You’ve probably heard about the Monad blockchain by now.
Think of it as Ethereum after a triple espresso and a systems upgrade. It takes Ethereum’s core design and supercharges it for lightning-fast, reliable transactions—the kind that enterprises and serious money movers dream about.
In this guide, we’ll explore Monad’s origin story, break down the tech, and give you the essentials.
Let’s dive in—no buzzwords, just bytes!
Monad origin story
Monad Labs was founded by Keone Hon, James Hunsaker, and Eunice Giarta in 2022.
Before diving into the world of blockchain, both Keone and James spent eight years at Jump Trading. Here, Keone led a high-frequency trading (HFT) team, and James built an ultra-low-latency trading system responsible for tens of billions of notional daily volume in major futures markets. Eunice was previously in trading at BofA Merrill Lynch, and led product teams building enterprise trading systems at Broadway Technology, and payments and licensing at Shutterstock.
The trio founded Monad Labs after realizing that it’s possible to implement a series of fundamental optimizations for Ethereum in general, and the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) in particular. These optimizations aim to help the Ethereum ecosystem overcome the challenges it faced since its inception: modest throughput, high gas fees, and limited scalability.
To solve these limitations, Monad Labs built the Monad blockchain.
What is the Monad blockchain?
Monad is a cutting-edge Layer 1 blockchain that leverages the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)—the software that powers the Ethereum blockchain, and all networks built on top of it.
This approach enables Monad to support all existing Ethereum smart contracts and applications without any need for modification. This compatibility is crucial for encouraging adoption among Ethereum developers, who can migrate their applications to Monad with ease and without facing interoperability issues.
With that said, Monad is attempting to build a more streamlined version of the EVM from the ground up. The goal is to address the EVM's shortcomings, which have led to scalability and performance issues on the Ethereum blockchain, as well as relatively steep transaction costs.
For example, Ethereum processes approximately 10 transactions per second (TPS), while the fastest EVM chain, Binance Chain, processes approximately 200 TPS. As a comparison, Solana's true TPS fluctuates between 500 and 1,000.
The limitations of EVM chains mainly boil down to the same weakness: sequential execution. Sequential execution, naturally, is highly inefficient; while parallelized execution is more powerful and capable.
Solana, for example, leverages parallel execution to achieve higher transaction speeds. Monad Labs is adopting Solana's approach by introducing parallel execution as well, with the goal of significantly increasing transaction speeds of the EVM, and consequently, the Monad blockchain—making consumer-grade, decentralized applications possible.
Monad community: Nads on top
An online community, especially on platforms such as 𝕏, Telegram, and Discord, is a critical asset in a project's go-to-market strategy. That’s because these digital channels offer unique opportunities for engagement, feedback, and growth, facilitating a dynamic interaction between a brand and its potential contributors and users.
And this is exactly the playbook Monad Labs is running.
The team is not only using 𝕏 to quickly spread the word to a worldwide audience, it also uses the platform to encourage and capitalize on user-generated content, boosting both visibility and credibility. Apart from that, Monad also leverages both Telegram and Discord for direct engagement and feedback. While Telegram allows the Monad team to conduct real-time communication to keep tabs on sentiment, Discord takes this a step further. In Monad's Discord server, detailed discussions and feedback loops are helping the team to collect feedback, make adjustments, and iterate—all in preparation for the imminent mainnet launch.
These efforts have helped Monad Labs cultivate one of the most passionate developer and user ecosystem in crypto—now eagerly anticipating the upcoming mainnet launch.
The impact and future of Monad
Looking ahead, Monad is poised to play a significant role in the evolution of blockchain technology.
Its innovative features, such as EVM compatibility and parallel execution, set it apart from other Layer 1 solutions and position it as a strong player in the blockchain space.
As it moves from its testnet phase to mainnet launch, the focus will be on scaling the infrastructure, ensuring robust security measures, and expanding its user base.
How to get started with Monad and Phantom
As mentioned above, Monad is currently operating a testnet, with its mainnet launch planned for the near future.
Although there isn't a specific launch date for Monad's mainnet just yet, you can expect to use your Phantom wallet on Monad from day one.
If you’d like to experience Monad's testnet, here’s how to get started:
- Download and set up a Phantom wallet
- Log in to your Phantom wallet
- Visit testnet.monad.xyz
- Securely connect your Phantom wallet and get set up
- Dive into all things Monad—have fun!
If you’re interested in trying out some games on Monad, be sure to check out our Monad apps guide.
FAQ
Monad is a high-performance Layer 1 blockchain compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), designed to enhance transaction speed and scalability.
Monad introduces parallel execution to overcome Ethereum's sequential processing limitations, aiming for significantly higher transactions per second (TPS).
Monad Labs was founded in 2022 by Keone Hon, James Hunsaker, and Eunice Giarta, all with backgrounds in high-frequency trading and enterprise systems.
Disclaimer: This guide is strictly for educational purposes only and doesn’t constitute financial or legal advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.
