forked from cerc-io/laconicd-deprecated
51 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
51 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
# Introduction
|
||
|
||
## What is Ethermint
|
||
|
||
Ethermint is a high throughput PoS blockchain that is fully compatible and
|
||
interoperable with Ethereum. In other words, it allows for running vanilla Ethereum
|
||
on top of [Tendermint](https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint) consensus via
|
||
the [Cosmos SDK](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/). This allows developers
|
||
to have all the desired features of Ethereum, while at the same time benefit
|
||
from Tendermint’s PoS implementation. Also, because it is built on top of the
|
||
Cosmos SDK, it will be able to exchange value with the rest of the Cosmos Ecosystem.
|
||
|
||
Here’s a glance at some of the key features of Ethermint:
|
||
|
||
* Web3 compatibility
|
||
* High throughput
|
||
* Horizontal scalability
|
||
* Transaction finality
|
||
|
||
Ethermint enables these key features through:
|
||
|
||
* Implementing Tendermint's ABCI application interface to manage the base Blockchain
|
||
* Leveraging [modules](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/tree/master/x/) and other mechanisms implemented by the Cosmos SDK
|
||
* Utilizing [`geth`](https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum) as a library to avoid code reuse and improve maintainability
|
||
* Exposing a fully compatible Web3 RPC layer for interacting with the system
|
||
|
||
The sum of these features allows developers to leverage existing Ethereum ecosystem
|
||
tooling and software to seamlessly deploy smart contracts which interact with the rest of the Cosmos
|
||
ecosystem!
|
||
|
||
## In-depth Topics
|
||
|
||
### Tendermint Core & the Application Blockchain Interface (ABCI)
|
||
|
||
Tendermint consists of two chief technical components: a blockchain consensus
|
||
engine and a generic application interface. The consensus engine, called
|
||
Tendermint Core, ensures that the same transactions are recorded on every machine
|
||
in the same order. The application interface, called the Application Blockchain
|
||
Interface (ABCI), enables the transactions to be processed in any programming
|
||
language.
|
||
|
||
Tendermint has evolved to be a general purpose blockchain consensus engine that
|
||
can host arbitrary application states. Since Tendermint can replicate arbitrary
|
||
applications, it can be used as a plug-and-play replacement for the consensus
|
||
engines of other blockchains. Ethermint is such an example of an ABCI application
|
||
replacing Ethereum's PoW via Tendermint's consensus engine.
|
||
|
||
Another example of a cryptocurrency application built on Tendermint is the Cosmos
|
||
network. Tendermint is able to decompose the blockchain design by offering a very
|
||
simple API (ie. the ABCI) between the application process and consensus process.
|