- IOTA’s Layer-1 staging network Shimmer has announced the launch of the ShimmerEVM testnet, a significant milestone towards the platform’s goal of launching the ShimmerEVM and the IOTA 2.0 infrastructure.
- The ShimmerEVM testnet will expand the reach of the scalable and interoperable Shimmer protocol to a wide community of blockchain users and developers working on EVM-compatible smart contracts.
IOTA’s Shimmer protocol has taken a significant step towards the launch of the IOTA 2.0 infrastructure with the launch of the ShimmerEVM testnet. This major milestone will expand the reach of the scalable and interoperable Shimmer protocol to a wide community of blockchain users and developers working on EVM-compatible smart contracts. The introduction of the EVM on the testnet will offer more developers access to the Shimmer protocol, allowing them to create smart contracts that can interact with the IOTA network.
During the public testnet phase, the ShimmerEVM will be tested and validated by developers, which will help in discovering bugs and opening up the scope for improvement. The IOTA smart contracts team has been working for the past four months to approve the first release of the Shimmer-compatible IOTA smart contracts on several fronts. This launch of the ShimmerEVM testnet is a significant step towards the development of the Shimmer blockchain and the eventual launch of the IOTA 2.0 infrastructure.
One of the significant challenges that IOTA developers faced while implementing the smart contracts nodes was the major refactoring of the consensus-related modules. The previous version of consensus modules worked, but it was hard to debug and understand. The developers have worked towards proper refactoring while ensuring that the crucial components work swiftly with the launch of ShimmerEVM. Another crucial change in the node software was to look at the historical state of smart contracts and not just the most recent state.
The EVM compatibility has received a nice upgrade with a focus on adding support for using Shimmer native assets from L1 on an EVM chain just as if they were either ERC20 tokens or ERC721 NFTs. This compatibility upgrade expands the Shimmer protocol’s functionality, making it easier for developers to create smart contracts that can interact with the IOTA network. Additionally, Shimmer has unveiled a brand new API along with CLI implementation that allows users to fully automate the generation of documentation for the API and its client libraries in almost every programming language imaginable.
The launch of the ShimmerEVM testnet is an exciting step forward for the IOTA ecosystem. By improving EVM compatibility and expanding functionality, IOTA is positioning itself to be a major player in the blockchain space, offering a scalable and interoperable platform for smart contract development. The successful launch of the ShimmerEVM on the Shimmer blockchain will be a major milestone towards achieving the ultimate goal of launching the IOTA 2.0 infrastructure. The ShimmerEVM testnet will enable developers to create smart contracts that can interact with the IOTA network, opening up new opportunities for innovation and growth in the blockchain industry.