What Is Monad? The High-Performance EVM-Compatible Blockchain

Monad Overview

This article was updated by Vera Lim in October 2025.

The technical limitations of Ethereum, the pioneer smart contract platform, and other existing infrastructures like Solana have been some of the most critical challenges in the blockchain industry. Hence, the need for scalable and decentralized blockchain solutions has become extremely urgent over the last few years. As an independent Layer 1 blockchain, Monad addresses these challenges by offering enhanced efficiency with a high throughput of 10,000 transactions per second based on real Ethereum transaction history, while maintaining full EVM compatibility.

The Team Behind Monad

The Monad blockchain was designed by Monad Labs, a diverse group of professionals brought together by co-founders Keone Hon (CEO), James Hunsaker (CTO), and Eunice Giarta (COO). All three are former Jump Trading alums who founded Monad in 2022. The team is experienced in low-latency programming and distributed systems design and claims to be building towards a more performant future in blockchain technology.

In July 2025, Monad Foundation acquired Portal Labs, a stablecoin infrastructure company. Raj Parekh, former CEO of Portal Labs and previously Director of Visa's Global Crypto Product, joined as Head of Payments and Stablecoins, strengthening Monad's payment capabilities ahead of mainnet launch.

Scaling the EVM

The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is a component of the Ethereum network that is responsible for the execution of smart contracts. The EVM has been vital in the rise of decentralized applications (dApps) and decentralized finance (DeFi). However, the growing popularity of DeFi and the continuous expansion of dApps has resulted in significant challenges for the EVM—especially in terms of scalability. 

One of the biggest challenges around scaling the EVM is that it is single-threaded, which means all transactions are executed sequentially. This limits the number of transactions that can be processed within a single time period, and also increases the time of execution.

At time of writing, there are two proposed solutions to scaling the EVM: sharding and parallel processing.

Sharding

Sharding involves splitting a larger blockchain network across multiple shards, increasing storage capacity and enhancing performance. Each shard holds a set of smart contracts and account balances, where nodes are assigned to individual shards to verify transactions and operations. Instead of every node being responsible for every transaction across the network, nodes are now assigned to specific shards, only coming together to agree on a universal Layer 1 state.

Parallel Processing

Parallel processing is also known as parallelization, or parallel transaction execution. By structuring the network to process transactions simultaneously instead of processing transactions sequentially, more transactions can be validated at the same time. Monad uses parallel processing, offering developers a high throughput Layer 1 that is EVM-compatible, making it easy for them to port their dApps over.

How Does Monad Work?

Monad is able to improve on Ethereum Virtual Machine’s limitations while retaining its desired qualities, thanks to its combination of various innovative technological mechanisms. For instance, the blockchain offers full bytecode compatibility for the EVM, which enables the migration of existing Ethereum applications to Monad without code changes. Monad is also equipped with full Ethereum RPC (remote procedure call) compatibility, facilitating the use of infrastructures, such as self-custodial wallets and blockchain explorers.

Specifically, Monad provides optimizations in four primary areas, and they include;

Parallel Execution

Most existing EVM-compatible blockchains, including Ethereum, Avalanche, and Binance Smart Chain (BSC), process transactions in a sequential order. Monad, on the other hand, achieves scalability by executing transactions in parallel. 

However, Monad performs parallel transaction execution while maintaining compatibility with Ethereum by structuring its blocks similarly, i.e. with a linearly ordered set of transactions. This ensures that despite the different execution mechanics, the outcomes of Monad’s transaction execution remain identical to those in Ethereum. 

Typically, a blockchain must first determine and confirm which transactions can be processed independently before executing them in parallel. However, Monad employs optimistic execution, where the blockchain assumes that all transactions can be executed independently and tries to process them simultaneously.

Nonetheless, an incorrect execution could occur if two transactions, which are dependent on each other, are processed simultaneously. For instance, one of the transactions might require the other (suitably called prerequisite) transaction’s output as its own input. Monad resolves this by re-executing the incorrectly executed transaction with the “updated” data from its prerequisite transaction. Each transaction is executed at most twice.

Finally, Monad uses a static code analyzer to predict transactions that depend on each other. This would help to save time that would normally have been used in trying to execute transactions that have prerequisite transactions. Crucially, this parallelism is transparent to developers—smart contracts require zero code changes and behave identically to sequential execution.

Asynchronous Execution (Deferred Execution)

Another highlight mechanism of the Monad blockchain is that transaction execution is separated from the consensus process. This implies that transactions don’t have to be processed before the blockchain nodes reach a consensus on the ordering of transactions in a block—as opposed to the Ethereum network.

In Ethereum, the execution mechanism is designed such that all nodes have to process transactions before reaching consensus—all within a limited timeframe. This also requires setting conservative limits on the computational workload in order to maintain network reliability and performance.

Monad allows the nodes to determine and agree on a block's state before the transactions within the block are executed. This way, transaction execution does not hold up the consensus process. Consensus reaches agreement on transaction ordering only, while execution happens afterward in a separate pipeline. The testnet uses a 3-block lag between consensus and execution (mainnet plans 10 blocks), giving a 400x time budget increase compared to interleaved execution.

Ultimately, this "asynchronous execution" mechanism helps enhance the efficiency and scalability of the network, enabling it to process more transactions within a shorter period. A Reserve Balance algorithm prevents DOS attacks by carving out approximately 10 MON per account for gas fees in the next several blocks.

MonadBFT

MonadBFT, an optimized derivative of the HotStuff algorithm, is the high-performance consensus mechanism of the Monad blockchain. It is designed to streamline communication between validating nodes and block leaders, reducing the consensus rounds and improving efficiency.

In February 2025, Monad published an academic paper formally specifying MonadBFT's key innovations:

• Tail-fork resistance: Protection against MEV attacks where honest validators' blocks are arbitrarily replaced
• Linear communication complexity: Efficient fan-out/fan-in patterns that scale better than quadratic communication
• Optimistic responsiveness: Network progresses at actual network latency rather than worst-case timeouts

To reach consensus on a new block with MonadBFT (Byzantine Fault Tolerance), the block leader sends proof to the validating nodes that the previous block is valid. The nodes then directly send a signed "yes" message to the next leader, approving the block and signaling the readiness to move forward.

In a scenario where the block leader times out and the nodes fail to reach consensus, MonadBFT will trigger its fallback mechanism. It is a secondary communication process that consumes more time and requires mutual communication between all validators. However, this fallback mechanism ensures that the Monad blockchain still reaches consensus irrespective of delays or failures.

Block time is confirmed at 400ms (0.4 seconds), with finality occurring at 800ms (two-round finality with N+2 block confirmation), though speculative finality is available after just 400ms with extremely high probability.

MonadDb

MonadDb is Monad's custom database that stores all blockchain data and account information. Think of it as the blockchain's filing system that keeps track of everyone's balances, smart contracts, and transaction history.

The key challenge Monad solves is allowing many transactions to read and write data at the same time without interfering with each other. Traditional blockchains process one transaction at a time, like a single-lane road. MonadDb is designed like a multi-lane highway where multiple transactions can access data simultaneously.

Key MonadDB features:

• Optimized for modern hardware: Designed specifically to work efficiently with fast SSD drives rather than older storage technology.
• Non-blocking operations: Transactions can read data without waiting for other transactions to finish writing, keeping everything moving smoothly.
• Safe parallel processing: Multiple transactions can work simultaneously without corrupting data or creating errors.
• Version tracking: The database can keep track of different versions of data, which is essential when running speculative transactions in parallel.

This specialized database design allows Monad to process far more transactions than Ethereum. The testnet currently handles 150 million gas per block (375 million gas/second) compared to Ethereum's 30 million gas limit, with plans to increase capacity even further over time.

Monad Testnet Performance

Monad's public testnet launched on February 19, 2025 and has demonstrated impressive real-world performance:

• 2.44+ billion successful transactions processed (98% success rate)
• 34 million+ smart contracts deployed by ~3 million creators
• 240+ ecosystem projects building on the platform
• Peak activity of 34 million transactions per day (early August 2025)
• Average gas fees of $0.004-$0.007 per transaction (near-zero)
• Current activity: ~20,000 daily active users with ~200 new users joining daily

A parallel Testnet-2 (Validator Testnet) ran from late May through August 2025, engaging 100-150 validators across 19 countries to prepare for mainnet validator readiness.

Hardware requirements remain consumer-grade: 32GB RAM, 2x 2TB SSDs, 300 Mbps bandwidth for validators (100 Mbps for full nodes), and a 16-core 4.5 GHz processor like the AMD Ryzen 7950X. Total hardware cost is approximately $1,500, intentionally designed to enable decentralization through accessible participation rather than datacenter-only operations.

Benefits of Monad

As already mentioned, Monad seeks to fill the gaps left behind by other EVM-compatible blockchains. The following are some of the advantages offered by the Monad blockchain.

EVM Compatibility

One of the highlight features of Monad is its full compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine. This capability enables developers to migrate their existing applications on Ethereum to Monad without any code modifications while avoiding further investment in resources and development time.

Furthermore, full EVM compatibility facilitates the integration of a wide array of Ethereum-based tools, libraries, and infrastructures to the Monad blockchain. This interoperability offers a scalable solution to existing projects seeking to improve their efficiency while also being able to leverage Ethereum’s vast resources.

Monad supports 19 wallet integrations including Phantom (with custom monadtestnet.phantom.com domain), Backpack, OKX Wallet, Uniswap Wallet, Bitget Wallet, MetaMask, Rabby Wallet, and Fox Wallet.

Lower Fees and Fast Transactions

Monad is designed to tackle the scalability challenges associated with most EVM-compatible blockchains. Monad provides a high throughput by employing a combination of different mechanisms, such as parallel execution and deferred execution, which enables more transactions to be handled in less time.

This reduction in network congestion leads to faster transaction times, thereby enhancing the overall efficiency of the blockchain. The increased efficiency also contributes to the lower transaction fees observed on Monad, making it a more economical option compared to Ethereum. Testnet data shows average gas fees of $0.004-$0.007, with the network maintaining near-zero costs even during peak activity periods.

Strong Ecosystem and Partnerships

Monad secured five major infrastructure partnerships in 2025:

1. Circle USDC integration (April 15, 2025): Native USDC support from mainnet day one, including Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) V2 and Circle Wallets integration
2. Chainlink Scale Program (April 22, 2025): Integration of Data Feeds, Data Streams, and Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP)
3. Orderly Network (February 19, 2025): Omnichain liquidity infrastructure for DeFi applications
4. LayerZero integration: Cross-chain messaging connectivity to 50+ EVM and non-EVM chains
5. PancakeSwap v4 deployment (February 2025): One of the major DEXs live on testnet.

The Monad ecosystem has grown significantly with hundreds of projects building across DeFi, gaming, NFTs, and infrastructure, with numerous dApps already deployed on testnet. Notable projects include Kuru Exchange (backed by Paradigm), liquid staking protocols like Kintsu and MagmaDAO, and various DeFi applications.

Monad has launched comprehensive developer programs totaling over $60 million:

• Monad Madness: $1 million in prizes + $60 million earmarked for follow-on investment
• Monad Founder Residency: Fully-covered programs at Network School campus near Singapore (ran August-September 2025)
• Monad Momentum: Primary ecosystem incentives program for exceptional applications
• evm/accathon: Selective hackathon at ETHDenver 2025
• Monad Cards: Distributed 4,000+ exclusive NFTs to active community members.

The full Monad client is now open source (built by Category Labs), and GitHub activity ranked Monad among the top 5 most active Layer 1 repositories in Q2 2025.

Token and Airdrop Status

The MON token has NOT officially launched as of October 2025, though key details have emerged:

• Total supply confirmed: 100 billion MON tokens
• Token utility: Native token for transaction fees (gas) and network staking
• Pre-market trading: Began on Hyperliquid on October 8, 2025, with MON-USD perpetuals trading around $0.13-$0.15, implying a fully diluted valuation of approximately $13-15 billion

Monad has officially announced the MON Airdrop, which allocates tokens to 5,500 members of the Monad community along with nearly 225,000 members of the wider crypto community. The claim portal is live at https://claim.monad.xyz/, and it uses Privy for authentication, which caused a partial outage due to an influx of users checking their eligibility.

Monad vs. Other EVM-Compatible Blockchains

There are multiple other EVM-compatible blockchain in the space, including BSC, Polygon, and Avalanche. Let's a take a look at Monad, and how it lines up against incumbents within the space. 

Key Differentiators for Monad:

• Fastest block time: 400ms vs 400ms (Solana), 750ms (BNB), 12s (Ethereum)
• Fastest finality: 800ms vs 1.875s (BNB), 12.8s (Solana), 12-15 min (Ethereum)
• Highest claimed throughput: 10,000 TPS target based on real Ethereum transactions
• Transparent parallelism: Zero code changes required for Ethereum dApp migration
• Proven testnet performance: 2.44+ billion transactions processed, validating technical claims

Conclusion

In this article, we explored Monad as an EVM-compatible Layer 1 designed for scalability, discussing how the blockchain network addresses the critical challenges faced by Ethereum. This piece highlights the various mechanisms Monad employs to process blockchain transactions efficiently while maintaining EVM compatibility and decentralization. Moreover, we discussed the benefits of Monad over other EVM-compatible chains and its potential downsides.

As of October 2025, Monad has successfully demonstrated its technical capabilities through a robust testnet that has processed over 2.44 billion transactions, achieved peak activity of 34 million transactions per day, and attracted 240+ ecosystem projects. The network has validated its claims of 10,000 TPS, 400ms blocks, and near-zero gas fees in a real-world testing environment.

However, the mainnet has not yet launched, with the official timeline remaining "late 2025" and approximately 80% completion as of October 2025.

That said, looking forward, Monad shows significant potential to positively change the trajectory of blockchain technology. With a scalable and efficient platform validated by extensive testnet activity, the blockchain can become home to a wide range of developers and projects looking to overcome the limitations of existing blockchain networks. The strong ecosystem growth, major partnerships with Circle, Chainlink, and Orderly Network, and comprehensive developer support programs totaling over $60 million indicate the project's capacity to encourage innovation in the decentralized finance industry.

The coming months will be critical as Monad transitions from testnet to mainnet, with the community eagerly awaiting both the official launch date and the highly anticipated token airdrop announcement.

Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency investments carry significant risk. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.