MegaETH Explained

What is MegaETH?

MegaETH is a Layer 2 (L2) blockchain described as "real-time Ethereum." It is engineered to handle over 100,000 transactions per second (TPS) with sub-millisecond latency. This innovative blockchain decouples transaction processing from full nodes and specializes node roles into sequencers, provers, and full nodes, enhancing both performance and decentralization.

The MegaETH network aims to overcome the limitations of current Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) blockchains by using a modular architecture that leverages base layers like Ethereum L1 and EigenDA for security and data availability. This approach enables real-time transaction processing, high throughput, and low latency, making decentralized applications (dApps) as swift as traditional Web2 apps.

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How Does MegaETH Scale Ethereum?

MegaETH scales Ethereum by employing a combination of specialized technologies and architectural innovations to improve transaction speed, state synchronization, and overall system efficiency:

• Node Specialization: Sequencer nodes focus on transaction ordering and execution, while other nodes handle state updates. This division optimizes performance and enhances scalability.
• In-Memory State Access: Sequencer nodes use abundant RAM to hold the entire blockchain state, eliminating SSD read latency. This greatly speeds up state access and transaction processing.
• Parallel EVM Execution: MegaETH implements parallel EVM execution to increase throughput. It addresses the low parallelism in workloads to maximize performance gains.
• Just-In-Time (JIT) Compilation: JIT compilation converts smart contracts into fast native code during execution. This accelerates EVM performance, especially for compute-intensive tasks.
• State Synchronization: A peer-to-peer protocol quickly sends state updates from the sequencer to full nodes, keeping nodes synchronized even with up to 100,000 transactions per second.
• Optimized State Trie Updates: By grouping trie nodes and minimizing disk I/O operations through in-memory caching, the Merkle Patricia Trie (MPT) updating is streamlined to reduce overhead.

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Backing and Funding

MegaETH initially gained popularity because of its financial backing, raising $20 million in a seed funding round led by Dragonfly Capital, Figment Capital, Robot Ventures, Big Brain Holdings, and prominent angel investors such as Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Consensys founder Joseph Lubin, and EigenLayer founder Sreeram Kannan. This funding round has brought MegaETH's valuation to over $100 million.

The strong backing from these particular leading figures in the blockchain industry has led to discussions in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space about the similarities between MegaETH and Monad, a Layer 1 blockchain that raised $225 million in early 2024.

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When Will MegaETH Launch?

MegaETH is set to launch its public testnet in September or October of 2024, with the mainnet anticipated to go live by the end of the year. The decision on whether MegaETH's native token will launch concurrently with the mainnet is still under consideration. Crypto users are already speculating about a potential MegaETH airdrop and are constructing strategies on how to farm it early.

Developers are welcome to join the MegaMafia Builder Program which supports global developers in collaborating with the MegaLabs team and advisors.

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MegaETH Founding Team

MegaETH's company, MegaLabs, was co-founded by Yilong Li, Lei Yang, and Shuyao Kong in early 2023. Yilong Li, who holds a PhD in computer science from Stanford University, serves as the CEO. Lei Yang, the CTO, has a PhD in computer science from MIT. Shuyao Kong, the Chief Business Officer, has an MBA from Harvard Business School and previously worked at ConsenSys.

There are currently 20 people in the core MegaETH team, with no immediate plans to grow beyond that. Namik Muduroglu, the Head of Growth, was a strategic business development lead at Consensys.

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MegaETH Criticism

MegaETH has sparked debate over its role and legitimacy in the blockchain ecosystem. Critics, including Justin Bons from Cyber Capital, argue that while MegaETH enhances Layer 2 scalability, it neglects similar improvements for Ethereum's base layer. Bons suggests that applying MegaETH's optimizations to Ethereum itself could potentially eliminate the need for Layer 2 scaling solutions.

In response, Yilong Li, co-founder of MegaETH, explains that the technology's optimizations for Layer 2 cannot directly apply to Ethereum's L1 due to differing security and operational requirements. Analysts, such as Jack Inabinet from Bankless, applaud MegaETH's advancements in achieving real-time blockchain capacity, which could enhance L2 performance and address Ethereum's scaling challenges.

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Bottom Line

MegaETH and its founders stand for the vision that they aren't just building yet another blockchain, but are rather transforming Ethereum to be a real-time network that will open the door for dapps that can compete even with the best Web2 applications in both speed and user experience.

The technology-first approach and support by leading VCs and core members from Ethereum and EigenDA create all the necessary conditions for the ideal launch of the MegaETH Layer 2 later in 2024.