EVM Networks

Ethereum has served as a roadmap and a standard-creating paradigm for blockchain networks. In other words, most people building networks want to ensure that their networks are compatible with Ethereum.

 

1.What is EVM?

 

Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) functions like a virtual CPU running inside a specific standalone program called Go Ethereum or Geth, one of the three original implementations of the Ethereum protocol.

Unlike a usual CPU, EVM is not a piece of hardware installed inside a machine running the programs. EVM is like a software CPU that executes the bytecode (which is just a compiled form of smart contracts). If you run Geth on your machine, you become a part of the Ethereum network running a version of the EVM.

 

2.What are EVM-compatible blockchains?

 

The Ethereum network was the first to deploy smart contracts and is still regarded as the standard among competing blockchains. But due to its size and the enormous number of users, it got to a point where its scalability has become an issue. Problems like slow transactions and high gas fees are supposed to be solved with the launching of Ethereum 2.0.

 

Other permissionless blockchains quickly reacted to the current Ethereum problems by offering lower gas fees and faster transactions. Most of these blockchains are fully open-source and mostly a code fork of Ethereum using a more efficient consensus mechanism. But instead of developing a new way of implementing smart contracts, developers simply copied certain parts of the Ethereum network. This approach turned out to be more beneficial than developing their structure from scratch, both in terms of time, knowledge transfer, and, maybe most importantly, interoperability. By creating a space that supports code execution in an environment similar to Ethereum’s Virtual Machines, developers do not need to build solutions and protocols from scratch. On the contrary, they can build smart contracts and DApps faster and deploy them to the blockchain quicker. These networks enable faster transactions, higher capacity, and lower gas fees. It is also worth noting that the energy consumption per transaction is significantly lower compared to Ethereum. The interoperability among blockchains is then achieved with cross-chain bridges. These enable users to send assets back and forth between any of the EVM networks.