What Is the EVM?
The EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) is the computation environment that runs smart contracts on Ethereum and all EVM-compatible chains. When a developer writes a smart contract in Solidity, compiles it, and deploys it to an EVM chain, the EVM executes the bytecode consistently across every node in the network.
How the EVM Works
The EVM is a sandboxed runtime that executes smart contract code in a deterministic way: every node in the network runs the same computation and arrives at the same result. State changes (updating balances, storing data) only persist if the transaction is confirmed and included in a block. Gas is the unit that measures the computational work required by each operation, preventing infinite loops and pricing the use of network resources.
EVM-Compatible Chains
Many blockchains beyond Ethereum implement the EVM to allow developers to deploy Ethereum contracts with little or no modification. EVM-compatible chains include Binance Smart Chain, Polygon, Avalanche, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base, among others. This compatibility creates a large shared ecosystem: a smart contract written for Ethereum can generally be deployed on any EVM chain by changing the RPC endpoint and network configuration.
EVM vs. Solana’s SVM
Solana uses a different execution environment called the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM), which is not EVM-compatible. Solana programs are written in Rust or C and run on the SVM. The two environments are architecturally different: Solana’s parallel transaction model is distinct from Ethereum’s sequential execution model. Projects targeting both ecosystems must write and maintain separate codebases for each.
FAQ
The EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) is the runtime environment that executes smart contracts on Ethereum and all EVM-compatible chains. It ensures all nodes reach the same result when running the same code.
Major EVM-compatible chains include Binance Smart Chain, Polygon, Avalanche, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base. Smart contracts written for Ethereum can be deployed on these chains with minimal changes.
Gas is the unit that measures the computational cost of executing operations on the EVM. Every transaction specifies a gas limit and a price per unit of gas. The actual cost depends on how many operations the transaction requires.
No. Solana uses a different execution environment called the SVM (Solana Virtual Machine). Solana programs are written in Rust or C, not Solidity, and are not deployable on EVM chains without a full rewrite.
Outperform your competitors?
Join our Newsletter and get weekly Blockchain news tailored for web3 builders.
