategies

How to Trade Without Paying Gas

Getting started is simple with Velora’s one-click app:

1. Connect your wallet: Velora supports major wallets across supported chains.

2. Enable Delta Mode: Click the three-line menu (top-right of the modal) and make sure Delta Mode is toggled on.

3. Sign your intent: Define your desired trade through Velora’s UI.

4. Let agents handle the rest: Execution, gas costs, and settlement are managed behind the scenes.

Velora currently supports gasless, crosschain swaps across major EVM ecosystems, including Ethereum, Base, Optimism, Arbitrum, Sonic, and leading Ethereum L2s.

Gasless, Crosschain Trading Built for Everyone

Gas fees have long been a structural bottleneck for DeFi adoption. Velora fixed this at the architectural level through gasless, intent-based trading backed by competitive agent networks. The result is a trading experience with lower operational complexity, self-custodial execution protected from MEV exploitation, and a scalable foundation for crosschain activity that works the way DeFi was intended to.

As user expectations evolve and DeFi infrastructure matures, gasless execution will shift from novelty to necessity. Velora is already built for that future.

Trade crosschain. No gas tokens. No friction.

Try Velora’s gasless swaps today: https://app.velora.xyz/