Last year, $19 million was raised during the same period, and now the internal testnet is launched: Can Monad change the L1 track?

In early 2024, the EVM-compatible blockchain Monad announced the upcoming release of its internal testnet, attracting industry attention. This project completed a $19 million funding round last year, led by Dragonfly Capital, with follow-on investments from Placeholder Capital, Lemniscap, and others. By the end of 2023, nearly 60 projects announced plans to build on Monad.

The following will explain why Monad has generated such high interest.

Built by the original team from Jump Trading, Monad has many technical highlights

In 2024, Keone Hon, the former head of research at Jump Trading, and his long-time partner James Hunsaker founded the Monad project, aiming to revolutionize EVM execution efficiency at the Layer 1 level through "parallel processing," opening a new era of potential for the EVM ecosystem and bringing new life to it.

The team led by Keone Hon consists of experts with deep backgrounds in high-performance computing, machine learning, distributed systems, and more, who have accumulated rich experience at Jump Trading. Under the leadership of Keone and James, Monad Labs challenged the existing Layer 1 and Layer 2 scaling strategies. They believe that while this strategy can solve scaling issues in the short term, it undermines the composability that is essential to blockchain in the long run.

Monad's goal is to create a high-performance underlying network that significantly enhances execution efficiency through parallel processing technology, maintaining on-chain composability while supporting more complex applications and broader adoption. Their vision is to achieve a blockchain infrastructure that far exceeds Ethereum's performance, opening new horizons for decentralized applications.

By the end of 2023, industry heavyweights such as Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius, and Georgios Konstantopoulos, CTO of top venture capital firm Paradigm, have expressed high praise and expectations for Monad and its parallel EVM concept.

With TPS reaching 10,000, Monad aims to become a fully decentralized and scalable L1 platform

Monad differs from traditional blockchain projects; it is a Layer 1 (L1) blockchain platform that uses a Proof of Stake (PoS) mechanism and is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Its core goal is to significantly improve execution efficiency within the Ethereum ecosystem through technological innovation. Monad achieves an astonishing throughput of up to 10,000 smart contract transactions per second through a deeply customized virtual machine design and an improved Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) consensus mechanism.

On a technical level, Monad fundamentally enhances blockchain performance through a series of revolutionary designs and optimizations. The client, written in C++ and Rust, emphasizes the importance of performance, addressing a range of challenges currently faced by Ethereum, including inefficient storage access, single-thread execution limitations, and limited execution budgets. By introducing parallel transaction execution, delayed execution, and MonadDb—a database optimized for blockchain state storage—they have successfully resolved these issues.

The decision for Monad to operate as an independent L1 blockchain rather than adopting a Rollup solution is primarily based on three key factors: decentralization, performance, and focus. Unlike Rollups that rely on a few operators, Monad is committed to creating a fully decentralized platform with ultra-high performance and great scalability. This decision not only reflects Monad's commitment to decentralization but also showcases its team's focus and contributions to advancing blockchain technology, enhancing computational efficiency, and improving user experience.

Monad's technological innovations and strategic choices mark the beginning of a new chapter in blockchain technology. As the project attracts increasing attention and participation, Monad is preparing to advance blockchain technology while exploring a new future in the crypto world.

As the L1 project that understands the Meme community best, even scammers are using Monad's name to defraud

Monad showcases how to leverage social media and meme culture to enhance brand image and community cohesion through its unique community interaction and marketing strategies (such as meme contests). The success of this strategy draws parallels to Solana's community-building journey, which similarly attracted a large number of loyal users through meme marketing strategies. This comparison raises curiosity about whether Monad can draw on Solana's experience to create its own legendary story in the Layer 1 scaling space.

Despite Monad's notable achievements in community building and marketing, its technological prospects and ecological potential are the true focus of industry attention. Currently, Monad has not detailed its token information and the specifics of its mainnet testing, leaving investors and community members filled with anticipation and uncertainty about its future. Keone has revealed that nearly 60 projects plan to build on the Monad platform, indicating that its technological foundation and ecological potential have been recognized by the market.

As Monad's brand influence continues to grow, phishing impersonations appearing on social media have also posed security risks for community members. The Monad official team has issued multiple warnings, reminding community members to stay vigilant and avoid being scammed by leaking personal information.