What is Intent-Based Trading?
Intent-based trading is a DeFi execution model where traders express their desired outcome ('swap 1,000 USDC for ETH at the best price') and specialized solvers compete to fulfill the intent optimally, rather than the trader manually routing through DEXes.
WHY IT MATTERS
Traditional DEX trading requires the user to pick a pool, set slippage, handle routing, and manage gas — complex for humans and even more complex for agents that need to optimize across dozens of liquidity sources. Intent-based trading abstracts this away.
The trader signs an intent (a structured message describing the desired outcome and constraints). Solvers — specialized market makers and arbitrageurs — compete to fill the intent at the best price. The winning solver executes the trade, often finding better prices than direct DEX routing.
For AI agents, intents are a natural fit. The agent describes what it wants in structured terms, and the market figures out the best execution. This reduces the agent's complexity from 'navigate DeFi protocols' to 'express trading goals.'
HOW POLICYLAYER USES THIS
PolicyLayer validates agent trading intents before they're submitted to solvers — checking that the trade amount is within budget, the token pair is approved, and the minimum price meets policy constraints.