The company behind the Cardano ecosystem – Input Output – announced the launch of its Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) sidechain alpha on the testnet. However, the layer-one blockchain did not specify if such EVM compatibility would be directly deployed to its mainnet one day.
Interoperability is the future
IOHK tweeted that the initiative will allow developers to build solidity-based applications on the Cardano network, which means dApps developed on Ethereum could be seamlessly transferred to Cardano.
Eric Czuleger, Senior Content Editor of Input Output Global (IOG), said the community believes in “an interoperable future” that allows different blockchains to communicate with each other. In regards to the latest deployment of the EVM sidechain, Czuleger viewed it as an opportunity to onboard new users outside of the Cardano community while not “adding additional complexity to the mainnet.”
A growing number of layer 1 blockchains has made the issue of communication between chains particularly crucial. EVM is a decentralized computing engine that allows smart contracts from multiple sources to interact with each other. Besides Cardano, major Ethereum competitors such as Fantom, Avalanche, and BSC currently have all their networks EVM-enabled.
In a blog post titled “Interoperability is key to blockchain growth,” published weeks before the launch, IGO stated that the sidechain will also enable devs to create ERC-20-compatible tokens as users can enjoy the benefits of lower fees and faster settlement times.
According to the post, Milkomeda – a Cardano-enabled sidechain protocol – also enables the deployment of EVM-enabled smart contracts on its C1 sidechain connected to the Cardano mainchain. Additionally, the sidechain aims to expand interoperability between Cardano and other blockchains like Solana by the end of the year.
Criticism on Ethereum
Cardano’s founder Charles Hoskinson is known for his views on blockchain interoperability. Despite his recent embrace of the EVM deployment on Cardaono’s sidechain, he previously criticized Ethereum for its sole focus on smart contracts. Hoskinson argued that Cardano, in contrast, can do that with governance and compliance as it could operate with metadata and automated regulation.
Additionally, he called Cardano a compendium of protocols that could “offer economic support to billions of people, especially in poor regions.” Finally, he claimed that the highly anticipated blockchain upgrade to Ethereum 2.0 could cause the entire network to disappear.
