Neon EVM Recap 2024: The Year of Extending Solana

Neon EVM is entering a new era. But hop in, one last ride, 'cause we are going to temp check the past!

Key Highlights:

1. Solana-native Repositioning: Neon EVM adopted a unique position as a Solana network extension for Solidity developers, achieving 100k+ views on X and getting covered in media.
2. Solana-native Frameworks: Focussed on enabling access to the Solana environment (user and liquidity) for EVM builders with the release of a new whitepaper with supporting schemas and architecture.
3. Solana Signature SDK: Enabling Solana signature functionality support for Solidity dApps deployed on Neon EVM.
4. Easing Transaction and Fees: Improved UX with NeonPass and adopted EIP-1559 to allow users flexibility in setting priority fees on Solana—a game-changer post-2024’s congestion, for smooth and cost-efficient transactions.
5. Points Program: Launched on-chain Points program for explorers, contributors, and community members, garnering up to 11K DAU and 200K daily txns.

Gm Neonauts,

A lot has happened in 2024 for Neon EVM. From Parallel EVM to Solana-native frameworks, this year was all about evolving our value proposition. Neon EVM remains a parallelized EVM, but we have expanded our capabilities to become the ultimate fast-track pathway for EVM builders to tap into the fast-growing Solana ecosystem.

If you’re not already part of the journey, or if you’re here to get reacquainted with the latest developments, we have got you covered.

Before that, for the Naysayer, What is Neon EVM?

Psst: Neon EVM isn’t just an Ethereum Virtual Machine, it’s definitely not an L2, and it sure is NOT a bridge.

Neon EVM is a Solana-native extension, an EVM built on Solana operating natively within Solana’s base layer. It provides Ethereum developers with a fast, high-throughput pathway to deploy their EVM dApps on Solana and integrate natively (including Solana wallet and balance usage) with the Solana ecosystem without the need to rewrite their contracts in Rust. Simply put, it lets your EVM dApp EXTEND into the Solana environment.

Now let’s take a stroll down memory lane and see how Neon EVM evolved.

Here’s a glimpse of the Year 2024 at Neon EVM ↓🌐👇

Technology & Strategy: Building the Solana-native Road for EVM dApps

From a parallel processing EVM to Neon Stack, RollApps on Solana, Solana Network extension, and Solana-native whitepaper; there have been various announcements this year. A brief reminder: Neon EVM is a parallel processing EVM by virtue of it being built on Solana and inheriting Solana’s Sealevel parallel tech architecture. However, in 2024, we built beyond just that.

We transitioned from a pessimistic execution model to an optimistic processing model, unlocking full parallel execution. This innovation proved crucial during the mid-year Solana network congestion, efficiently distributing computational units among iterative transactions and overcoming Solana ecosystem challenges like transaction failures and delays.

In May 2024, we tested Neon Stack, a technology suite, designed to facilitate EVM compatibility for smart contract developers within SVM-based blockchain networks. Neon Stack was tested by networks like Eclipse (on Ethereum) and exhibited interest by Sonic (on Solana), and Yona (on Bitcoin).

To push the boundaries further, we explored RollApps on Solana, experimenting with demand-driven modularity to enhance SVM scalability. Here, Neon EVM was used to prove RiscZero’s zkVM on Solana, allowing SVM rollup devs to access Ethereum's ZK libraries with Neon EVM as the verification layer!

With all these efforts leading us toward Solana, we unveiled a comprehensive Solana-native whitepaper that outlined our long-term vision. Key highlights include integrating support for Solana signature functionality for Solidity dApps. For this, we introduced the Solana Signature SDK, allowing builders to add Solana wallet support to their EVM dApps. This in turn, enables their users to sign from wallets like Phantom, Backpack, or Solflare.

We are actively working on enhancing composability between EVM contracts and Solana programs. Composability v1 is live on mainnet —with the interface contract ICallSolana.sol in our Github Repository, Solidity smart contracts deployed on Neon EVM can directly interact with Solana programs. We are working on Composability v2 (for iterative transactions).

Discover our Solana-native approach! 🚀
Read Solana-native Whitepaper

Technical Insights: Infrastructure, Audits, Composability and Debugs

Working on translating the above vision into practice, we leveraged Solana’s native RPC infrastructure, which provides faster transaction processing and improved dApp performance. Another important feature includes an on-chain mempool that ensures efficient transaction scheduling and execution directly on-chain, eliminating reliance on external tools.

Additionally, a controlled tree of Neon transactions introduces a method for atomic and parallel transaction execution, ensuring smooth state management for complex interactions. Intent-based execution offers a way to handle transaction intents, bridging the gap between EVM contracts and Solana programs to enhance interoperability despite Solana’s structural differences.

Neon EVM was also focused on enhancing security, composability, and developer tooling. Neon EVM underwent rigorous security assessments conducted by reputable firms, including Halborn, Neodyme, and Ackee Blockchain. These audits encompassed the Neon EVM Program, Proxy, infrastructure, and Neon DAO, ensuring a secure and reliable environment for developers and users.

Over the year, our GitHub repositories have seen consistent updates, with active contributors working on features like enhanced transaction execution, complex contract testing, and governance frameworks. Docs have been revamped and equipped with detailed step-by-step guides, API references, and tutorials to streamline onboarding and integration.

The Neon Proxy, a critical component that facilitates seamless interaction between Ethereum-based applications and the Solana blockchain, has undergone significant refactoring throughout 2024. These advancements, coupled with updated developer tooling and documentation, mark our focus on continuous enhancement of the Neon Proxy.

Dive into our resources and learn more about Neon EVM tech⚙️
Check our Developer Handbook

Neon EVM Ecosystem: dApps, Tooling and Integrations

2024 saw integrations and deployments across DeFi, gaming, infra, identity, creator platforms, and more. DeFi protocols that deployed this year, include Vibrant Finance, lendOS, Lumen, and IcecreamSwap. Various gaming dApps built on Neon EVM —PixelRealm incubated ‘Kugle’, a virtual pets game, while Battledogs Arena and VersusX introduced battle cards and arcade gaming.

Key infrastructure developments include deBridge as a pivotal partner, simplifying asset transfers, Subsquid offering indexing solutions, and Attarius and Stardust equipping developers with tools to create thriving gaming economies.

Web3 quests hit new levels with Intract, Micro3, Guild, and Nomis repping identity, while Hoodoi and coNFT marketplaces offer opportunities for creators. We also worked actively to bring in UX improvements with re-vamped NeonPass and Onboarding Portal. There are a host of possibilities—devs, gamers, and creators, let’s run it!

Ready to launch your dApp on Neon? Let’s build together 🤝⚙️
Join Neon EVM Ecosystem

Events & Industry Presence: Global Participation, Hackathons and Networking

We have stayed closely connected with the EVM ecosystem, attending a series of key Ethereum events and hackathons. From the main stage at ETHDenver to engaging with developers, hosting hackathons, workshops, live demos, and showcasing our latest innovations at ETHSeoul, ETHBelgrade, ETHGlobal Bangkok, DevCon Bangkok, and ETHGlobal San Francisco, it has been a busy year! We connected with over 1k+ developers and showcased 12 live demos and workshops.

At EthCC Brussels, we hosted an exclusive side event featuring a panel (Polygon, Arbitrum, Sonic, Eclipse, and Neon EVM) on SVM and EVM Rollups and RollApps.

Game nights, mixers, meet-ups, and side events have always been active parts of community engagement and will continue well into 2025.

Join us next at Meet-ups and major events 🤝
Visit Events Updates

Growth & Marketing: Socials, Features and Top Mentions

Our social and industry presence resulted in 100+ media features, interviews, and podcasts, reaching a potential average monthly audience of 103.5 M. These include features in Coindesk, Defiant, The Block, Blockworks, Cryptoslate, and top podcasts like The Index Podcast, Exponential DeFi, Solana Weekly, Coindesk TV, Developer DAO, Zipto, and the list continues…

We made noise across X Spaces, featuring alongside teams from Arbitrum, Arcium, Pyth, MagicBlock, and Chainbase. We also hosted various ecosystem Spaces, familiarizing the Web3 audience with the Neon EVM ecosystem and dApp deployments. With initiatives like LearnWeb3 technical lessons, our focus is strong on empowering developers.

In July 2024, we announced a KYCd airdrop for our off-chain Points program. The Neon EVM Points Program was launched in August 2024, reaching up to 11K DAU and 200K daily txns.

Meanwhile, platforms like Questn, Intract, Galxe, Micro3, and Superteams Earn saw an overwhelming 86,000+ cumulative participants engage with our campaigns. Discord town halls, interactive Telegram channels, and an all-exclusive invite-only TG Builder’s chat all helped us stay connected with the web3 and developer community.

Stay tuned for more Neon EVM insights and features 📺
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Looking Ahead to 2025: An Optimistic Future

As we embark on a new year, Neon EVM is poised for more innovation and growth. Our focus is on security, scalability, transparency, and decentralization. Neon EVM invites developers and enthusiasts alike to join us in building and deploying dApps that users would truly love.

We express our gratitude to the Neon EVM community and look forward to a wonderful and prosperous New Year in 2025!

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