Key Takeaways
- Sei Network plans to streamline by dropping Cosmos support, focusing solely on EVM.
- Proposal SIP-3 suggests ending CosmWasm contracts and native Cosmos messaging.
- May 14 community discussion will determine if the network will move to EVM-only operations.
The Sei Network, a blockchain platform known for balancing Cosmos-native and Ethereum-compatible functionality, may be about to change course. A proposal written by the Sei Network developer Philip Su and vetted by Bryan Tran proposes discontinuing support for Cosmos-based operations.
This strategic transition, outlined in SIP-3, would involve Sei migrating to an EVM-exclusive architecture, eliminating the complexity and maintenance headache of maintaining two separate execution environments.
The network presently accommodates both EVM and CosmWasm, enabling interaction with each other via different but compatible modules.
The two-architecture design, which earlier benefited from the flexibility of being able to run on both Cosmos and Ethereum, is nowadays a bottleneck from a technical perspective.
From infrastructure fragmentation to debug headaches, development friction has become so dire that the advantages of Cosmos support no longer offset costs, says Rao.
Developers end up carrying around complicated bridge logic, users keep track of several wallet addresses, and indexers have enormous implementation overhead.
Sei’s v2 upgrade seems to have tipped the network further toward EVM, as usage statistics indicate a clear swing toward Ethereum-compatible protocols from a transaction volume perspective.
Sei Network Blueprint Details EVM Transition Steps
The planned blueprint has a phased strategy. CosmWasm contract deployment will be suspended and inbound IBC transfers prevented first. Legacy CosmWasm functionality and natively derived Cosmos transaction types will be completely deprecated afterwards.
The transition would also involve the creation of “EVM Pointers,” which would enable assets from the Cosmos side that exist currently to be usable from within the EVM sphere. Core blockchain operations such as staking and governance won’t be touched, since they’ll be sustained using internal precompiles with validator infrastructure.
The SIP-3 proposal is definitely pointing toward a leaner roadmap for operations. By going EVM-only, Sei is eliminating duplicative systems and tapping into a wider base of EVM-savvy developers.
Programs that were previously constructed on CosmWasm must be rewritten or ported, but the group believes that long-term efficiency benefits outweigh the temporary disruption.
Users Required to Migrate Cosmos Assets
The most immediate consequences will be seen by developers and infrastructure teams. Indexers, explorers, and nodes will need to switch to EVM-specific APIs.
Wallet holders associated with Cosmos addresses will be required to migrate assets via bridging or swapping. Application developers will need to rewrite backends and frontends to conform to the Ethereum standard.
Yet, that consolidation, as seen with analyst Devin Rao, may eventually align Sei further with the wider EVM universe, opening the door for increased liquidity, toolset compatibility, and mainstream adoption.
The community is scheduled to discuss SIP-3 on May 14, a date that could signal the conclusion of Sei’s two-chain experiment and the commencement of a focused EVM-native era.
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