What new narratives is the Layer 2 market seeking as Fluent moves from AltVM to integrated execution?

Since 2026, the competitive logic of the Layer2 market has been gradually changing. Compared to the previous stage where the industry long focused on TPS, Gas fees, and concurrency performance, more and more projects are now re-examining another question: after the market already has a large number of high-performance execution layers, what exactly does the next-generation public chain need to solve?

Against this backdrop, Fluent has recently continued to strengthen its “Blended Execution” route, and has been advancing test networks and builder ecosystems around cross-VM collaboration, unified execution environments, and developer toolchains. This has also led the project to gradually enter discussions around the AltVM track. While many Layer2 solutions still emphasize performance metrics, Fluent aims more to address the increasingly severe ecosystem fragmentation in the multi-chain era.

From the current market situation, the overall Layer2 space has entered a clear period of volatility. Relying solely on performance narratives is becoming increasingly difficult to establish long-term differentiation, while issues like developer ecosystems, liquidity, and cross-chain interaction complexity are beginning to become new industry focus areas. In this context, “Blended Execution” is starting to be viewed by some in the market as a new attempt for the next phase of execution layer competition.

Fluent’s Recent Product Roadmap Updates Focused on Blended Execution

In recent months, one of Fluent’s core changes has been the continuous reinforcement of its Blended Execution approach.

The official updates have recently centered around “Expressivity” and “Cross-VM composability,” gradually advancing public testnets, the Fluentbase SDK, and development tools like gblend. Compared to traditional Layer2 solutions that mainly focus on EVM compatibility, Fluent now emphasizes native collaboration capabilities between different execution environments.

According to the current project roadmap, Fluent aims to enable the coordinated operation of EVM, Wasm, and future SVM within the same execution layer, allowing developers to build cross-VM applications within a unified environment.

This direction has gained attention largely due to the current market structure. Over the past few years, multi-chain ecosystems have expanded rapidly, but the fragmentation between different VMs has become increasingly apparent. Developers need to switch languages, toolchains, and execution environments constantly, while users have to frequently cross chains, bridge assets, and switch wallets.

Compared to the past focus on “how fast the chain can run,” the industry is now re-examining: “Can chains truly collaborate?”

Why AltVM Projects Are No Longer Just About Performance Parameters

Recent changes in the AltVM market show that industry competition is beginning to shift.

In the past, whether it was Monad, MegaETH, or other new execution layer projects, the market almost entirely competed around performance metrics, including TPS, latency, Gas, and execution efficiency. But as more high-performance chains enter the market, relying solely on performance parameters makes it increasingly difficult to establish long-term differentiation.

Meanwhile, the industry is also gradually realizing another issue: even if chain performance continues to improve, if developer ecosystems, cross-chain collaboration, and liquidity problems are not addressed, many performance advantages will be hard to translate into long-term use cases.

In this context, some new execution layer projects are re-emphasizing “expressiveness” and “development freedom.” The recent emphasis on Blended Execution by Fluent is essentially an attempt to answer this question.

Rather than simply increasing TPS, Fluent hopes to establish a more open execution environment, allowing different VMs to directly collaborate, rather than remaining isolated within different ecosystems.

How User Interaction Costs Have Changed After Multi-Chain Fragmentation

Over the past few years, the rapid expansion of multi-chain ecosystems has driven industry growth but has also significantly increased user interaction complexity.

From the current market structure, most users are beginning to feel the problems caused by fragmentation. For example, frequent bridging between different chains, difficulty in cross-wallet coordination, split liquidity, and increasingly complex asset interaction paths.

Especially as the number of Layer2 solutions continues to grow, these issues have become more pronounced. Many users can enjoy lower Gas fees and higher performance, but operational complexity is also rising.

For developers, similar issues exist. Differences in toolchains between VMs, language switching, and ecosystem fragmentation make it difficult for many applications to truly achieve cross-ecosystem collaboration.

Recent market shifts show that more projects are re-discussing the possibility of “unified interaction layers” and “unified execution environments,” and Fluent’s approach to Blended Execution is gradually gaining some developer attention in this context.

Why Cross-VM Composability Is Now a Developer Discussion Topic

Compared to ordinary users who focus more on interaction experience, developers are now increasingly concerned with another issue: whether different execution environments can truly be composable.

In the past, EVM, Wasm, and SVM were largely independent ecosystems. Developers had to learn different languages, adapt to different toolchains, and applications found it difficult to share state and logic.

While this structure promoted independent development of different ecosystems, it also led to increasing fragmentation across the industry. As AI Agents, automated trading, and complex on-chain applications grow, the demand for cross-VM collaboration is becoming more obvious.

Recent developer discussions show that more people are paying attention to whether “a unified execution environment” can reduce development costs and improve application composability. The Blended Execution approach that Fluent promotes is fundamentally an attempt to integrate different execution environments into a common underlying framework.

Although this direction is still in early stages, market enthusiasm indicates that cross-VM collaboration is gradually moving from a technical concept into actual development discussions.

What Kind of Execution Environment Might AI Agents and Automated Trading Need?

The ongoing expansion of AI Agents is also reshaping market demands for execution layers.

In the past, on-chain applications relied heavily on manual user interactions. But as AI Agents and automated strategies increase, many on-chain behaviors may shift from “human operation” to “programmatic automation.”

This shift imposes new requirements on execution environments. For example, AI Agents may need to call liquidity, data, and smart contracts across different chains simultaneously. Traditional siloed VM structures often cannot meet the needs of complex automation scenarios.

This is why more developers are re-discussing “Cross-VM composability.” For AI Agents, the future’s most important factor may not be single-chain performance but whether different execution environments can collaborate at low cost.

Market trends suggest that, although the relationship between AI Agents and blended execution is still early, some long-term developers are beginning to explore combining the two.

How Market Expectations Are Changing After Fluent’s Funding and Testnet Progress

As the public testnet advances and the builder ecosystem expands, market expectations for Fluent are also shifting.

Compared to earlier stages focused mainly on technical concepts, Fluent is now actively developing tools, SDKs, and builder communities. The increasing activities of the Blended Builders Club and developer events highlight a clear focus on “developer ecosystem first.”

Additionally, Fluent’s backing by institutions like Polychain has brought it some market attention within the AltVM track.

However, the current market structure remains cautious about AltVM projects. While long-term value is recognized in innovative execution layers, the past few years have seen significant competition saturation among Layer2 and AltVM projects.

Therefore, for Fluent, the key is no longer just the technical route but whether it can build a sustainable developer ecosystem and real-world applications.

Liquidity Fragmentation in Layer2 Remains a Long-term Challenge

Although the rapid expansion of Layer2 has increased on-chain activity, liquidity fragmentation has become a serious issue.

Assets are now split across various Layer2s and VM ecosystems, and bridging costs, cross-chain complexity, and user migration costs are beginning to impact overall ecosystem efficiency.

From a market perspective, this is why more projects are re-discussing “unified execution environments” and “cross-VM collaboration.”

As the number of chains continues to grow, the real competitive advantage may no longer be TPS but how effectively liquidity and development resources are integrated.

For Fluent, its long-term goal with the Blended Execution approach is to reduce cross-VM collaboration costs. However, this still requires more real-world applications and developer ecosystems to validate.

Can Blended Execution Become the Infrastructure Foundation of the Next Stage?

Currently, “Blended Execution” appears more as an emerging new direction rather than a fully mature industry trend.

Compared to the past where Layer2 mainly competed on performance, the industry is now entering a more complex phase. Developers are paying more attention to cross-chain collaboration, users to interaction experience, and AI Agents and automation are prompting a rethinking of execution environments.

In this context, Fluent’s Blended Execution is fundamentally an attempt to redefine relationships between execution layers.

However, market opinions are divided. Some believe cross-VM composability could become a key infrastructure direction in the next stage; others think most developers may not need such complex integrated environments.

For Fluent, the most critical future question remains: can “Blended Execution” truly meet long-term application needs, rather than just remaining a technical narrative?

Summary

Fluent’s recent push for Blended Execution is not just about strengthening its AltVM narrative but reflects a broader shift in the Layer2 market’s competitive logic.

As multi-chain ecosystems become more fragmented, developer collaboration costs rise, and AI Agent scenarios expand, discussions around unified execution environments and cross-VM composability are increasing. Compared to the past, when the industry mainly competed on TPS and performance parameters, the Layer2 market is gradually entering a more complex infrastructure stage.

For Fluent, from its focus on Blended Execution to builder ecosystems and cross-VM development tools, the trajectory is shifting from typical AltVM Layer2 solutions toward a more long-term foundational infrastructure for integrated execution. Whether this can truly generate sustained developer demand remains to be seen, pending further real-world application validation.

FAQ

Why has Fluent recently gained market attention?

Fluent has recently attracted attention mainly due to its Blended Execution approach, cross-VM collaboration, and ongoing testnet developments. As Layer2 competition enters a new phase, the concept of unified execution is re-entering developer discussions.

What is Blended Execution?

Blended Execution is Fluent’s proposed approach to integrated execution, aiming to enable EVM, Wasm, and future SVM environments to operate collaboratively on the same chain, reducing fragmentation in development and interaction.

Why does Fluent no longer focus solely on performance parameters?

Fluent no longer emphasizes performance metrics because the AltVM market has seen clear performance competition homogenization. Instead, the project aims to differentiate itself through cross-VM collaboration and a unified execution environment for long-term advantage.

Why is cross-VM composability now a topic of market discussion?

Cross-VM composability is now discussed mainly due to multi-chain ecosystem fragmentation and the expansion of AI Agent scenarios. Future complex on-chain applications may require calling multiple execution environments simultaneously, prompting developers to revisit unified execution layers.

What is Fluent’s biggest current challenge?

Fluent’s main challenge is that its Blended Execution approach is still in early development, and whether cross-VM collaboration can truly establish a long-term developer ecosystem and real-world applications remains to be further validated.