altVM or Next-Gen VM? An article analyzing why Movement founder Rushi is so fascinated with altVM

Recently, blockchain podcast host seb3point0 posed a question on Twitter asking: "Which is better? altVM or Next-Generation VM." This topic sparked a discussion involving Movement co-founder Rushi, who has been vocal about his support for altVM on Twitter. An upcoming interview with Rushi is in the works. This article will provide an overview of altVM and summarize Rushi's thoughts.

altDA Originates from Modular Blockchain, Known for High Performance, Security, and Parallel Transaction Execution

Modular blockchain has been a hot topic in recent years, with most solutions outsourcing data availability layer DA. Celestia, EigenDA, and Covalent are all dedicated to solutions at the DA layer, and the differences among them can be referenced in previous reports.

Opinion | Competition in the Data Availability Layer DA Will Present Diverse Developments

According to a report from Bankless, Celestia was launched in November 2023, marking the emergence of an alternative data availability layer altDA. Literally speaking, we can understand that the so-called altVM is an alternative solution similar to altDA.

The execution layer, also known as the virtual machine layer, is one of the architectural components of blockchain. However, most modular narratives occur in places like Ethereum Layer 2, indicating that these users have already presupposed the familiar EVM Ethereum virtual machine. This is why when many people mention modular narratives, they do not immediately think of the execution layer.

Andy, the founder of The Rollup Co, believes that 2024 and 2025 are likely to be the time when new types of execution layers shine, referred to in the modular space as "altVM" or "Next-Gen VM," defined as a high-performance, secure, parallel execution environment. Its primary application environment is to reduce congestion for roll-ups and applications and operate in high-throughput environments.

He believes the biggest innovation of altVM is parallel execution and a localized transaction fee market. He first cited an example of the NFT craze when the minting fee for a single BAYC Otherside reached as high as 2000 ETH. The global transaction fee market of the EVM system and vertical transaction execution require users to pay a single gas fee regardless of the type of transaction. The author adds: the new public chain Monad is focused on introducing parallel transaction execution into the EVM system.

Movement Founder: EVM Is a Good Setup, But It Cannot Expand for Practical Applications

In Bankless' report, names like Movement Labs and Lumio's MoveVM, Cartesi's LinuxVM, Fuel Lab's FuelVM, StarkWare's CairoVM, Eclipse's SolanaVM SVM, RiscZero's zkVM, and Fluent Labs' WASM are all worth paying attention to and are expected to explode after altDA with altVM solutions.

Rushi, the founder of Movement who was mentioned, has always been advocating altVM on Twitter. Earlier this year, he stated that altVM was underestimated. He also pointed out that altVM sounds inferior to EVM on the surface, but he completely disagrees with that.

Returning to Rushi's argument this time, he first stated that EVM is the default value in the blockchain world, but he has a hunch that altvm will be seen as a real issue like RWA. He defines altVM as an alternative execution environment for EVM, but the reason for "alternative" is that EVM is the default execution environment for Ethereum. Just as the AI model Chatgpt4 is EVM, and the plugin gpt4o + is altVM.

He states that default EVM is a good setup that allows users to take the first step into blockchain. However, the problem is that it cannot expand for practical applications, and the market clearly has a demand for alternative execution environments. As of the deadline, 64.6% of users support altVM, while Next-Generation VM has a support rate of 35.4%.