Monad: Technical Innovations and Challenges of the New PoS-Compatible EVM Public Chain

Monad is an emerging proof-of-stake ( PoS ) Ethereum Virtual Machine ( EVM ) compatible blockchain project, aimed at enhancing the performance of the entire Ethereum ecosystem through technological innovation. The project claims to provide far greater throughput than existing smart contract blockchains, supporting 10,000 smart contract transactions per second ( tps ).

Technical Highlights

The core technological innovations of Monad are mainly reflected in the following aspects:

1. MonadBFT Consensus Mechanism: A high-performance Byzantine fault-tolerant consensus algorithm based on an improved HotStuff.

2. Delayed execution: Decoupling transaction execution from the consensus process to improve processing flexibility.

3. Parallel Execution: Adopt an optimistic execution strategy that allows for the parallel processing of transactions.

4. MonadDb: A custom database designed for blockchain state storage, improving efficiency and performance.

These innovations enable Monad to achieve a 1-second block time and 1-second finality, while maintaining full compatibility with the EVM.

Project Team Background

Monad Labs was founded by former members of the Jump Trading team, and the core team includes:

• CEO Keone Hon: Former head of the Jump Trading high-frequency trading team
• CTO James Hunsaker: Expert in Systems Engineering and Low Latency Optimization
• COO Eunice Giarta: A product and technology leader with a background in traditional finance and fintech.

Financing Situation

In December 2022, Monad completed a $19 million financing round, led by Dragonfly Capital, with participation from over 70 other investors.

Project Progress

Currently, Monad has not released its testnet, but it has announced partnerships with LayerZero and Wormhole. The project is actively developing its community and encouraging community members to participate in content creation and contributions.

Ecological Construction

The Monad ecosystem is being gradually built, and the known projects include:

• DEX: TayaSwap (Testnet Phase)
• Cross-chain bridge: LayerZero and Wormhole (have announced joining the ecosystem)

Project Evaluation

As an emerging L1 public chain project, Monad shows potential in technological innovation, particularly in improving transaction processing speed and efficiency. However, in the highly competitive public chain sector, Monad still faces numerous challenges:

1. Actual performance verification: Claims of high TPS and fast confirmation need to be validated in a real network environment.

2. Ecosystem Development: Attracting developers and users to build a rich ecosystem is crucial.

3. Market Competition: Standing out among the many "Ethereum killer" projects requires a unique value proposition.

4. Long-term sustainability: It is necessary to balance high performance with factors such as decentralization and security.

The Monad project is still in its early stages, and its technological innovations and team background are worth paying attention to. However, the long-term success of the project still needs to prove its value in practical applications and establish a unique advantage in the highly competitive blockchain market.