First Ethereum EVM to Launch on Solana in Early December

Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) Neon will launch on the mainnet on Dec. 12, which will allow Ethereum dApps to run on the Solana network.

On-chain solution Neon EVM has announced that it will go live on the Solana mainnet on Dec. 12. The launch will bring Ethereum dApps to the Solana network, giving these access to its features, scalability, and liquidity.

Neon Labs founder Marina Guryeva revealed the date at the Solana BreakPoint conference.

Neon EVM is the only of its kind on Solana, and it opens up development possibilities on the network. Users can also gain the benefits of using popular Ethereum dApps on Solana’s scalable network. Guryeva noted the impact it could have on usability, saying,

“Neon EVM unites the best of two worlds, Ethereum and Solana, and puts to rest the Ethereum killer narrative once and for all. Ethereum-based projects can, for the first time, tap into the previously inaccessible audience and liquidity of Solana without needing to rewrite their code in Rust. As a result, users will now get to enjoy enhanced user experiences on Solana without losing out on Ethereum’s battle-tested dApps.”

Ethereum developers and projects will also be able to make use of Solana’s user base, which has an average of 20.5 million monthly active wallets. Neon Labs also noted that there are already Ethereum-based projects building on Neon, including Aave, Curve, and Sobal. This will give Solana’s users many more dApps to work with, and Ethereum’s dApps are some of the most successful in the market.

What is Neon EVM?

The Neon EVM allows developers to build Ethereum dApps on the Solana network, offering the advantages that the Solana network provides. The Neon transactions of the Ethereum dApps are wrapped into a Solana transaction.

Neon Labs, the company behind the Neon EVM, raised $40 million to bring the EVM to Solana. The funding round was led by Jump Capital and included IDEO CoLab Ventures, Solana Capital, and Three Arrows Capital, among others.

The Neon EVM does not support NFT transactions yet, but this is planned. The team is also working on interoperability with Solana smart contracts, full ecosystem compatibility, integration with additional major Ethereum tools and services, and an early grants program.

Solana creating a lot of buzz

Solana has been in the news for many reasons lately. Most notably, Google Cloud revealed that it had become a Solana validator. The news immediately caused a 12% spike in the price of SOL.

The CEO of the Solana NFT project Metaplex Stephen Hess also revealed that Beeple NFTs would be coming to Solana. However, the artist later said no deal ever took place. Still, Solana NFTs have been doing well, with trading activity increasing after the release of the y00ts collection.