Injective to add native high-performance EVM support to its Layer 1 blockchain

Injective plans to launch native Ethereum Virtual Machine support on its Layer 1 blockchain — aimed at improving the network’s capabilities.

Injective’s original software architecture does not natively support EVM code, but this new development will change that and bring Ethereum-compatible decentralized applications to the network.

Over the past few years, several newer blockchains have adopted EVM compatibility to leverage Ethereum’s vast network of applications, users, and developers. 

The Injective team is starting with a private developer network (devnet) for initial testing, with the eventual mainnet release expected later in the year.

Injective’s native EVM will employ the latest version of the client software Geth, maintaining compatibility with the current Ethereum tooling and standards. It aims to provide a fully embedded execution environment within the chain’s core infrastructure, removing the need for external interoperability solutions. “Unlike rollups or external interoperability solutions, this is a truly native implementation of EVM where the entire system operates solely on Injective’s infrastructure,” the project said. 

Injective was launched on its own Layer 1 blockchain in 2020, developed using the Cosmos SDK. In July 2021, Injective underwent a “CosmWasm mainnet” upgrade to bring scalable smart contracts to the network. The EVM component has been designed to work alongside Injective’s existing CosmWasm smart contract architecture. 

The network’s developers say the native EVM can attain high transaction throughput with a theoretical maximum of 12,500 transactions per second. However, in mainnet-simulated testing, Injective’s EVM supported 320 to 800 TPS.

Injective’s native EVM will enable EVM developers to use the full capabilities of Injective’s “exchange module,” an on-chain order book that supports advanced trading functionality within a shared liquidity environment.

The network will still have to navigate a competitive landscape of high-performance Layer 1 EVM chains, such as Avalanche, Sonic, Sei and Monad.

In August 2022, Injective raised a $40 million funding round led by Jump Crypto. The project is also backed by Binance, Pantera Capital, and Mark Cuban.