The Internet of Things project IOTA announced today the testnet launch of the ShimmerEVM. The blockchain serves as a hub for smart contracts between IOTA’s sister network Shimmer and the Ethereum ecosystem – an important step for the connection to the DeFi space. The test network is now checked for errors in a stress test. The ShimmerEVM is also paving the way for IOTA’s most stubborn roadmap goal, decentralization by eliminating the coordinator.
IOTA is putting out the DeFi feelers
If one speaks of interoperability in the crypto area, one means above all the connection to Ethereum as the largest node for decentralized applications. For this, blockchains must be integrated into the Ethereum architecture. Ethereum’s set of rules forms the so-called virtual machine. The ShimmerEVM network – EVM stands for the Ethereum Virtual Machine – connects IOTA’s upgrade launch pad Shimmer with Ethereum, smart contract applications become compatible.
The ShimmerEVM thus serves as a bridge, as Dave de Fijter, Director of Engineering Smart Contracts at IOTA, explains to BTC-ECHO: “Assets can be used both on ShimmerEVM and on Shimmer and any other chain that can be built on top of Shimmer, regardless of whether it is a public or private chain”. The “core architecture,” according to de Fijter, is “highly customizable and flexible.”
Hot phase for the Coordicide?
The basis for this is the so-called “Magic Smart Contracts”, which can be used to transfer assets between EVM chains and the Shimmer network. The advantage: no bridges are required for the transfer, which have often proven to be error-prone in the past. IOTA chief developer Dominik Schiener evaluates the testnet launch as “an important step forward for the introduction of future ecosystem projects on both Shimmer and IOTA”.
The connection to the DeFi area significantly expands the portfolio of possible applications. Dave de Fijter speaks of the “beginning of a new ecosystem with innovative projects”. IOTA is also getting a little closer to the roadmap boss, the elimination of the central control instance known as “Coordicide”. Dominik Schiener revealed to BTC-ECHO: “As soon as the ShimmerEVM is released, the first Coordicide modules will be integrated into Shimmer”.
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