Eclipse launched its highly anticipated mainnet blockchain on Thursday, introducing a first-of-its-kind layer-2 network that merges technology from the popular Ethereum and Solana blockchains into one package.
Like other layer-2 Ethereum rollups, Eclipse lets people transact on Ethereum with faster speeds and lower fees. To achieve this, it operates as its own network, written using the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) – the fast and cheap execution architecture led by Ethereum’s biggest competitor, Solana. Similar to other Layer 2s, Eclipse aggregates transactions from its users and periodically passes them on to the base Ethereum chain, where they are permanently recorded in the chain’s ledger.
“Eclipse is uniquely positioned to bridge the Ethereum and Solana ecosystems,” Eclipse CEO Vijay Chetty said in a statement. “This platform allows developers to scale their applications without forcing them to choose between two leading blockchain networks.”
The SVM architecture allows Solana native developers to write (or port) decentralized applications (dApps) that can run faster and cost less than Ethereum native apps.
While Solana is valued for its speed and low transaction fees, Ethereum is known for its security and deep liquidity. Users in Solana and Ethereum could benefit from this so-called modular setup: dApps on Eclipse can easily interoperate with native Solana apps, meaning the network can help connect the liquidity of both ecosystems.
According to the Eclipse Foundation, the Eclipse mainnet already has a number of projects on board, including DeFi platform Orca and consumer-facing Save and Nucleus. In total, the network will host more than 60 decentralized applications in finance, gaming and digital services.
Eclipse’s cross-ecosystem approach has made it one of the most hyped blockchain projects of the past cycle, helping it raise more than $50 million from investors.
The long road to the project’s launch has not been without controversy.
Neel Somani, co-founder and former CEO of Eclipse Labs, was ousted from the company in May after allegations of sexual misconduct against him surfaced on social media. No charges have been filed against Somani in connection with the allegations.
Further controversy followed in July when a CoinDesk investigation revealed that Somani had secretly allocated a large portion of his upcoming token supply to a partner at Polychain, the largest lender. Polychain told CoinDesk that the side agreement between Eclipse and its partner was not properly disclosed and violated the fund’s conflict of interest policy.