What are intent-based DEXs and how do they differ from AMMs

Most people who trade on decentralized exchanges do not realize they are acting as their own market makers. Intent-based DEXs flip this model. Instead of interacting with a liquidity pool directly, you sign a message describing what you want, and a network of solvers competes to give it to you at the best price. The shift from execution to intention is the most significant change in DEX architecture since the automated market maker was introduced. Summary Automated market makers changed decentralized trading by replacing order books with liquidity pools, but the model has structural costs. Slippage on large orders, impermanent loss for liquidity providers, and vulnerability to MEV extraction are all consequences of a design that requires traders to execute against a fixed pricing curve rather than competing for the best available price across all sources. Intent-based DEXs separate what a trader wants from how it gets executed. A trader signs an off chain message (an intent) specifying the token they want to sell, the token they want to receive, and the minimum acceptable price. The intent does not specify a route, a liquidity source, or a gas payment. All execution details are del...