As the much-anticipated Dencun upgrade is finally available, new life is being injected into the L2 EVM segment. Metis, a high-performance general-purpose Ethereum scaling solution, is also set to make major announcements. As such, we sat down with Tom Ngo, CEO of Metis, to discuss what's next for the project, the L2 scene, and Web3 as a whole.
U.Today: Please share the basic technological concept of Metis L2 blockchain.
Tom Ngo: Metis is an Ethereum Layer 2, meaning it leverages the security and decentralization of Ethereum while significantly reducing transaction fees. This opens the door for more individuals to interact with Ethereum while also allowing a wider range of possibilities for dApps (social dApps, for example).
Metis properly aligns incentives for all network participants and redefines what can be done on Ethereum.
U.Today: What are its main differences with other L2s?
Tom Ngo: Metis is the first L2 solution on Ethereum to decentralize its sequencer, enabling stronger security, improved liveness, and revenue sharing for METIS lockers.
Metis will implement hybrid rollups, which will merge the benefits of fast confirmations and EVM equivalence of optimistic rollups with improved security, censorship resistance and rapid finality of ZK rollups.
U.Today: What are the main bottlenecks in scaling Ethereum on L2s from 2024?
Tom Ngo: After the DenCun upgrade, Ethereum's scaling bottlenecks have been virtually resolved. The problem Ethereum currently has is user onboarding on its platform: Ethereum Layer 2 is specifically an incentive alignment problem. Every time we've seen mass user onboarding in crypto, it's been led by incentives: DeFi Summer, the NFT craze, play2earn, walk2earn and others.
Until Layer 2s can determine the incentive alignment strategy needed to bring the masses on board, this will remain a problem. This is why we are so optimistic at Metis, because we believe that by aligning incentives accordingly between all participants in the network, we will be able to reach this important milestone.
U.Today: What do you think makes Ethereum L2 vulnerable to centralization?
Tom Ngo: First, it is sequencer centralization: foundations do not decentralize the sequencer node to maintain full control and generate all revenue.
Then, it is a centralization of provers/verifiers: if the verifiers or provers are hand-picked, there is room for potential collusion.
U.Today: How are the Métis meeting the challenges of centralization?
Tom Ngo: Metis is the first Ethereum Layer 2 to decentralize its sequence, starting with 5 initial sequencer operators and gradually increasing their number. In terms of verifiers, Metis has a network of over 100 community verifiers on its Layer 2 network.
Once ZKM launches, Metis will unveil its highly anticipated Hybrid Rollup, leveraging ZKM's zkVM and implementing zk proofs, a more decentralized and secure proof solution.
U.Today: Why did you choose the Hybrid Rollup concept?
Tom Ngo: Because it combines the best qualities of both architectures while opening doors to a world of possibilities, securing off-chain devices and creating new use cases for blockchain technology. It also allows you to adapt solutions based on different use cases.
U.Today: What is the main role of the METIS token in terms of staking and governance?
Tom Ngo: All layer 2 tokens are governance tokens. METIS, on the other hand, is the only layer 2 token that acts as a utility token. METIS is used for gas payments, sequencer mining (staking) and transaction validation.
U.Today: How do you plan to develop Metis in a bull market?
Tom Ngo: By properly aligning incentives.
By enabling direct METIS transfers from major centralized exchanges like Binance, Coinbase and more, we will be able to onboard millions more users to Metis.
Once onboarded, they will have a wider range of games and dApps to interact with, as well as many other ecosystem apps powered by our MetisEDF.
The more games of this type, like the previously mentioned PvP game, launched on Metis, the more transactions there will be. The more transactions there are, the more players benefit from the growth of the network. This is also how we align incentives for all market participants.
The more transactions there are, the more METIS reintegrates MetisEDF, thus restarting this cycle of self-sufficiency and perpetual growth.
Being a shareholder in a Layer 2 that does not reward its contributors and community based on growth is essentially an opportunity cost once users realize that there are Layer 2s that are actually willing to do so. . The Layer 2 industry is poised for exceptional growth, and users should be able to benefit from this growth, consistent with the Web3 philosophy.
U.Today: How do you rate the experience of Metis developers compared to other blockchains?
Tom Ngo: Metis is the EVM equivalent, meaning any contract deployed on Ethereum or EVM-enabled chains can easily be deployed on Metis.
For any developers who have deployed programs on EVM, creating a dApp on Metis should be a walk in the park. We also have extensive documentation and a reluctant developer relations team to help you build the next generation of Metis dApps.
U.Today: Will you launch developer support programs?
Tom Ngo: We recently launched MetisEDF, a $4.6 million ecosystem development fund aimed at accelerating ecosystem growth and adoption. For 2024, 250,000 METIS tokens, equivalent to over $25,000,000, have been committed as grants for dApps. Any protocol launched on Metis can apply for these grants.
Additionally, we have launched our Builder Mining Rewards (BMR) initiative since its launch. Every month, up to 4,000 METIS tokens are distributed among DApps in the ecosystem based on their number of transactions.