The Pectra upgrade is expected to be deployed in Q1/2025, according to the official announcement from Ethereum developers. This implementation is aimed at enhancing the performance of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), aiming to reduce congestion and scale utility in DeFi and other sectors. This upgrade promises to simplify Ethereum network operations and expand its application, especially in business contexts, by providing a scalable and efficient platform layer. than.
This upgrade also sets the stage for Ethereum to adopt a new scaling solution to help solve the "Bitcoin Trilemma", which is Parallel EVM.
To understand Parallel EVM, we first need to separate these concepts.
So what is Virtual Machine?
A virtual machine, or VM, is a software program that creates a new computer system completely simulated by software inside a physical computer, expanding the capabilities of the computer platform. VMs allow Users to do something on their computer that is normally impossible to do.
For example, VMs allow you to play a classic video game from the 90s on today's computer or smartphone. By default, this is not possible because the specific hardware requirements to run the game are not present on your current device, as they were built for devices from that era. Virtual machine simulates all the requirements needed to run the game, allowing you to play the game on modern devices.
Or another example, you are using a Macbook to work, but unfortunately some software only supports Windows and not MacOs, so you decide to run a Window emulator program on your Macbook. The Windows emulation environment is the Virtual machine.
Virtual Machine and Blockchain
This concept also applies to blockchain. Blockchains are distributed networks that facilitate the transfer of value and communication between different parties without the need for a centralized intermediary to approve or deny any transaction. Instead, transactions are validated by a decentralized network of computers that communicate with each other to record valid new transactions. Blockchain virtual machine is the software, or execution environment, that node operators use to communicate and validate transactions.
One of the most popular Blockchain Virtual Machines is the Ethereum Virtual Machine
This is the environment where smart contracts interact with each other and transactions are processed and executed. It is like a server that allows all Ethereum nodes globally to play Multi-player Ethereum in real time.
Transaction processing process on Ethereum
Currently, transactions are processed according to the Sequential Execution model, i.e. one transaction at a time, on Ethereum due to the design of EVM.
A transaction on Ethereum goes through the following steps:
The user sends a signed transaction from their wallet.
Pending transactions fall into the public mempool, similar to a waiting room for the blockchain.
A block proposer (a type of validator) then selects the transaction along with several other transactions and “proposes” them to be added to the next block.
Other validators monitor and “validate” the content of the transactions, and once approved, the transactions are added to the block and added to the network. Our transaction is confirmed!
EVM executes the transactions in a block one by one, then the transaction is completed and the recipient receives their funds.
Adding transactions sequentially ensures that each new transaction is valid and compatible with all previous transactions.
However, sequential processing creates a bottleneck when network activity increases and more transactions are competing to be included in the next block. This results in longer wait times for users, higher gas fees, and a poor user experience. Parallel processing was created to solve these problems.
What is Parallel Execution?
Parallel execution for blockchain transactions delivers significant improvements in blockchain throughput and execution speed. These high-performance blockchains aim to process transactions in milliseconds. But how is this possible?
To explain simply, imagine you have some work to do, such as cooking for a party. You call your friends and divide the work: person A goes to the market, person B arranges the tools, person C cuts vegetables, and person D cooks. Instead of depending on one person, all the work is divided among four people, reducing time and increasing efficiency. Parallel EVM is similar, but instead of cooking, it uses computers and code.
The Ethereum network is like cooking for a party, where many people are working on the different transactions that make up the blockchain. Each transaction has a specific function or purpose, such as sending money or creating tokens. The network assigns each transaction to a “worker” who can execute it on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which is like a computer program running on the blockchain. These “workers” then send their results back to the network, where they are combined into a final block.
However, sometimes there are too many transactions for one person to handle alone. This can slow down the network and make it harder for people to use. That's why Parallel EVM was created: to allow multiple people to work on different transactions at the same time. This way, the network can process more transactions in less time, reducing congestion and transaction fees.
Parallel processing in blockchains was pioneered by Solana. Solana's Sealevel engine allows multiple smart contracts to run concurrently thanks to a unique feature in the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) design, which requires smart contracts to declare which part of the network, or state, they need access to make transactions. This design has enabled Solana to deliver over 2,000 transactions per second (TPS) and block confirmation times of 400ms.
Parallel EVM decoding
The problem is that Solana Virtual Machine is not compatible with Ethereum Virtual Machine, meaning anyone migrating their dApps from Ethereum needs to start from scratch and build in a different programming language.
What if there was a way to bring the performance of parallel processing to an EVM-compatible blockchain? Parallel EVM was born.
Parallel EVM is an execution environment for blockchains that brings the best of both Solana and Ethereum designs – parallel transaction processing compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine.
There is no single dominant Parallel EVM. Instead, several teams have worked to build their own implementations, with the same goal of bringing the speed and efficiency of Solana to the Ethereum ecosystem.
The challenge of Parallel EVM
Parallel EVM is not easy to deploy or maintain. It requires unique design and testing to ensure everything works well together. It also has some challenges and disadvantages to consider, such as:
Parallel EVM can increase the risk of conflicts between interdependent transactions.
Parallel EVM can request more resources from the network nodes operating it.
Parallel EVM may affect some features or applications that rely on sequential execution.
Parallel EVM is still an experimental feature being developed by several projects in the Ethereum ecosystem. It may not be ready or stable for everyone.
However, if it is widely adopted and improved upon, it could make Ethereum faster and more efficient for everyone.
Some Parallel EVM projects will explode in the near future
Neon
Neon is the first parallel EVM, launching in late 2022. Neon is an execution environment that exists as a smart contract on Solana, allowing smart contracts and bots on Ethereum to access the benefits Technical benefits of Solana. Neon processes new blocks in about 0.4 seconds on average. Currently, Neon is still quite small, with only 1.2 million USD in TVL (Total Value Locked) and 6 applications.
Six Networks
Sei Network is a parallel layer 1 EVM blockchain that uses optimistic parallelism, which means transactions are processed quickly based on optimistic assumptions, and can be disputed later if challenged. found to be wrong. Built with trading and financial applications in mind, Sei has an average block time of 0.46 seconds and currently supports over 80 applications.
Monad
Similar to Sei, Monad uses optimistic parallelism to deliver higher performance and speed, but also introduces “superscalar pipelining” – a design used in computer systems to divide work broken into smaller tasks and executed concurrently. Monad claims to be able to reach 10,000 TPS with a block confirmation time of 1 second and a block completion time of 1 second, however, the network is currently in testnet phase, so performance figures are not available yet. widely published.
Conclude
Parallel EVM represents a combination of learnings from the Ethereum and Solana blockchains, aiming to provide a familiar traditional EVM experience with the processing power of a parallel blockchain like Solana. This is a new approach to blockchain scaling pioneered by teams like Sei, Monad, and Neon. It offers an alternative approach to Ethereum scaling compared to traditional Layer-2 solutions, rollups and sidechains.
