Shimmer has announced that it has launched ShimmerEVM, a smart contract software that will be an addition to the testnet. The objective here is to provide IOTA with a staging area for decentralized applications. The staging area is an area where dApps are battle-tested before they are fully deployed on the main network. This helps developers review the limitations of the project or the foundational grounds on which they have constructed their work.
It is only after they have perfected a dApp that it goes live on IOTA for the public.
Shimmer Network is a potential candidate for this development. It supports all the major upgrades through its constant endeavor to roll out new features. ShimmerEVM has been teased to the community as an inaugural ISC chain, with ISC referring to IOTA Smart Contracts.
However, participants have received an advisory from Shimmer warning them to exercise caution when using the software because it has not yet been developed. Meaning, developers will have to tweak their expectations along with their projects.
Some of the features of ShimmerEVM are:-
- Compatibility with EVM
- Extended EVM functionality
- MEV protection
- Node support
- L1 native asset support
…plus every other positive aspect that ISC brings with it.
Starting with, EVM compatibility primarily refers to empowering users to run their contracts with other chains with minimal or no adjustments. This positively eliminates obstacles that they would otherwise face. Next, the extended EVM functionality facilitates the interaction with NFTs and assets native to L1. Moreover, users can communicate with chains anchored to Shimmer and access native randomness.
MEV Protection is powered by the random ordering of the transactions in a block. This protects members from MEV techniques, including sandwich attacks. It is fueled by the ideology that a leaderless consensus has set.
Node support goes beyond validator nodes, covering archive nodes and access nodes. This allows operators to run their nodes on demand per prevailing requests. ShimmerEVM helps send SMR tokens via Firefly to its own ecosystem. This means users no longer need a special bridge to execute the function. Shimmer has said it will also bring NFTs and custom native assets to the table.
ISC offers other features for ShimmerEVM: metadata functionality, a custom API, and governance functionality for the chain. This reflects the commitment of IOTA to continue working with Shimmer to make it a staging area. It is one of the 4 key decisions that were announced a few days ago.
Anyone can get started with ShimmerEVM, provided they have updated connection details. Per the announcement, users must mention ShimmerEVM as the network name and 148 as the Chain ID. Token Name must be set to SMR. More information about it is available on the official Shimmer announcement page.
Following establishing a successful connection, users can send SMR to the ShimmerEVM destination network through Firefly Wallet, with Shimmer Network as the original source.
Shimmer has said that it will next work on monitoring, improvement, developer experience, evaluation, and decentralization of the project.