This is Part 2 of “EVM vs SmartWeave: A Comprehensive Guide for Agreeing Developers”.
Deferred Execution: Another Perspective
Modular theory has been one of the most prominent stories in the blockchain space over the last few years. The only exception may be his Solana, where almost all major L1s have settled on scaling their decentralized network through a modular approach rather than relying on a monolithic layer responsible for delivering all the properties of a blockchain. SmartWeave is a unique approach to modular theory, focused solely on extending distributed ledger computing capabilities by separating data storage from the execution layer.
SmartWeave’s “lazy evaluation” approach shifts the responsibility of executing smart contract code from network nodes to smart contract users.
This essentially means that transaction validation computations are deferred until needed, reducing the workload on network nodes and allowing more efficient processing of transactions. This approach allows users to perform as many calculations as they want without incurring additional charges, and offers features that other Smarthis contract systems cannot achieve. As a result, builders no longer have to worry about optimizing gas when ratings are offloaded to users.
Evaluation of the suitability of EVM and SmartWeave
Financial primitives are one of the most important applications of blockchain technology, and EVM is particularly well suited for this purpose as it enforces smart contract code strictly and deterministically on every network node. Additionally, the huge amount of capital underlying EVM platforms such as the Ethereum mainnet and its accompanying L2 provides a high level of security, putting EVM-based smart contract networks in an advantageous position to capture the DeFi market.
Another important factor to consider is the need to scale SmartWeave applications that are computationally intensive. This can only be achieved by delegating the execution layer to a specialized entity, as it is impractical to rely solely on the user’s device. Trying to evaluate a contract with thousands of user CPU interactions is futile.
Abstraction layers like Warp’s DRE have been developed to overcome this challenge. It consists of a distributed validator network that handles contract calculations, greatly improving response times and user experience.
However, keeping this abstraction layer fully decentralized at the end of the day is important to avoid third-party dependencies and censorship issues. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that upper execution layers, which may be susceptible to hypothetical malicious activity, cannot compromise the decentralization and immutability of SmartWeave data stored in Arweave. Any entity can get data directly from her Arweave and execute contract state independently, thus preventing cheating.
Many applications already provide added value to Permaweb users, but the Arweave ecosystem is still in its early stages. The search and definition of standards is now underway, much like in the early days of Ethereum when the major ERC standards were created.
Developer activity and available tools are still niche compared to EVM systems. While this can put newcomers at a disadvantage due to the steep learning curve, it also presents an exciting opportunity for true innovation, which is the bedrock of the cryptocurrency industry.
Market suitability of SmartWeave
While it’s interesting to talk about architectural design benefits and limitations in theory, let’s focus on the practical aspects and consider specific use cases where EVM may not be optimal. That’s where SmartWeave could fill a niche market. DeSoc (decentralized social) has recently emerged as a major trend in the crypto space, generating excitement, community participation and developer engagement similar to his legendary DeFi summer.
Through an open architecture that liberates social graph data, DeSoc aims to solve traditional social media challenges such as disjointed monetization of creators and disproportionate platform value. However, social graph protocols such as Lens Protocol, Farcaster, and CyberConnect are still in the early stages of development and require consideration of various standards and tradeoffs.
One issue to consider in social graph protocols is EVM limitations. This includes high gas prices and long finality periods. No one wants to wait two minutes for a Like action to be processed. A possible solution is to store less important data like likes and mirrors off-chain and post more important actions on-chain. However, this approach may require sacrificing on-chain programmability and decentralization.
However, Warp excels in these EVM constraints thanks to its unusual architecture and ability to maintain user interaction on the Permaweb (Arweave ledger) without sacrificing user experience. By delegating certain high-cost or high-throughput actions to Warp, existing social graph protocols built on the EVM chain can be enhanced with his seamless SmartWeave integration, leveraging the strengths of both technologies. An example of such mutual symbiosis is shown in the diagram below.
SmartWeave deployments can be enhanced by considering AI and financial modeling, thanks to the benefits of transparent underlying data stored on-chain and the ability to combine it with other Arweave network modules. Such consolidation is economically not possible with EVM systems due to the high cost of storage.
Although still in its early stages, experimentation with machine learning models powered by Warp software is already underway today. here. One of the most popular use cases in wide adoption today is various database implementations built using the Warp SDK, capable of processing large volumes of production-ready interactions on large data sets that the EVM network cannot manage. Several projects are leading the permissionless DB cohort, including WeaveDB, FirstBatch, Glacier, and Kwil.
The Warp protocol still has a lot of interesting untapped potential, such as bringing business logic for document management and transaction signing on-chain. The tech stack and early stages of his Web3 game also provide the opportunity for certain engine modules to exist on-chain, such as scoreboards and item ledgers. These areas could provide a lot of traction for Warp’s growth, even if he decides to offload some of his workflows on-chain as one big company or game studio decides to do so.
final thoughts
Ultimately, the decision to use EVM or SmartWeave will come down to project-specific needs and developer preferences. The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is widely accepted as the go-to solution for blockchain applications, but it is not always the best choice.
At Warp, we believe that SmartWeave, a network-wide consensus-free persistent and immutable execution environment for state validation, can serve as a viable replacement for complementary networks or specific modules in the Web3 ecosystem.
Guest Posted by: Jakub Wojciechowski, CEO and Founder warp contract and Akaishi
