London, UK, October 16, 2024, Chainwire
Neon EVM is a pioneer in the network extension category, ushering in a up-to-date era of unified growth.
Neon EVM, the leading virtual machine (EVM) in Solana, formally adopts Solana Network Extension as a product category, perfectly capturing the essence of this up-to-date category. Network extensions fill a critical gap in the Solana ecosystem. By offering a formal category for projects that natively extend Solana’s functionality, Neon EVM provides transparency for developers, investors and users alike.
Traditionally, positioning has been driven by the inherent nature of Neon EVM and various other projects (MagicBlock, MetaPlex, etc.) as these are not typical Layer 1 or Layer 2 blockchains.
Unlike time-honored rollups, L2, or sidechains, Neon EVM is a program that deploys directly on the Solana blockchain and relies on its settlement, consensus, and data availability. Today, this makes Neon EVM part of an emerging product category known as Network Extensions – a native, composable extension of Solana’s core capabilities, sparking debate.
The Web Extensions category caused controversy
Solana’s network extensions sparked controversy in September 2024, with co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko calling Ethereum’s L2 solutions “parasitic.” Yakovenko argued that L2s drain fluidity and fragment the ecosystem, a view shared by Solana supporters who argue that L2s create confused user experiences. In contrast, Yakovenko said Solana’s network extensions are “natively composable” and improve the mainchain without sacrificing fluidity. Proponents emphasized that these are not hidden L2s, but maintain a direct connection to Solana’s underlying layer, allowing for seamless composition without Ethereum issues.
Network extensions are fundamentally different from L2 extensions.
Unlocking seamless Ethereum compatibility on Solana: Neon EVM as a native network extension
Solana views its network extensions as specialized modules that extend the core functionalities of the L1 blockchain. These extensions natively integrate with the Solana base layer, allowing you to add up-to-date capabilities while maintaining the core performance and composability of the underlying L1 chain.
Neon EVM embodies this concept, enabling Ethereum compatibility for dApps while maintaining a runtime with Solana. Neon is not your typical L2 – it runs as an EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) on the Solana blockchain, ensuring compatibility with Ethereum-based applications while remaining fully integrated with Solana’s L1. Unlike Optimistic or ZK Rollups, Neon does not process off-chain transactions but By Neon proxy. Instead, it allows developers to deploy Ethereum dApps on Solana, leveraging Solana’s core capabilities – and no Rust coding is needed. Neon EVM integrates seamlessly with Solana at the protocol level and maps Ethereum transactions directly to Solana instructions, leveraging Solana’s advanced Sealevel trading infrastructure. As a result, dApps running on Neon EVM benefit from Solana’s high-throughput environment and unmatched scalability, enabling parallel processing and effective execution.
This technology positions Neon EVM as a key player in increasing the accessibility and composability of blockchain applications in the Solana ecosystem.
The Solana Foundation team reiterated Neon EVM’s role as a network extension on the X social media platform, as seen in the post below, while Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana, clearly stated that Neon EVM is definitely not L2.
Davide Menegaldo, COO of Neon EVM, highlights the importance of network extensions, stating: “Network extensions offer an effective way to enhance and expand the capabilities of blockchain networks like Solana, without the drawbacks typically associated with traditional scalable solutions.” Menegaldo dives into the details and explains the key to determining network extensions:
– Unified liquidity: By operating within the same liquidity pool, network extensions prevent the liquidity fragmentation that often occurs on Layer 2 or sidechains, providing a more unified and effective ecosystem.
-Improved user experience: Users can easily exploit native wallets and tools, eliminating all the complexities associated with multi-chain and fragmented environments.
– Remains native to the host chainextending core functionality: Network extensions are deeply integrated into the core layer and do not compete with or directly overlap with it. They extend the capabilities of Solana by adding up-to-date features, up-to-date runtimes, storage or consensus capabilities, NFT functionalities without replacing the core functionalities of the core Solana environment.
Projects like MagicBlock with Ephemeral Rollups and MarginFi create tools, services, and infrastructure that do not always fit into well-defined single categories of L1 and L2 terminology.
To fully comply with the definition of network extensions, Neon EVM will remove the complexity of the EVM layer, providing users with a seamless experience. EVM developers can accelerate their Solana deployments without having to analyze the complexities of Rust. Solana users can interact with these dApps through their preferred wallets, such as Phantom, Backpack or Solflare, by paying gas fees in Solana’s native currency.
This composable and intuitive user experience ensures that while the technology behind these applications is compatible with Ethereum, the end user will benefit from a unified user experience – without even noticing the underlying Ethereum-like code powering the dApps.
Neon EVM drives innovation at Solana, moving beyond time-honored blockchain models
Network extensions in the Solana ecosystem set a up-to-date precedent for how blockchain infrastructure can evolve beyond time-honored L1 and L2 models. As Solana continues its growth path with Firedancer and many upcoming updates, Neon EVM can play a key role in accelerating innovation, providing unparalleled growth opportunities for both developers and users. The future of blockchain is extensible, and Neon EVM is ready to take governance beyond standard paths.
About Neon EVM
Neon EVM is a first-of-its-kind network extension in Solana, designed to seamlessly integrate Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility into Solana’s high-performance ecosystem. Running natively on Solana’s base layer, Neon EVM provides Ethereum developers with a speedy and high-throughput path to deploying their EVM dApps on Solana, without the need for Rust coding, separate blockchain layers, or fragmented liquidity. It increases the composability of dApps while maintaining the core advantages of Solana. Neon EVM extends Solana’s capabilities by offering a unified experience where Ethereum-based projects can thrive with the speed and scalability that Solana is known for.
For more information about Neon EVM, users can visit neonevm.org and connect with the community on Twitter or Discord.
ContactMarketing managerShailey SinghNeon EVMshailey@neonfoundation.io
