The Emerging SVM Landscape (Solana Core Tech)

Three years ago after spending a decade in semiconductor ecosystem and developer relations covering TinyML, EdgeAI, Edge Computing, IoT, Robotics, Perceptual Computing and Drones - I made the decision to exit into the realm of cryptocurrency because, after performing some research, I concluded that DePin (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure) would disrupt the cloud, SaaS, AI and IoT markets by enabling machine-to-machine native payments. As I wrote in my first article on this topic, the space has since grown to hundreds of projects.

Solana is the epicenter for where this transformation is occurring. But first, there is significant work to be done to further improve the speed and lower costs of transactions as well as improve the DX (developer experience) of launching custom SVM variants and even Solana "Network Extensions" (Solana's take on how blockchains ought to be extended - by adding new types of functionality rather than necessarily purely blockspace).

Growth in the Solana Virtual Machine Landscape

Coming back from Singapore, Solana Breakpoint (the primary Solana developer event of the year, introduced a wide range of new entrants into the emerging SVM (Solana Virtual Machine) innovation space.

If you are not too familiar, the Solana Virtual Machine (aka "Sealevel") is a high performance VM which enables extremely rapid execution of decentralized programs via a distributed network of global operators. The SVM enables parallel execution of transactions enabling large volumes of transactions to occur at global scale. The end goal? Build a decentralized finance network with the performance of the NASQAQ capable of enabling many millions of people to buy, sell, trade and launch innovative DePin, gaming, telecom, AI and other applications based on Solana.

In Q1 of 2024, Solana Labs (aka Solana Core Engineering) engineers departed to join a new organization: Anza. Anza is an independent "DevShop" which maintains the core validator technology ("agave") and the SVM itself, along with several other projects such as solana/web3.js.

In Julyof 2024, the SVM API was announced by Anza, enabling developers to decoupled the VM from the agave validator client. This was exciting news because dozens of developer teams are lined up to customize and extend the behavior of the SVM in new directions.

As a result of the opening of such core technologies, many new projects have entered the space and are pursuing a range of new topics including:

• Permissioned L1s that replicate the behavior of the SWIFT network but automate the manual components while maintaining the same degree of international compliance as in the case of Sphere. See my article on this topic here.
• Decentralized storage networks which will enable much larger Solana programs as in the case of Xandeum.
• Ethereum on Solana (EVM) and Solana on EVM and Solana IN Ethereum variants (Ellipsis, Eclipse, Neon, Soon etc).
• Bitcoin x Solana cross-overs such as Yona, Molocule and Zeus
• A profusion of new clients including the new Jump Firedancer client unveiled at Breakpoint, boasting the ability to achieve a theoretical max TPS of 1,000,000 per second
• Emerging categories of zkSVM, rollups, AI and more

What Comes Next

With my updated landscape above, I captured most (but not all) of the new projects originating in the Solana space representing new teams that are finding novel ways to extend the functionality of the SVM.

Many of these teams only formed in the last year, several are nearing the launch of mainnet in the next few months. By this time next year, if the current rate of growth continues, it will be interesting to see the progression of the overall Solana SVM ecosystem.