Since its inception, Aura has served as a permissioned CosmWasm app chain, focusing on NFTs and solutions for mass adoption. We introduced a native account abstraction module and built a comprehensive stack of infrastructure applications to support these solutions. Now, Aura embarks on its second phase, embracing the growing web3 developer community by integrating the world's most widely used smart contract engine.
Aura is now EVM-compatible
This major upgrade marks a pivotal shift in Aura's trajectory. Transitioning from a permissioned app chain, Aura is now a permissionless, interoperable, and general-purpose layer. By supporting both CosmWasm and EVM smart contracts, Aura enables seamless deployment of all types of decentralized applications (DApps). With its built-in modular architecture, developers can create a new generation of DApps that leverage native account abstraction in either CosmWasm or EVM.
How does Aura EVM work?
Aura is partnering with EVMOS to integrate the latest Ethereum Virtual Machine upgrade. In essence, we introduce a new system message type to encapsulate EVM messages, making them compatible with Cosmos messages. EVMOS modules like erc20 (for token conversions) and feemarket (for dynamic gas fees) are incorporated.
Due to differences in address generation between Ethereum and Cosmos, converting all existing Aura wallet addresses to EVM while maintaining backward compatibility with CosmWasm DApps is a challenge. To address this, we have temporarily separated CosmWasm and EVM components into distinct "zones." Users can transfer and convert tokens between CosmWasm and EVM addresses, but cannot use the same address for both. This will be streamlined in the future for seamless use.
Additionally, since EVM addresses consist of 18 decimals while current Aura addresses have 6 decimals, a special module called evm-util, developed by KAVA, is employed to facilitate conversion between these two address formats.
This zone separation will eventually be abstracted, allowing users to create accounts and transact without distinguishing between EVM and CosmWasm.
Benefits of Aura EVM compatibility
EVM compatibility enables easy integration of popular DApps from Ethereum, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, and more with Aura. This solves interoperability challenges, giving developers the freedom to choose their preferred environment. Increased DApp diversity attracts more traffic, TVL (Total Value Locked), and revenue. Web3 users familiar with EVM UX will find transitioning to the Aura ecosystem effortless.
What sets Aura EVM apart?
While many EVM-compatible chains exist, Aura's unique modular architecture offers developers significant optimization opportunities. They can create native modules directly on Aura to support new EVM EIPs while also supporting CosmWasm DApps.
Future Development Roadmap for Aura EVM
- Q2 + Q3: Release native Account Abstraction on Aura EVM, supporting standard EIPs.
- Q4: Abstract EVM and CosmWasm environments for a seamless user experience.
This is a significant update for the Aura Network. During the upgrade period, some DApps may experience disruptions and will require time to integrate smoothly, including transactions via wallets, CEX, and DEX. We welcome any feedback through the official Aura Discord channel.
You can track the governance vote for the EVM Upgrade Proposal here.
