ChainSafe is excited to announce that we have received another grant from the Interchain Foundation to finish the development and testing of a live Ethermint Zone. We are extremely eager to provide the community with a productionized version of this new and powerful software.
Ethermint is an implementation of the EVM, built using the Cosmos SDK, that runs on top of Tendermint Core’s BFT Proof-of-Stake consensus engine. Ethermint enables users to deploy any Ethereum compatible code and immediately enjoy PoS consensus and instant finality with little to no overhead. In this way, Ethermint exists in the Cosmos ecosystem but is EVM compatible. Tapping into this vast resource and giving developers access to PoS consensus and instant finality via a productionized Ethermint has a massive potential to push decentralized technologies forward.
The goal of this next phase of development is to upgrade the current Ethermint codebase to become a production ready Cosmos zone. Bringing Ethermint to production so that users can securely deploy any project will greatly help to promote decentralized open source technologies by providing a blockchain that can be used and built on by the huge number of developers who are already familiar with the Ethereum ecosystem.
First grant accomplishments
Last year, ChainSafe received an initial grant from the Interchain Foundation to begin building Ethermint. Over the course of the first grant, we accomplished the following:
- Produce a working implementation that behaves as mainnet Ethereum does with some limitations.
- Implement Ethereum transactions in the CosmosSDK.
- Implement Web3 compatible API layer.
- Implement the EVM as a CosmosSDK module.
What is covered in this new grant?
This grant will cover the last stretch of development and testing, which will lead to a live Ethermint Zone.
The grant will consist of the following deliverables:
- Benchmark Web3 API and EVM module against Geth.
- Implement a Web3 personal API to allow for keygen and account management in a way familiar to Ethereum users and developers.
- Implement a way to handle pending state queries through the Web3 API.
- Set up an Ethermint testnet.
- Work on IBC integration, allowing for the EVM to directly interact with IBC.
- Allow the Ethermint EVM to interact with other Cosmos SDK modules.
- Establish a final testing period by setting up a “game of Ethermint.” This will be a 4–6 week long testnet that will incentivise users to test the Zone in anticipation of the transition to mainnet.
Aragon Chain already using Ethermint!
One of the most exciting parts about completing Ethermint is the applicability of the project. ChainSafe has already received a lot of interest from several organizations who would like to build on Ethermint. We have already engaged with the Aragon Project to build Aragon Chain on Ethermint, which is nearing a testnet launch.
In fall of 2019, the Aragon community voted to approve a proposal for ChainSafe to build Aragon Chain on Ethermint to complement Aragon on Ethereum. Aragon Chain will be highly beneficial to the Aragon community, by allowing for lower fees and higher customization. It will also be able to communicate and transact with Aragon on Ethereum. ChainBridge will allow users to send value from Ethereum to Aragon Chain and back. Aragon Chain will feature its own token called ARA and Aragon Chain validators will be able to stake their ARA to secure the chain and to come to consensus on the chain’s state. The bridge will also allow for events on Aragon Chain to trigger events on Ethereum and vice versa. This will enable coordination and cooperation between DAOs deployed on Aragon Chain and those deployed on Ethereum.
Any team that has a project built on Ethereum can migrate to Ethermint to enjoy lower fees, instant finality and a higher level of customization with minimal overhead.
How to get involved
Interested in getting involved and contributing to the project? Check out our Github and feel free to get in contact with one of our Ethermint team members on our Discord.
Thanks to Colin Schwarz for all the help on the article!
