Sei Network: High-performance Layer 1 with Dual Narratives of Parallel EVM

The Sei Network has started to explode after months of silence, with its token price continuously climbing to a new all-time high. Currently, Sei's liquid staking has exceeded $3.5 million, and the total locked value of the network has surpassed $11 million. Previously, Sei co-hosted the CodeSei hackathon with several institutions to promote ecological development.

Sei is about to undergo an important V2 upgrade, enhancing parallel processing performance and introducing EVM. This article will analyze the code, technical features, and ecosystem projects of the Sei Network, exploring the potential opportunities for Sei and its ecosystem.

Sei Design Features

Sei is a Layer 1 that supports order book activities and focused trading, providing a built-in central limit order book (CLOB) module. Developers can use this module to quickly build order book trading applications for spot, derivatives, options, etc., while Sei's parallel design offers a fast and high-throughput network environment for ecosystem applications.

Sei improves the processing speed of the blockchain network in the following ways:

1. Local Build Hash

Sei allows validators to send blocks to the network that only contain transaction hashes. Other validators, upon receipt, first construct the block based on the local memory pool records. If the memory pool lacks the corresponding transaction information, the validators will wait for subsequent blocks containing detailed transaction content to arrive for verification.

2. Parallel transaction processing

The Sei Network implements parallel processing of pre-vote and pre-commit stages of blocks by validators, thereby reducing latency and increasing throughput.

In the code implementation, Sei processes transactions either in parallel or sequentially. For related transactions, Sei processes them sequentially; for unrelated transactions, it processes them in parallel. Currently, this design may have consistency issues when handling a large number of transactions, and Sei V2 needs further upgrades in parallel processing.

Parallel EVM

What is Parallel EVM?

EVM is the virtual machine that Ethereum uses to handle smart contract-related transactions, traditionally employing sequential execution to ensure network security. The concept of parallel EVM allows different transactions to occur simultaneously, greatly increasing processing speed and network throughput. Current solutions include using high-performance new public chains compatible with EVM such as Solana, Aptos, and Sei, with Sei's parallel EVM receiving the most market attention.

Sei V2 upgrade

The upcoming V2 version of Sei will implement parallel EVM, supporting the operation and interaction of Cosmwasm and EVM smart contracts. The main upgrade points include:

1. Optimistic concurrency: Allows concurrent transaction processing, increasing throughput and efficiency.
2. EVM Compatibility: Supports the deployment of existing EVM smart contracts without the need to modify the code.
3. Geth Compatibility: Integrating Geth to handle EVM smart contract transactions.
4. SeiDB: Improved storage layer to enhance read and write performance and scalability.
5. Performance Improvement: Achieve a block time of 390 milliseconds, fast transaction processing, and high throughput.

The Sei V2 upgrade aims to integrate the advantages of Ethereum, providing an optimized execution layer that is fully compatible with the existing EVM ecosystem, attracting more users and developers.

Sei Contract Security Recommendations

For developers planning to build applications in the Sei ecosystem, Beosin recommends following the security practices below:

1. Be prepared to respond to attacks, build scalable smart contracts, and develop risk response plans.
2. Pay attention to the deserialization of addr type and perform type validation.
3. Pay attention to operation and overflow risks, and use the secure math types and functions provided by CosmWasm.
4. Prevent infinite loops, especially in callback operations within the ACK handler.

Sei Ecosystem

1. Wallet

Currently, there are specific wallets that support the Sei network, such as Compass Wallet and Fin Wallet, as well as compatible wallets like OKX Wallet, Keplr, and Leap Wallet.

Safety recommendations:

• Avoid using wallet projects that are unaudited and have a short runtime.
• Safely store your mnemonic phrases and private keys
• Carefully check the transaction information when signing the transaction.

2. Kryptonite

Kryptonite is the largest liquid staking protocol in the Sei ecosystem, allowing users to stake Sei tokens to earn stSei and generate annualized returns. The project has completed contract audits to enhance the security of the staking operations. In the future, Kryptonite will launch the kUSD stablecoin to provide more liquidity for the Sei ecosystem.

3. YakaFinance

Yaka Finance is dedicated to building a multifunctional DEX, providing trading, liquidity mining, Launchpad, and other DeFi services. It is currently in the testnet phase and has launched an airdrop incentive program.

4. PalletExchange

PalletExchange is the NFT trading platform of the Sei ecosystem, with a daily trading volume reaching up to approximately $1 million. The platform charges a 2% fee on NFT transactions. Currently, popular NFT series in the Sei ecosystem include WeBump, The Colony, Seiyans, and Seinsei.

Summary

Sei, as a high-performance Layer 1 focused on trading, enhances performance by optimizing the block generation and processing processes. The Sei ecosystem is rapidly developing, and various decentralized applications will further amplify Sei's high-performance advantages. With the continuation of the parallel EVM narrative, the Sei V2 upgrade is expected to address current bottlenecks and attract more market attention and developers to join the ecosystem.