Monad deep dive: parallel execution, MonadBFT, MonadDb and EVM equivalence
Thread1,109 words
Explains why the EVM's sequential execution is a bottleneck and how Monad adds optimistic parallel execution, MonadBFT with deferred execution, superscalar pipelining and MonadDb while keeping bytecode equivalence, versus Solana's Sealevel approach.
Key claims
Monad targets 10,000 TPS, 1 second blocks and 1 second finality
EVM apps account for 96% of DeFi TVL per DefiLlama with over 20 chains
Solana avoids conflicts by requiring txs to declare state accessed
SOL is back & its melting faces.
The demand for cheap high-throughput L1s has clearly been proven.
But you missed @solana szn again anon, didn't you?
It's okay. There is another high-performance L1 coming up set to follow in @solana's footsteps.
You're still early!
Alpha-🧵
1/ The L1 I'm introducing today has already caught quite a bit of attention.
Why?
▶️ EVM Compatible
▶️ Parallel Execution (Solana-style)
▶️ 10,000 TPS
▶️ 1 second block time
▶️ 1 second finality.
But before we dive in, let's set the stage! 👇
2/ There are two main components in a smart contract chain:
🌐 The Consensus Mechanism
Allows 100s of nodes to come to agreement about tx ordering & inclusion.
🖥 The Virtual Machine (VM)
Executes app code & updates the state of each app, as well as global account balances.
3/ Ethereum was the first blockchain to enable programmable smart contracts, a.k.a. apps on-chain.
This became possible thanks to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which is essentially a shared computing engine.
4/ The overall system consists of many nodes, each of which hold a perfect replica of the same apps & corresponding state.
Users make function calls on smart contracts by submitting transaction (tx) messages to the network.
5/ Pending transactions are periodically assembled into an official ordering of transactions, aka a block.
Each of the nodes in the network executes that official ordering, thus maintaining a shared state and staying in sync.
6/ Apps on Ethereum are expressed in a format called EVM bytecode.
Expressing the programs in a standard bytecode format allows program execution to be sandboxed & platform-agnostic.
EVM bytecode is also battle-tested & reliable.
7/ It has reached critical mass as the dominant smart contract standard.
This is proven by data.
EVM (Solidity & Vyper) apps account for 96% of TVL in DeFi according to @DefiLlama with >20 supporting chains.
It's the safe choice for devs wanting to maximize code portability.
8/ However, the EVM does come with a significant limitation, that all EVM chains fall victim to: Sequential execution.
The EVM can only execute one transaction at a time!
This is the simplest implementation, and simple is always a good first approach, but we need to evolve.
9/ Why?
Well, sequential execution is inefficient.
If two transactions are independent, a more intelligent system would understand that these transactions could be parallelized.
For example: Alice pays Bob and Chris pays Dave.
10/ Devs identified this bottleneck and have been trying to solve parallel execution.
@solana for example introduced a system with its own VM for parallel execution called Sealevel VM.
Along with other innovations, this allowed them to achieve 1000s of TPS on-chain.
11/ But why is it difficult to parallelize execution?
The main challenge of parallel execution is identifying independent transactions.
@solana solved this by making programs stateless & requiring transactions to specify all state that will be read or written during execution.
12/ This allows the before-mentioned independent transactions to execute in parallel.
It also allows for transactions reading the same state to execute concurrently.
Transaction dependencies are more obvious in some cases than others.
13/ A simple token transfer between two parties for example affects no one else.
However, txs interacting with the same contract (e.g. AMM swaps) would change the same application state (e.g. asset ratio in pool) & therefore cannot execute in parallel.
14/ Undoubtedly, @solana’s innovation in parallel execution ushered a new era of scalability.
However, while the Solana is by far the most performant chain we’ve seen, its lack of EVM compatibility introduces friction to the largest pool of users, liquidity & devs.
15/ So, what if I told you that there was a chain that's bringing parallel execution to the EVM?
Well, there is! Or rather, soon will be!
Enter @monad_xyz!
16/ As we've already touched upon, many teams have tried built solutions to address Ethereum's scalability issues.
Some have opted for EVM L1s (e.g. Polygon PoS or BSC) with faster consensus mechanisms and increased block sizes.
Others for non-EVM L1s like Solana.
17/ More recently L2s, both EVM (Arbitrum or Optimism) & non-EVM (Eclipse) have emerged, which effectively take tx processing off-chain.
@monad_xyz joins the race as a L1 aiming to optimize blockchain efficiency beyond traditional EVM chains, while preserving EVM compatibility.
18/ How does @monad_xyz do that you ask?
Monad pioneers a unique network architecture. The key features are:
⚙️ Monad Consensus
⚙️ Parallel Execution
⚙️ Superscalar Pipelining
⚙️ Monad Database
⚙️ EVM Equivalence
19/ ⚙️ Monad Consensus
@monad_xyz uses MonadBFT with block propagation through hashes, which reduces node overhead and increases speed.
It decouples execution and consensus with deferred execution, basically parallelizing execution and consensus to boost efficiency.
20/ To prevent spam attacks & counter DDoS attacks Monad uses carriage cost and reserve balances.
However, this might be an area where some research is still needed to figure out the ideal parameters to balance UX and security.
21/ ⚙️ Parallel Execution
Monad uses optimistic execution.
Hence, the network can start executing transactions before earlier transactions in the block have completed.
This enables high scalability but comes with the risk of incorrect execution.
22/ ⚙️ Superscalar Pipelining
This is a complementary concept to @monad_xyz's parallel execution engine.
What it does in simple terms, is basically break down an instruction set into successive steps.
Consequently, these steps can be executed concurrently (in parallel).
23/ ⚙️ Monad Database
One critical architecture that allows for this optimistic execution to take place is the MonadDb, which is Monad’s custom database for storing blockchain state.
x.com/keoneHD/status/1737270325795025146
24/ More specifically, optimistic execution is made possible with asynchronous I/O, a form of input / output processing that allows for concurrent execution while communication is in progress.
25/ ⚙️ EVM Equivalence
@monad_xyz achieves all of this while maintaining bytecode-level EVM equivalence and Ethereum RPC + tooling compatibility!
That means no friction to the largest web3 dev pool EVM/Solidity with a speed & throughput akin to the one of @solana.
26/ Overall, definitely some cutting-edge technology here that @monad_xyz is introducing to the market.
It enables the first and only EVM execution layer that is on par with @solana in terms of throughput & speed.
This brings 10'000 TPS and 1 second finality to the EVM!
27/ I hope you've found this thread helpful! 🫡
Make sure to follow me @zerokn0wledge_ and @monad_xyz to stay up to date! ✨
Like/Repost of the below post is also highly appreciated! 🙏👇
Tagging some chads you should definitely follow! 🫡 👇
@ShivanshuMadan
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@andyyy
@0xDinoEggs
@maestro
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And some more! 🫡👇
@CJCJCJCJ_
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