Visualization of sidechains for the main blockchain
As the VASIL hard fork is quickly approaching while infrastructure and adoption for Cardano grows, it's time to discuss one of the most important issues with the current state of all cryptocurrencies: Interoperability.
Cardano and Ethereum can coexist peacefully
Working alone, blockchains will meet relatively small success. If blockchains are to transform the digital realm, developers need a way to interact and build on multiple blockchains without having to overcome significant obstacles. To this end, IOG aims to create a network of sidechains that will improve the scalability, interoperability, and ease of programmability on the Cardano blockchain.
In this “ecosystem” of sidechains supporting the main blockchain, developers can:
- Use the EVM sidechain to create and implement smart contracts that are compatible with both Cardano and Ethereum.
- Use Plutus to code smart contracts and dApps securely and efficiently
- Use the EVM sidechain’s decentralized governance applications to custom design on-chain governance/voting
IOG’s first sidechain will be the EVM sidechain. This will allow Solidity developers to build dApps on the Cardano and Ethereum blockchains.
But what is an EVM?
Ethereum devs can utilize the sidechain to develop on Cardano
The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is a software program on the Ethereum network that allows computers to participate in smart contracts. All Ethereum nodes run the EVM to respond to changes in the blockchain. Sidechains that utilize the EVM can also change consensus mechanisms and other aspects of the chain, while still keeping the smart contract utility.
The sidechain will maintain compatibility with Ethereum hard forks to remain interoperable. The EVM’s inefficient and resource-heavy proof-of-work consensus mechanism will be replaced by Cardano’s Ouroboros Byzantine Fault Tolerance (OBFT) consensus mechanism — allowing developers to utilize an efficient network while developing for Cardano and Ethereum blockchains.
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