Introduction

Blockchain technology is in a continuous process of evolution, with virtual machines (VMs) playing a crucial role as the execution environment for blockchain smart contracts. VMs are critical for security, performance, and developer experience. In recent years, as application scenarios have become more complex and the demand for frequent interactions has increased, the traditional Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) has exposed several limitations. This article will explore the development trajectory of altVMs (Alternative Virtual Machines), their technical advantages, and future trends.

What are altVMs?

Data Source: https://x.com/initia/status/1875329045975724036

altVMs refer to virtual machine solutions other than the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). These alternatives are designed to address the shortcomings of the traditional EVM in areas such as security, performance, and development flexibility. altVMs offer a more efficient and secure execution environment for smart contracts through innovative architecture and language support, providing blockchain developers with enhanced tools for their projects.

Why Do We Need altVMs?

The rapid development of blockchain technology has raised the bar for underlying infrastructure. As the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) emerged as an early solution for smart contract execution, it gradually revealed a series of limitations. The advent of altVMs aims to resolve these issues and propel the blockchain ecosystem toward a more secure, efficient, and flexible future.

Data Source: https://x.com/initia/status/1875329045975724036

Limitations of EVM

The following are the core issues with the current Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM):

• Insufficient Security: In the design of EVM, the “unlimited authorization” mechanism of smart contracts can easily lead to vulnerabilities, such as users being unable to revoke permissions after granting them, which can result in asset theft. According to CertiK’s 2024 annual report, over $740 million in assets were lost on the Ethereum chain due to issues like smart contract vulnerabilities and unlimited authorizations[2].
• Performance Bottlenecks: EVM’s single-threaded processing model limits transaction throughput (Ethereum processes approximately 15 transactions per second) and leads to volatile Gas fees. In high-frequency trading scenarios (e.g., DeFi, GameFi), this significantly limits user experience.

Data Source: https://x.com/initia/status/1875329045975724036

• Restricted Developer Flexibility: EVM only supports the Solidity language, which means developers must learn specific syntax and face challenges in reusing traditional programming knowledge.

The Need Driven by Complex Application Scenarios

• High-Frequency Trading Demand: With decentralized exchanges (DEX) and the NFT market explosion, traditional EVM-based chains struggle to support high-frequency trading. For instance, Solana’s SVM successfully supports over $1 billion in daily transactions on Jupiter Exchange due to its parallel processing capabilities.
• Cross-Chain Interoperability: The rise of multi-chain ecosystems necessitates virtual machines compatible with different protocols. For example, Fluent integrates EVM, SVM, and WASM, allowing developers to call functions from different chains within the same application.
• Privacy Computing and Compliance Needs: EVM lacks native privacy protection mechanisms. In contrast, altVMs (such as Aleo’s LeoVM) use Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) to enable privacy transactions, thus meeting enterprise-level compliance needs.

Mainstream altVMs and Their Technical Features

In the design of EVM, inherent security vulnerabilities, performance bottlenecks, and a lack of developer flexibility have gradually become evident. These limitations now pose significant barriers to blockchain applications’ large-scale expansion and efficient operation. In response to these issues, the industry has begun exploring new smart contract execution environments—altVMs.

MoveVM (Aptos/Sui)

Introduction:

MoveVM was originally proposed by Facebook (now known as the Diem project) and is now widely used on blockchain platforms such as Aptos and Sui. It adopts a resource-oriented programming paradigm, specifically designed for asset security to prevent misuse or duplication of assets caused by logical errors.

Data Source: https://www.radixdlt.com/blog/thoughts-on-suis-movevm

Technical Features of MoveVM

• In MoveVM, assets are treated as “resources,” a data type that is non-replicable and non-destructible at will. This ensures the consistency of asset states.
• Developers can create reusable and more easily auditable contract modules using modular programming.
• At the same time, MoveVM allows for the integration of multiple operations within a single transaction, improving transaction efficiency.

Advantages of MoveVM

• High Security: The resource security model effectively avoids the common authorization vulnerabilities found in traditional smart contracts.
• High Flexibility: The modular design and strong type-checking enable developers to construct complex business logic more rigorously.
• Efficient Execution: Programmable transaction blocks reduce the need for multiple on-chain interactions, thereby lowering Gas consumption and delays.

Solana Virtual Machine (SVM)

Introduction:

The Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) is the execution environment of the Solana blockchain, designed specifically to meet the needs of high-frequency, low-latency transaction scenarios. It supports parallel transaction processing and is a critical infrastructure for financial-grade applications.

Data Source: https://squads.so/blog/solana-svm-sealevel-virtual-machine

Technical Features of Solana Virtual Machine (SVM)

• Leveraging Solana’s unique Sealevel runtime, SVM can simultaneously handle thousands of parallel transactions.
• By optimizing the underlying hardware utilization, SVM achieves low-latency transaction confirmations.

Advantages of SVM

• Extremely High Throughput: Supports large-scale parallel transactions, making it suitable for high-frequency trading and financial applications.
• Low Latency: Optimized design significantly reduces transaction confirmation times.
• Efficient Resource Utilization: The highly optimized runtime environment ensures efficient scheduling and utilization of system resources.

CosmWasm (Cosmos Ecosystem)

Introduction:

CosmWasm is a smart contract platform built on WebAssembly (WASM) within the Cosmos ecosystem. It allows developers to write smart contracts in various programming languages, such as Rust and C/C++, offering more flexibility than other platforms like Solidity.

Data Source: https://cosmwasm.cosmos.network/

Technical Features of CosmWasm

• Developers can write contracts using languages such as Rust, C, and C++, breaking through the limitations of Solidity.
• WASM bytecode runs within a strict sandbox, limiting the contract’s access to the host environment, thus preventing malicious code attacks.
• As a module of the Cosmos SDK, CosmWasm can directly invoke native chain functionalities such as staking and governance.

Advantages

• Strong Scalability: The general-purpose nature of WASM allows CosmWasm to run efficiently across various hardware platforms.
• Secure Sandbox: Contracts are executed in an isolated environment, reducing the potential security risks to the main chain.
• Development Flexibility: Multi-language support lowers the development threshold, encouraging deploying a diverse range of applications within the ecosystem.

Fluent Hybrid Environment

Introduction

The Fluent Hybrid Execution Environment is an emerging concept designed to integrate the advantages of different virtual machines (VMs) such as EVM, SVM, and WASM, providing a unified execution layer that is compatible across virtual machines.

Technical Features

• Multi-Virtual Machine Integration: By abstracting and encapsulating the differences between various underlying VMs, Fluent can schedule tasks from different execution engines on a single platform.
• Cross-Chain Interoperability: It allows smart contracts and assets from different blockchains to interact within the same environment, enabling seamless integration.

Advantages

• Cross-VM Compatibility: Fluent supports multiple virtual machine environments simultaneously, offering developers a unified development interface.
• Enhanced Interoperability: It breaks down the barriers between different blockchains, promoting the free flow of assets and data.
• Integrated Complementary Advantages: By combining the technological strengths of various VMs, it maximizes system performance and security.

Comparison of the Advantages and Disadvantages of Mainstream altVMs

In the previous section, we explored in detail the technological breakthroughs of mainstream altVMs in security, performance, and development flexibility. With the advantages of efficient execution, cross-chain interoperability, and resource security management offered by altVMs, the following table will compare EVMs and altVMs across different dimensions:

Future Development Trends of altVMs

The evolution of blockchain technology and market demands have created an irreversible driving force. From high-frequency trading to privacy compliance, from multi-chain collaboration to AI integration, the traditional EVM architecture struggles to meet the demands of these emerging scenarios. The rise of altVMs results from technological iteration and an inevitable choice for the industry’s transformation from a “single paradigm” to a “multi-dimensional symbiosis.” The following analysis highlights three core trends:

Chain Abstraction: The Ultimate Form of “Seamless Cross-Chain” for Users

The ultimate “seamless cross-chain” form for users is gradually becoming a reality. By designing a unified interaction layer, the states and execution environments of multiple chains can be aggregated, allowing users to interact without being aware of the underlying differences between virtual machines. For example, Particle Network’s UniversalX protocol enables users to trade across EVM, SVM, and MoveVM chains using a single account, with gas fees automatically settled across chains by the protocol.

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Additionally, an Intent-Centric design further simplifies user operations. Users only need to declare their intent, such as “buy token A at the best price,” and the backend will automatically match the optimal execution path, such as placing an order on Solana and settling it on Ethereum. Skate’s stateless application is a typical case, where users can directly interact with Polymarket on Polygon via their TON chain wallet without needing to move assets across chains. The state is maintained centrally by Skate’s main chain. \
NEAR’s chain abstraction protocol, using “Chain Signatures,” has achieved a unified multi-chain account system, already supporting interactions across 8 chains, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.

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The future impact of chain abstraction will be multi-faceted:

• Developers will be able to deploy applications to multiple chains with a single click, sharing users and liquidity.
• Web2 users won’t need to learn complex multi-chain logic, significantly lowering the entry barrier and thus promoting user growth.[4]

AI and Blockchain Integration

altVMs provide a high-performance foundation for AI, driving their deep integration. AI agents, such as trading bots and data analysis tools, rely on low-latency environments, and the 65,000 TPS offered by SVM and the parallel processing capabilities of MoveVM can support millisecond-level feedback.

Additionally, altVMs effectively support the high-performance computing required for AI model inference. For instance, CosmWasm’s WASM virtual machine supports native C++/Rust code, which is much more efficient than Solidity.

In practice, AI trading agents like the Aixbt agent, based on SVM, have successfully analyzed on-chain data in real-time and executed arbitrage strategies, with a daily trading volume exceeding $100 million. The Bittensor subnet deploys machine learning models via altVMs, incentivizing miners to contribute computing power. In contrast, the Aptos subnet uses the Move language to protect the intellectual property rights of models.

In the future, AI automation protocols and on-chain AI services will play an increasingly important role in DeFi and other blockchain applications. For example, a DeFi protocol based on MoveVM could integrate AI risk control models to dynamically adjust lending rates, while developers can release AI tools via the Fluent hybrid environment, and users can call services like privacy-preserving zero-knowledge proof verifications as needed.

Compliance and Scalability

altVMs are providing compliance and scalability solutions for enterprise applications. In terms of compliance, privacy protection is especially important. Traditional EVMs lack native privacy mechanisms, while Aleo’s LeoVM implements compliance transactions through zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP). MoveVM also meets the audit requirements of financial institutions through its static type system and formal verification tools (such as Move Prover).

Regarding scalability, altVMs offer modular architectures and hybrid execution environments, allowing enterprises to choose the appropriate virtual machine according to their needs. For instance, CosmWasm supports rapid customization of compliance chains and interacts with the main chain via the IBC protocol, while Fluent allows businesses to choose EVM or WASM to run different business modules.

Typical cases include the Nillion Network, which combines privacy computing with altVMs to provide an on-chain solution for medical data transactions, with plans to launch its mainnet in 2025. JPMorgan’s Onyx blockchain also tests a cross-border payment system based on MoveVM, utilizing a resource model to prevent double-spending attacks.

Conclusion

altVMs are not meant to replace EVM, but rather, through vertical scenario optimization and horizontal ecosystem expansion, they are driving blockchain from a “universal chain” to a “cluster of specialized chains.” In the future, developers will be able to choose virtual machines like selecting cloud services (e.g., using MoveVM for financial protocols, SVM for gaming, Fluent for enterprise systems). At the same time, users will enjoy a seamless experience through the chain abstraction layer. This process is a technological evolution and a critical turning point for blockchain as it transitions from a “geek toy” to “mainstream infrastructure.”