Sei Foundation proposes version 2 network upgrade to bring EVM compatibility

The Sei SEI +5.68% Foundation announced Monday that it has initiated a governance proposal to upgrade the Sei Layer 1 blockchain to version 2. 

This proposed upgrade, to be implemented by Sei Labs, will introduce a high-performance, parallelized Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) aimed at enhancing the network’s capabilities. If the governance proposal is approved, the network upgrade will take place a week later. 

With this development, it will be possible to port Ethereum-based contracts to Sei and use them with sub-second finality, reducing the time required to confirm transactions.

In addition to compatibility, Sei v2 will offer advanced features like parallelized execution, mirroring the functionality found in other high-performance blockchains such as Solana. As such, Sei's v2 implementation would compete with other parallelized EVMs like Monad and Neon.

The Sei team noted that following the upgrade, prominent Ethereum-based applications, including Uniswap, Frax, X2Y2, Bancor, Balancer, Rarible, Layer Zero, Nansen, and The Graph, are planning to deploy on the Sei v2 network, according to Sei Labs.

Since its mainnet beta launch in August 2023, Sei has supported Cosmos-based dapps written in Rust. With the transition to Sei V2, the team seeks to attract a broader range of developers by expanding the network’s capabilities and compatibility.

Earlier in April 2023, Sei Labs, the network's core developer, raised $30 million in funding through two strategic rounds from venture capital firms, including Jump and Multicoin Capital. This funding underscores Sei Labs' financial and technological commitment to advancing the Sei blockchain ecosystem.