The Somnia blockchain is gearing up to enter its DevNet phase soon. Improbable, a British company focused on metaverse technology, is behind this exciting development. They claim that Somnia will be able to process over 400,000 transactions per second (TPS). That's fast!
According to Improbable, the blockchain will offer sub-second latency and low fees. Plus, it will be compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). This means it can work seamlessly with existing Ethereum applications.
Herman Narula, the co-founder and CEO of Improbable, shared some insights. He said, “The blockchain will enable very, very high transaction throughput and the ability to put more things on-chain.” He pointed out that, for the last ten years, no one has successfully built a high-performance blockchain. Why? He believes the industry's focus has been on quick wins and token promotion rather than solving real problems. In fact, some chains see average transaction volumes in the single digits.
The project is led by the Virtual Society Foundation, which Improbable helped launch earlier this year. Funding comes from Improbable's M2, a network of interoperable metaverses supported by investors like a16z and SoftBank. Narula mentioned that his team has spent the last two years developing technology that allows for hundreds of thousands of transactions per second. This capability is essential for creating real applications.
Earlier this year, Narula tweeted about the need for a better layer one solution to build metaverses at a consumer scale. He used a restaurant analogy to explain the current challenges. More waiters can serve more tables, but if everyone's orders become interdependent, chaos can ensue. He believes this situation requires a fundamentally different approach, similar to what was needed to manage billions of movement updates in crowded areas.
Narula concluded with a bold vision for Somnia. Instead of just adding more waiters, he said they plan to enhance the efficiency of existing resources dramatically. This approach aims to make the blockchain faster and more effective.