Original title: "EVM Network Effects》
Original title: "
EVM Network Effects
Original Author: Nir, Krishna NandakumarKrishna Nandakumar This article is for Nir andVernon Johnson、David Phelps、Carlos Diaz-Pedron、Tomer Ben-DavidandJad Esber co-authored,
and
Provided a lot of help.
The EVM may be more important than the blockchain itself
In fact, the well-known Ethereum is just an implementation of the Ethereum blockchain. On the other side of the coin, the Ethereum Virtual Machine can be understood as a blockchain-based open-source software "development platform" that allows developers to create decentralized applications. You can also think of it as an open virtual computer that can store data on the chain and the state of each smart contract.
The EVM was the first software to offer smart contract functionality to developers and has grown into a thriving ecosystem with valuable developer network effects extending beyond the Ethereum blockchain itself. In fact, some blockchains using EVM have built a complete token economy and consensus mechanism, which can be completely independent of ETH tokens and ETH mining. Innovation, infrastructure, and user growth on other EVM chains can be seamlessly leveraged by the Ethereum blockchain, and vice versa.
Permissionless Network Effects
Open source software and ecosystems benefit from a similar network effect: the more developers build on or integrate with it, the more valuable it becomes to everyone. But that's not all that OSS might benefit from. If most of the infrastructure and applications on the network are also open source, then the network effects are multiplied.
EVM Compatibility
This is why the EVM network effect is so powerful: every user can log in without permission, and every line of code is written publicly, increasing the value of all EVM chains no matter which network it is used for. It also increases the security level of the EVM compared to other alternatives.
EVM CompatibilityA protocol is EVM compatible if its smart contracts can be executed on the Ethereum Virtual Machine. To meet this condition, the contract must be written in Solidity, or have a package that compiles its code into code that can run on the EVM.zkSync is a zero-knowledge protocol designed to reduce transaction costs and increase speed. The protocol supports solidity smart contracts and requires no changes in most cases. Also, StarkNet - another roll-up, has a language called Cairo, it's not currently EVM compatible, but the team is working on itChain Listbuild compiler
, so that it can execute on the EVM, and a translator for the other direction (EVM -> StarkNet) has been built. Other examples of EVM-compatible/native blockchains and Layer 2 include Ethereum Classic, Polygon, BNB Chain, Optimism, Arbitrum, Gnosis Chain, Avalanche, and Celo. You can find
Check out other EVM compatible chains here.
Why is composability important?
EVM can be seen as a "next generation" of JavaScript that has attracted billions of dollars in capital investment in a short period of time. It has a first-mover advantage, and all funds and resources used to advance new solutions for the EVM can be used and expanded without permission. Therefore, building a new public chain or side chain on the EVM does not need to start from scratch.
It's worth noting that JavaScript is considered by some to be a terrible programming language, but attempts to replace it (Dart) have all failed, and only as an improvement to the transpiler (Typescript) have succeeded. The network effect is so strong that any breach of composability, regardless of the quality of the language, renders an attempt to replace it infeasible. The same may be true for the EVM.
For builders and operators, composability means they can take advantage of one or more of the following:Ethereum Stack ExchangeRich Metadata, Identity System, and Social Graph: Addresses are the same across EVM chains, meaning any new project or chain can leverage metadata associated with users/addresses to address cold-start issues, content provenance, add sybil-resistence , Establish a social/interest graph for each user, airdrop on cheaper chains, etc.
A Thriving Developer Ecosystem: Ethereum User Q&A Site
Community support on active platforms such as Many of the top smart contract blockchain developer ecosystems are using the EVM.
Interoperability: cross-chain governance using snapshot strategies, cross-layer transactions of stablecoins and base tokens (ETH, MATIC, etc.), same address system, etc.
https://twitter.com/TrustlessState/status/1511127294093320193
Versatility: Developers developing on one chain or instance can smoothly migrate to a better chain or launch their own chain. For developers, this is a huge advantage.
image descriptionQuorumThe case for using EVMNFT。100 ThievesIn addition to building on Ethereum itself, traditional enterprises have seized the advantages of building on the EVM. For example, JP Morgan Chase in their own namedPolygonbuilt their enterprise blockchain on a fork of Ethereum. TikTok launched on ImmutableX, the second-layer scaling solution of Ethereum NFT
On an Ethereum sidechain running the EVM
released their first NFT airdrop on .
Other blockchains are also trying to interoperate with Ethereum and build EVM implementations on their own chains. These include Solana (Neon), NEAR (Aurora), and Cosmos (Evmos).Evidence for EVM Network EffectsEthereum has by far the largest developer ecosystem of any blockchain. According to Electric Capital's
2021 Developer Report
, Polygon and BSC (also EVM chain) ranked 6th and 7th respectively. In fact, at least 8 of the top 20 blockchain ecosystems are running EVM.
Many chains have built EVM-compatible implementations on their own chains (such as Solana and Cosmos), but none have built or called for building contracts compatible with other chains on Ethereum (such as Move or Cosmos SDK).EIP-1559Some of the largest EVM blockchains are continuously applying Ethereum learnings in real-time. For example, Polygon (EVM-compatible L1) implementsproposalalmost the sameMATICproposal
After, already destroying
. Winning EVM blockchains will continue to leverage this strategy.
Potential Challenges of L2 EVM Composability
Some Layer 2 networks are currently trying to convey the idea that they may soon break the equivalence with the EVM at some point to try something that only makes sense on L2 or would take a long time for Ethereum L1 to integrate function. In a sense, we may be entering a world where the L2 EVM is implemented slightly differently and becomes a testing ground for new features of the EVM. This may break the deployability of the 1-1 code at some point in the future.
Having said that, as long as the state between layers remains composable, there is little chance of L2 subverting the EVM equivalent value, generally keeping execution properties to a minimum when bridging data between chains. And as long as an adapter can be written on the other end, and the state format makes sense between the two chains, minor implementation differences probably won't be a hindrance.
Non-EVM chain
What does this mean for competing chains and ecosystems? They're going to need big budgets and have to find ways to serve the EVM audience. The ecosystem model works if non-EVM projects can grow quickly and efficiently. Solana is one of the serious challengers, but despite spending a lot of money to catch up, adoption is still somewhat lacking.
Of course, there are many things that the EVM cannot do, and there will be some applications that can only be used outside of the EVM in the long run and will bring value to other VMs as well. It is worth noting that some unique projects have started to choose different solutions than EVM, for example, Stepn is on Solana. This may be evidence that EVM is not a winner-take-all, and there will be many applications out there. It's worth mentioning that the same is true for JS, but every year the number of apps that can't be built in the browser with JS drops.
Cosmos, Polkadot, and other blockchains take a composability-first approach that wins over capable builders and users. While years behind the EVM ecosystem, the Cosmos SDK enjoys very similar network effects, but most composability is asynchronous, meaning it happens in multiple steps for various validations. As of now, Cosmos does not have the same address for cross-chain accounts, although this will change soon. CosmWasm is very new and the ecosystem lacks important mechanisms such as a robust oracle solution for DeFi. For example, JunoSwap (AMM on Juno) was launched several months late, and the code was messy and incomplete.
in conclusion
Developers and Layer 1 competitors should seriously consider the enormous advantages of building on the EVM today. In most cases, I expect the existing EVM chains or Layer 2 to be sufficient for most needs, although they may require specific functionality that the EVM was not built for. EVM is years ahead of its competing ecosystem, which will continue to increase adoption and network effects. However, ETH proponents need to prepare in advance for the possibility that different EVM-based chains may not necessarily trigger demand for ETH, but instead account for most of Ethereum's market share.
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