Monad is an emerging Layer 1 blockchain designed to redefine scalability and efficiency in the decentralized ecosystem. Built by former engineers from Jump Trading LLC, Monad leverages cutting-edge technologies like Parallel Execution, EVM compatibility, and a custom database engine to achieve a bold goal: processing up to 10,000 transactions per second (TPS) while maintaining full compatibility with Ethereum’s development environment.
With its innovative architecture and backing from top-tier investors like Dragonfly Capital, Monad has quickly emerged as one of the most anticipated blockchain projects of 2025. This article dives deep into how Monad works, its core technological innovations, ecosystem development, roadmap, and what sets it apart in the competitive Layer 1 landscape.
What Is Monad?
Monad is a high-performance EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain that uses Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus and introduces Parallel Execution to drastically improve transaction throughput. Unlike traditional blockchains that process transactions sequentially—like Ethereum—Monad can execute multiple independent transactions simultaneously, enabling it to scale to 10,000 TPS without sacrificing security or decentralization.
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The team behind Monad consists of ex-Jump Trading engineers who recognized the limitations of current EVM chains, particularly their sequential execution model. By combining parallel processing with native EVM equivalence, Monad allows developers to deploy existing Ethereum smart contracts with minimal changes—making adoption seamless.
Example: If John receives funds from Harry and Chris receives funds from James, these are two independent transactions. On most EVM chains, they’d be processed one after another. On Monad, both can be executed in parallel, reducing confirmation time and gas costs.
Core Technologies Powering Monad
Parallel Execution: Breaking the Sequential Bottleneck
Traditional blockchains like Ethereum use Sequential Execution, where each transaction must wait for the previous one to complete—even if they don’t interact. This creates bottlenecks during high network activity.
Monad replaces this with Parallel Execution, allowing non-conflicting transactions to run concurrently. Crucially, Monad maintains the same linear transaction ordering and final state as Ethereum, ensuring compatibility.
To ensure data integrity during parallel processing, Monad employs two advanced techniques:
- Optimistic Concurrency Control (OCC)
- Software Transactional Memory (STM)
These systems allow transactions to begin execution before prior ones finish. If a conflict arises—such as reading outdated data—the affected transaction is flagged and re-executed with updated information. This optimistic approach maximizes speed while preserving correctness.
MonadDB: A Custom Database for Speed
Most Ethereum clients store state using Merkle Patricia Tries (MPT), layered on top of general-purpose databases like RocksDB. This dual-layer structure leads to inefficiencies.
Monad solves this by integrating a native Patricia Trie directly into its custom-built database, MonadDB. This eliminates overhead and enables faster read/write operations.
Moreover, MonadDB supports Asynchronous I/O (I/O async) using Linux’s modern io_uring interface. While traditional databases block execution during disk reads, MonadDB continues processing other transactions during I/O waits—dramatically improving throughput under heavy load.
MonadBFT: Fast & Efficient Consensus
Monad uses MonadBFT, a high-performance Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) consensus algorithm derived from HotStuff but optimized for speed.
Key improvements include:
- Reduced consensus rounds from 3 to 2
- Linear communication complexity under normal conditions
- Quadratic complexity only during timeouts
- Pipelining support to overlap phases of block production
This pipelined, optimistic design enables faster block finalization and higher network throughput.
Shared Mempool: Scalable Transaction Pooling
Instead of a single mempool, Monad uses a Shared Mempool divided into shards. Each shard stores a subset of pending transactions based on transaction hash.
Nodes are assigned to specific shards and continuously pull transactions for execution. Once processed, results are broadcast across the network. This sharded design improves scalability and reduces latency in transaction propagation.
Deferred Execution: Decoupling Consensus from Execution
In most blockchains, leaders execute transactions during consensus—forcing all nodes to re-execute them for validation. This redundancy slows down finality.
Monad introduces Deferred Execution, where transaction results are pre-computed and stored before consensus begins. During consensus, nodes only verify rather than re-execute. This slashes processing time and reduces network load, enabling faster confirmations.
Carriage Cost & Reserve Balance: Smarter Fee Management
Monad introduces a novel fee model separating transaction inclusion from execution:
- Reserve Balance: Pays for carriage cost—the fee to include a transaction in a block.
- Execution Balance: Covers actual computation costs during execution.
When a transaction enters a block, carriage cost is deducted from the reserve balance. After execution, unused fees are refunded back to the reserve. This system ensures only paid transactions enter blocks while preventing resource abuse.
Users can adjust their target reserve balance via smart contracts—ideal for EOAs planning high-frequency operations.
Latest Updates from Monad
Raising $200 Million in New Funding
In early 2024, reports emerged that Paradigm is leading a potential $200 million funding round for Monad Labs. If confirmed, this would mark one of the largest crypto investments of the year and underscore strong institutional confidence in Monad’s vision.
The funds will likely accelerate development, ecosystem growth, and mainnet launch preparations.
Devnet Launch Progress
On March 12, 2024, Monad teased the imminent launch of its devnet with a cryptic tweet showing “devnet loading 99%.” Though testnet was announced in mid-2023, this signaled tangible progress toward public deployment.
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This devnet phase is critical for internal testing, bug fixing, and preparing infrastructure partners before opening access to external developers.
Monad Ecosystem: Early Projects Gaining Momentum
While still pre-mainnet, Monad is actively cultivating an ecosystem across key DeFi and infrastructure sectors:
- DeFi: Ambient, iZUMi Finance, Aori
- Cross-chain Infrastructure: LayerZero, Wormhole, Pyth Network
- NFTs: Monadians, Blocknads, Poply
These partnerships indicate strong early interest from established protocols looking to expand onto faster EVM-compatible chains.
Tokenomics: The MON Token
In September 2023, Monad confirmed plans to issue its native utility token, MON, which will be used for:
- Paying gas fees
- Covering execution costs
- Staking in the PoS network
Exact token supply, distribution schedule, and launch date have not yet been disclosed. Updates are expected closer to mainnet.
Development Roadmap
Monad’s timeline remains aggressive yet achievable:
- Q1 2025: Devnet launched
- Q2 2025: Public testnet release
- Q4 2025: Mainnet launch
Each phase focuses on stability, performance testing, and developer onboarding.
Founding Team: Elite Engineering & Finance Background
The core team brings deep expertise in quantitative trading and blockchain infrastructure:
- Keone Hon (Co-founder & CEO): Former head of trading at Jump Trading LLC; led DeFi and blockchain initiatives at Jump Crypto.
- James Hunsaker (Co-founder): Ex-Vice President at J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs; software engineer at Jump Trading for 8 years.
- Eunice Giarta (COO): Previously held product and trading roles at Bank of America, Broadway Technology, and Shutterstock.
Their background in high-frequency trading gives them unique insight into building low-latency, scalable systems—perfect for a high-speed blockchain.
Investors & Backers
Monad raised $19 million in seed funding, led by Dragonfly Capital, with participation from:
- Shima Capital
- Placeholder
- Lemniscap
This backing reflects strong belief in Monad’s technical vision and long-term potential.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: Is Monad fully compatible with Ethereum?
A: Yes. Monad is designed as an EVM-equivalent chain, meaning existing Ethereum dApps can be deployed with little or no modification.
Q: How does Parallel Execution improve performance?
A: It allows independent transactions to run simultaneously instead of one-by-one, significantly increasing throughput—targeting 10,000 TPS.
Q: When will the MON token launch?
A: No official date has been announced yet. The token will launch alongside or shortly after mainnet in late 2025.
Q: Can developers start building on Monad now?
A: Yes—once the devnet and testnet are live, developers can access documentation and tools to begin deploying dApps.
Q: How does Monad differ from other fast L1s like Solana or Avalanche?
A: Unlike Solana (which uses a custom VM), Monad retains full EVM compatibility while achieving high speed through parallel execution—a rare combination.
Q: Is Monad open-source?
A: While not fully public yet, the team plans to open-source components as development progresses toward mainnet.
Final Thoughts
Monad represents a bold step forward in blockchain scalability. By merging EVM compatibility with parallel execution, custom database optimization, and efficient consensus, it aims to deliver Ethereum-level security at Web2-like speeds.
With experienced founders, strong funding, and growing ecosystem interest, Monad is positioned to become a major player in the next generation of Layer 1 blockchains.
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As we approach its mainnet launch in late 2025, developers and investors alike should keep a close eye on Monad’s progress through devnet and testnet phases.
Note: This article does not constitute financial advice. Always conduct your own research before engaging with any blockchain project.