SVM Ecosystem Map
Source: Delphi Digital

SVM has clear technological advantages, particularly in parallel processing. Traditional blockchains often use a sequential processing model, meaning transactions are handled one after another, which can lead to congestion and high fees. In contrast, SVM, using the Sealevel engine, enables multi-threaded processing and distinguishes between non-conflicting operations based on transaction states. This keeps the network running at high speeds, even under heavy traffic. SVM reduces transaction costs and increases throughput by processing many transactions simultaneously. This also reduces congestion, leading to faster transaction confirmations and lower fees. Currently, Solana’s mainnet processes thousands of transactions per second, making it a strong competitor in areas like DeFi, NFTs, and gaming. Additionally, Rust ensures high performance and memory safety, reducing common security flaws in smart contracts. Tools like Anchor also make developing apps on Solana more efficient.

Solana’s high-speed execution has given rise to a vibrant ecosystem of applications. Solana offers low fees and quick transaction confirmations, whether in DeFi, digital asset exchanges, blockchain games, or NFT markets, attracting many projects. Platforms like Raydium, Serum, and Magic Eden have significantly improved the user experience. Moreover, various Layer2 solutions and application chains based on SVM are emerging, with some projects even considering using SVM as a Rollup execution engine to increase throughput and reduce on-chain data pressure. This modular, customizable architecture enriches Solana’s ecosystem and provides opportunities for cross-chain collaboration and interoperability.

Eclipse

Eclipse takes a modular approach, combining Ethereum’s security, Celestia’s data availability (DA), and Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) ’s high-performance execution to create a next-generation Ethereum Layer2 solution that combines speed and security. ​

Core Architecture and Technical Path

Eclipse has selected Ethereum as its settlement layer, using a built-in verification bridge for transaction data settlement and consensus on Ethereum. All transactions executed on Eclipse will ultimately be verified on Ethereum, with ETH used as the Gas token. This approach inherits Ethereum’s robust security mechanisms and its vast liquidity of assets. As a result, even when facing a surge in transaction volumes, users’ funds are still protected with Ethereum-level security.

On the execution layer, Eclipse uses SVM as the runtime environment. Unlike the traditional EVM, which processes transactions in a single-threaded manner, SVM takes advantage of the Sealevel parallel execution engine to handle a large number of non-conflicting transactions simultaneously. This increases throughput and reduces transaction fees. Thanks to this parallelization, Eclipse can achieve extremely high TPS (transactions per second) quickly.

Data availability is often a bottleneck in rollup design, but Eclipse addresses this by using Celestia as the DA layer. Celestia, with its scalable Blobstream and DAS (data availability sampling) mechanism, provides greater bandwidth and lower costs compared to Ethereum’s native DA. By publishing transaction data to Celestia, Eclipse achieves higher transaction throughput and makes it easy for users and validators to verify data integrity and availability, reducing risks caused by data congestion.

To ensure the security of the Rollup’s optimistic model, Eclipse uses RISC Zero to generate zero-knowledge (ZK) fraud proofs. This approach avoids the need for serializing intermediate states, significantly lowering the computational burden in the proof process. Any validator can re-execute the transaction by publishing transaction inputs, outputs, and state commitments. If the results don’t match, RISC Zero offers valid fraud proof, promptly correcting incorrect states.

Eclipse also utilizes Cosmos’ IBC protocol and Hyperlane’s cross-chain messaging technology to enable interoperability with other blockchains, such as Solana, Ethereum, and other modular chains.

Competitive Landscape

In today’s Layer 2 competition, Eclipse’s modular architecture sets it apart. Leading Ethereum L2 solutions, such as Optimism, Arbitrum, and zkSync, rely on EVM’s single-threaded execution and Ethereum’s built-in DA (via calldata or DAC) to handle scalability. However, as transaction volumes rise, the limitations of the single EVM execution model are becoming more apparent in terms of throughput and cost.

Eclipse stands out by integrating Solana’s SVM execution environment into Ethereum Rollup. This allows transactions to be processed efficiently in parallel, significantly lowering transaction fees and confirmation times. Additionally, Celestia’s highly scalable data availability layer provides Eclipse with abundant block bandwidth and affordable data publishing capabilities.

Eclipse raised $65 million in 2022 and 2023, backed by prominent investors such as Polychain, Polygon Ventures, and Tribe Capital.

On-chain Ecosystem

The Eclipse ecosystem is growing rapidly and becoming more diverse. The Backpack wallet now supports Eclipse Mainnet, and cross-chain bridges (bridge.eclipse.xyz and usenexus.org) are open for cross-chain transfers to the mainnet. Invariant DEX offers decentralized trading, and Scope NFT Launchpad provides a platform for NFT creation and launches. The Windfall re-staking protocol plans to connect to the Eclipse network in the future to enhance DeFi yields.

Eclipse’s ecosystem also features meme-based projects like Moon Coin (which includes a Telegram game) and EclipseTurbo (the first meme project, although the DEX feature is not yet launched), as well as the Manifest order book DEX, which offers users efficient and transparent order matching.

SOON

Core Architecture and Technical Path

SOON is an Ethereum Layer2 solution designed with a modular structure, integrating three key technical components:

SOON Architecture Overview

Settlement Layer: Ethereum’s Security and Liquidity

SOON uses Ethereum as its settlement layer, taking advantage of Ethereum’s proven security framework, consensus model, and immense asset liquidity. This ensures that all transactions are eventually validated and settled on Ethereum, providing users with Ethereum-level transparency and trust guarantees, while also securing the network.

Execution Layer: Decoupled SVM for High-Performance Parallel Execution

In the execution layer, SOON employs “Decoupled SVM” technology, which separates the SVM module from Solana’s consensus mechanism. This allows the transaction processing unit (TPU) to be controlled independently by the Rollup node, enabling parallel transaction processing. This significantly boosts throughput and transaction speed, while reducing latency and costs. The decoupling also allows SOON to be deployed on multiple Layer 1 public blockchains, breaking the limitations of single-chain systems.

Data Availability Layer: Flexible Choices with Celestia, EigenDA, and Avail

To tackle the challenges of data publishing and storage, SOON offers a flexible data availability (DA) solution, letting users select between Celestia, EigenDA, or Avail based on their specific requirements.

Foundational Architecture: Modular Design on the OP Stack

SOON is built on the OP stack, with a modular approach that separates the core layers of settlement, execution, and data availability while ensuring they work together seamlessly. This modular structure allows developers to tailor and extend the platform as needed for Ethereum and deployment on other public chains.

Competitive Landscape

In the current Layer2 space, traditional EVM Rollup solutions like Optimism and Arbitrum rely on single-threaded execution, leading to network congestion, rising latency, and higher transaction fees under heavy demand. In contrast, SOON’s decoupled SVM technology enables parallel processing, offering superior transaction speed and throughput while keeping costs low, even at high TPS. The flexibility of its DA layer options (Celestia, EigenDA, Avail) further reduces costs, making SOON scalable and secure.

Though other projects like Eclipse, Neon EVM, and Monad also explore SVM or parallel execution technologies, SOON’s unique modular stack and decoupled execution architecture combine Ethereum’s security with Solana’s high-performance SVM. This combination helps SOON stand out in the competitive Layer2 field.

Neon Labs

Core Architecture and Technical Path

NEON EVM Architecture
Source: Neon Labs

The primary product, Neon EVM, offers Ethereum developers a cost-effective, high-throughput alternative by deploying an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible execution environment on Solana. Ethereum has traditionally struggled with scalability issues, mainly due to network congestion and high gas fees, creating challenges for many dApps. Neon Labs overcomes this by utilizing Solana’s fast transaction processing power and low latency, allowing Ethereum dApps to migrate to Solana with minimal modifications. This results in a user experience where transaction fees are just a few cents. Neon EVM’s modular design supports standard Solidity code and allows seamless integration of SPL tokens into Neon EVM through tools like NeonPass, bridging the gap between the Ethereum and Solana ecosystems. This brings developers unprecedented flexibility and scalability.

In the realm of scalability infrastructure, Nitro Labs is developing Termina, a next-generation scalability platform for Solana. Termina, Nitro Labs’ flagship product, is designed to offer a one-stop SVM cloud platform for Solana-based dApps. It allows developers to tailor and optimize their tech stack as needed and, thanks to modular design and cross-chain bridging, extends Solana’s high throughput capabilities into a wider range of DeFi applications. Essentially, Termina not only provides more flexible resource management for on-chain execution but also facilitates Solana’s seamless connection with other blockchains, improving overall network scalability while keeping transaction fees exceptionally low.

Neon Labs acts as the perfect “bridge” for Ethereum dApps: developers don’t need to learn new programming languages or completely rebuild their code. Instead, they can make simple adjustments to their existing Ethereum applications to leverage Solana’s parallel processing and high TPS capabilities. Additionally, Neon Labs’ low-cost model enables a faster and cheaper transaction experience in high-frequency trading, which traditional L2 Rollup solutions cannot match.

Competitive Landscape

Neon Labs and Nitro Labs create a synergistic strategy: Neon Labs focuses on migrating Ethereum dApps into the Solana ecosystem while fully harnessing Solana’s high-speed transaction benefits. On the other hand, Nitro Labs offers customizable and modular scalability infrastructure through Termina, which supports cross-chain bridges and multi-chain deployment. Together, these efforts are driving the adoption of Solana in DeFi, NFTs, gaming, and payments, attracting more developers and users to join this fast, low-fee, and forward-thinking ecosystem.

MagicBlock

Core Technical Architecture

MagicBlock leverages Solana’s Virtual Machine (SVM) parallel processing capabilities and Rollup technology to bundle and process many transactions off-chain. The aggregated proof is then submitted to the main chain for settlement. This method takes full advantage of Solana’s high throughput and low latency, boosting transaction confirmation speeds and enabling operation with extremely low delays. For example, MagicBlock claims its solution processes a transaction in just 4-10 milliseconds, which is especially crucial in gaming scenarios that demand real-time interaction.

MagicBlock’s architecture is designed to optimize the transaction processing stage for applications like gaming, where instant feedback is essential. By using parallel execution and batch processing, transactions can be completed in a fraction of the time, without relying on sequential execution as traditional blockchains do, which greatly reduces latency. Additionally, MagicBlock ensures the security of on-chain settlement.

Although most transaction processing occurs off-chain to ensure fast responses, MagicBlock still uses on-chain settlement mechanisms. After the transactions are aggregated through Rollup, the final state and security proofs are submitted to the main chain (such as Ethereum or another compatible chain), ensuring that the entire system has the same level of security and immutability as the main chain.

Competitive Advantage

MagicBlock focuses on use cases highly sensitive to latency and transaction speeds, with blockchain gaming being a key example. The gaming industry requires instant responses for actions like character movement, combat interactions, or item trades, all within milliseconds, to provide a seamless, smooth experience. MagicBlock’s technology meets these demands and is suitable for other decentralized applications requiring real-time data processing, such as high-frequency trading platforms and real-time data analysis services.

Comparison Summary of Main SVM Products

Neon Labs’ Neon EVM is primarily aimed at Ethereum dApp developers, with its key advantages being ultra-low transaction fees and high throughput. Many prominent DeFi projects have successfully migrated from Ethereum to Neon EVM, resulting in a surge in transaction volume and user activity. According to market data, Neon’s daily transaction volume has increased by 150% year-over-year, effectively addressing Ethereum’s network congestion and high gas fees. Additionally, tools like NeonPass enable seamless integration between SPL tokens and EVM fee payments. However, its user base mainly consists of Ethereum developers, and challenges regarding cross-chain interoperability and compatibility remain unresolved.

On the other hand, SOON has adopted a modular integration approach. By separating execution from consensus, SOON allows Rollup nodes to independently manage transaction processing independently, enabling parallel transaction execution and greatly improving network throughput. SOON also offers several data availability layer options (such as Celestia, EigenDA, and Avail), ensuring high performance while maintaining security and data integrity. Its key advantage is that it can efficiently settle on chains like Ethereum, while its modular design allows cross-chain deployment and flexible configuration. However, this modularity increases the complexity of the system, making it potentially more difficult and costly for developers to learn and integrate.

MagicBlock focuses on gaming and real-time interactive applications, aiming to provide a Layer2 solution with extremely low latency. Powered by Rollup technology and SVM, MagicBlock can process transactions in just 4-10 milliseconds, which is crucial for gaming applications that require rapid response times. The low latency and high throughput give MagicBlock a distinct edge in real-time gaming, esports, and other high-frequency interactive scenarios. However, this optimization level requires tailoring to specific use cases, meaning MagicBlock’s versatility may not be as strong as other solutions, with its applications mainly limited to entertainment and gaming.

Eclipse offers a Layer2 solution for Ethereum based on SVM. Eclipse uses Ethereum for settlement, with Celestia providing the data availability layer and RISC Zero’s zero-knowledge proofs, ensuring efficient and secure validation. Eclipse is notable for its flexibility and customization options, allowing developers to choose different execution environments (EVM, SVM, or MoveVM) when deploying Rollups to meet various application requirements. By separating execution and settlement, Eclipse enhances performance while maintaining the security of the main chain. However, this multi-layer architecture introduces added complexity, which could lead to higher deployment and maintenance workloads and a need for more technical expertise from developers.

In conclusion, whether SVM technologies can attract sufficient developers and build a strong ecosystem depends on how each product harnesses its technical strengths and targets specific application needs.

Potential Risks

1.SOON

• SOON uses a design that combines SVM with the OP Stack modular architecture. System integration issues, interface vulnerabilities, and security risks could arise if module interactions are not handled properly.
• The new technology is still immature, with some core components in the experimental stage, and large-scale real-world testing is yet to come.
• As a general-purpose SVM L2 to be deployed on Ethereum in the future, unresolved cross-chain bridge and data interaction issues may directly impact overall performance and security.

2.Eclipse

• Eclipse tightly integrates Ethereum’s settlement layer, Solana’s execution environment, Celestia’s data availability layer, and RISC Zero’s zero-knowledge proofs, making its system architecture extremely complex. If one link fails, the entire chain could collapse.
• The reliance on external solutions like Celestia and RISC Zero means that Eclipse’s security and performance are partly dependent on the technological maturity of its partners.
• Ensuring data consistency and transaction finality across different chains is very difficult, with protocol coordination and delay risks always present.

3.Neon Labs

• Neon EVM runs the Ethereum Virtual Machine on Solana, which leads to collisions between two very different data structures and account models, resulting in compatibility issues.
• When mapping EVM state to Solana accounts, if the synchronization mechanism or conversion process is not sufficiently robust, data inconsistencies and security vulnerabilities may occur.
• Some users have questioned its tokenomics model, and such disputes could undermine long-term user incentives and ecosystem stability.

4.Magic Block

• To meet the extremely low-latency demands of gaming and real-time interactions, MagicBlock has made significant improvements in parallel processing and dedicated optimization. However, ensuring transaction security and data consistency while pursuing speed is a major challenge.
• Currently, MagicBlock mainly serves gaming and interactive applications, and its high level of customization may limit its application in broader scenarios, restricting market expansion.
• To achieve millisecond-level response times, multiple specialized optimization techniques are used internally, which increases the difficulty of coordination between system modules and future maintenance.

Future Development

In the future, SOON has a clear goal: to launch the “SOON Mainnet” on the Ethereum mainnet and achieve the true deployment of a general-purpose SVM L2; at the same time, it will continue refining the interfaces and data transmission mechanisms between modules, reducing system complexity, and ensuring security and efficiency; SOON will actively encourage more dApp integrations, expand application scenarios, and strengthen interoperability with other chains.

Eclipse focuses on further perfecting its mainnet architecture, optimizing transaction validation, settlement efficiency, and zero-knowledge proof performance, aiming to build an efficient and robust system. It will also upgrade developer tools, launch user-friendly APIs, attract more dApps, and promote community governance through Eclipse Foundation. Furthermore, Eclipse plans to enhance cross-chain interoperability with Ethereum and other chains to improve asset liquidity and user experience, while continuously conducting security audits and performance testing to mitigate multi-module integration risks.

Neon Labs’ roadmap is to improve the interoperability between EVM and SVM continuously, optimize state mapping and data storage structures to ensure system stability. They will also release more comprehensive toolchains and documentation to facilitate seamless migration of Ethereum dApps. Additionally, Neon Labs will strengthen security audits, improve the security of bridge protocols, and collaborate with Solana and other ecosystem projects to promote the healthy development of the Neon ecosystem.

MagicBlock will continue pushing the limits of performance, further reducing latency, and achieving higher throughput while ensuring security to meet extreme real-time demands. It will also explore new scenarios such as real-time finance, esports, and gaming. Moreover, MagicBlock will release more SDKs and tools for developers, lowering the development threshold while enhancing security designs and bug fixes to ensure that complex optimizations do not affect system robustness.