Recently, I've been pondering a question: why do some say that understanding EVM equals understanding the entire Web3?

Looking back at Bitcoin, it’s essentially a distributed ledger that records who owns how much money. But after Ethereum came along, the game changed. It’s not just bookkeeping anymore; it became a global “world computer.” If you compare the Ethereum network to a supercomputer, then the EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) is its CPU and operating system.

I’ve found that many people’s understanding of the EVM still stays at the surface. They know about Gas fees, they know about smart contracts, but few truly understand how the EVM operates logically.

Simply put, what the EVM does is like your computer’s operating system — it acts as a bridge between hardware and applications. Developers write code in high-level languages like Solidity, which compilers turn into bytecode. The EVM reads this bytecode, breaks it down into over 140 basic operation codes (Opcodes), and executes step by step. The entire process is fully automated, requiring no manual intervention.

But here’s a key point: the EVM isn’t just executing code; it also maintains the entire network’s “state.” Every time a new block is added to the blockchain, the EVM calculates the results of thousands of transactions, updates wallet balances, ownership records, and ensures data consistency across the network. That’s why the EVM is essentially a distributed state machine — thousands of nodes worldwide run the same EVM, ensuring everyone reaches the exact same conclusion.

Regarding Gas, this is the smartest design of the EVM. Many think Gas is just a “tax,” but in reality, it solves two critical problems in decentralized computation. First, it prevents malicious code from entering infinite loops that could crash the network — because each operation costs Gas, infinite loops quickly exhaust Gas, forcing the EVM to halt. Second, it incentivizes node operators to provide computing resources; network fees are directly rewarded to validators.

Now, let’s talk about why EVM compatibility has become a decisive feature for multi-chain ecosystems by 2026.

Ethereum’s mainnet initially faced severe congestion, with transaction fees skyrocketing. As a result, many new blockchains and Layer-2 solutions emerged, but they faced a challenge: how to persuade developers to build on your new chain? The answer is EVM compatibility.

These new chains didn’t force developers to learn new languages or rewrite code; instead, they simply copied the EVM into their architecture. If a chain is “EVM-compatible,” it can perfectly understand and execute Ethereum’s bytecode and Opcodes. Developers can “write once, deploy anywhere” — Solidity contracts written on Ethereum can be copied and pasted onto BNB Chain, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon, and other EVM-compatible chains, going live within minutes. This convenience has directly led to most of the industry’s locked total value being concentrated on EVM-compatible networks.

But that’s not the whole story. There are also chains that deliberately do not use EVM — like Solana, Aptos, Sui. They choose to build entirely custom virtual machines using Rust or Move languages, prioritizing extreme speed. The trade-off is a much smaller developer ecosystem, and code can’t be directly migrated.

Regarding EVM’s limitations, the traditional EVM has a clear bottleneck: it executes sequentially in a single thread. Imagine a supermarket with only one checkout lane — no matter how many customers there are, they have to queue. During bull markets, this lane becomes severely congested, with users competing to pay higher Gas fees to get priority, leading to astronomical costs.

But this situation is changing. Next-generation networks like Monad and Sei are successfully building parallel EVM. The core idea is: if User A is buying an NFT on OpenSea and User B is trading tokens on Uniswap, these two transactions are unrelated — why can’t they be executed simultaneously? Parallel EVM upgrades the single-lane road into a multi-lane highway, where nodes automatically scan incoming transactions and identify which can be processed in parallel.

I believe understanding the EVM is especially important for investors. It’s not just a technical detail; it determines the architecture of the entire multi-chain ecosystem. Whether you’re trading Layer-1 assets or exploring DApps, understanding the EVM helps you see through those random token pump-and-dumps and identify projects that truly drive infrastructure development.

Today, EVM compatibility has become an industry standard. Ethereum itself, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon — these top projects are all based on EVM. As innovations like parallel EVM continue to address scalability issues, this computing standard will remain at the core of decentralized finance.

So if you want to seize opportunities in this multi-chain era, the first step is to understand what the EVM is and how it works. It’s like the operating system of the Web3 world — mastering it allows you to truly grasp the deeper logic of this revolution.