Paradigm Drives $225M Funding Round For Monad Labs, Blockchain Rival To Ethereum, Solana

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A prominent Venture Capital (VC) firm called Paradigm is spearheading a significant investment of $225 million for a new Layer 1 (L1) network’s development. This network aspires to challenge Ethereum (ETH) blockchain in the market. Notable investors besides Paradigm include Electric Capital and Greenoaks.

Based on a recent article in Fortune Magazine, Monad Labs intends to challenge industry leaders like Solana and Ethereum, as well as the Layer 1 blockchain protocol Sui, according to their plans for their blockchain project.

Monad’s Rebuilt Ethereum Blockchain 

According to the report, Monad intends to reconstruct Ethereum’s foundation while maintaining the capability to process smart contracts. This endeavor aspires to deliver quicker transaction processing, manage larger volumes, and provide more affordable fees than presently available alternatives.

Significantly, Monad is designed to work seamlessly with Ethereum’s development framework, referred to as the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). By doing so, it enables developers to effortlessly transfer Ethereum-based applications, resulting in a smooth shift to the new blockchain.

In a private conversation with Fortune, Keone Hon, Monad’s creator, shared that they have spent around two years working diligently on creating their blockchain technology.

Hon pointed out that Monad Labs is distinctive in its commitment to the EVM bytecode norm. This standard is essential for developers building decentralized applications (dApps) on networks including Ethereum, Polygon, Avalanche, Binance Smart Chain, and Optimism.

Approximately 9 out of every 10 cryptocurrency developers, as stated by Avichal Garg, the managing partner of Electric Capital, dedicate their efforts solely to building on Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chains.

The statistic, brought to light in Electric Capital’s latest report, underscores the strong attraction of EVM compatibility, which Monad enjoys despite not undergoing a full language overhaul like some other blockchains. Instead, Monad leverages the extensive use and comfort level that comes with EVM.

Blockchain-Powered Exchanges? 

Based on the information in the report, Monad intends to unveil its mainnet by the end of the year and aims to release a testnet prior to that. With approximately 30 employees on board, the organization is also considering introducing a native token; however, specifics about its launch in conjunction with the mainnet have yet to be announced.

Keone Hon highlighted the importance of gaining widespread acceptance for Monad, but noted that its primary application may be in “fast-paced” trading markets based on his background at Jump Trading, a forward-thinking trading company specialized in data analysis and research.

Hon underscored the importance of having a fast and efficient blockchain in order to support trading volumes similar to those of the Nasdaq or CME exchanges, handling anywhere from millions to billions of transactions every day.

To put it simply, Hon pointed out the advantage of a blockchain with a large transaction capacity and affordable fees in powering various applications, including gaming. He brought up instances like RuneScape, a blockchain game that frequently requires updating player stats, making swift and cost-effective transactions on the blockchain essential.

At the time of writing, ETH was trading at $3,497, down nearly 5% in the past 24 hours. 

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2024-04-10 01:16