> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.etherlink.us/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.etherlink.us/introduction.md).

# Introduction

EtherlinkDAO starts from a simple but structural reality of today’s DeFi landscape.

**Liquidity pools are fragmented across blockchains.**\
Every new chain, rollup, or execution environment further disperses liquidity, reducing depth, increasing slippage, and turning simple swaps into routing problems. Execution quality increasingly depends not on intent, but on where liquidity happens to live.

The issue is not that liquidity is missing.\
It’s that it is **rarely available where and when it is needed**.

EtherlinkDAO exists to address this fragmentation.

Rather than moving, duplicating, or re-incentivizing liquidity, the protocol introduces a different approach: **coordinating access to liquidity across chains** using the **ERC-7683 standard**.

ERC-7683 enables cross-chain intents — orders that describe *what a user wants to do*, without constraining *where the liquidity must be located*. Execution becomes decoupled from liquidity location.

With EtherlinkDAO:

* liquidity remains where it is
* swaps execute where liquidity is most efficient
* users no longer need to reason about chains or fragmentation

EtherlinkDAO positions itself as a **cross-chain execution and routing layer**, capable of accessing and coordinating liquidity **regardless of the chain it resides on**, turning structural fragmentation into unified execution.


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