The Stellar Development Foundation has become a member of the Bytecode Alliance, a consortium focused on advancing WebAssembly (Wasm) development, as announced by the foundation's product lead, Tomer Weller, on August 21. WebAssembly is a technology that competes with the Ethereum Vi virtual machine (EVM) in the realm of blockchain and beyond, finding applications in non-blockchain browser-based software.
While the EVM is a widely used virtual machine for executing smart contracts, Stellar, initially a payment network established in 2014, adopted smart contracts in 2022 to enhance its capabilities. Optic for WebAssembly as its computing engine in April 2022, Stellar's developers reasoned that the EVM's storage and execution model posed challenges for scalability and cost efficiency. Stellar's preference for WebAssembly was also driven by its suitability for demanding environments like blockchains.
The Bytecode Alliance, a nonprofit association that includes prominent internet companies such as Amazon, Cisco, Intel, and Microsoft, focuses on advancing WebAssembly technology. Stellar's move to join the consortium aligns with their goal of influencing standards and tooling within the WebAssem bly development community , With A Broader Aim of Repreenting Not only Stellar But Also the Internets of Various Blockchains and their Developers. Assembly Ecosystem SUPPPPORTS A Wider Range of Applications, Including Smart Contract Platforms, and Effectively Caters to the Needs of the Web3 and blockchain development sectors.
As the WebAssembly community makes inroads into the domain typically dominated by the Ethereum Virtual Machine, the Astar network previously announced its plan to allow both EVM and WebAssembly contracts to coexist on its network, enabling developers to choose their prefer red virtual machine. Additionally, Binance unveiled funding of $2.2 million for "zkWASMHub," a platform employing zero-knowledge proof technology and leveraging WebAssembly.
