Eclipse Launches Public Mainnet as SVM-Based Ethereum L2
Eclipse launched its public mainnet today.
Overview of Eclipse
Eclipse is a general-purpose Ethereum L2 that utilizes the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) for execution, Celestia for data availability, and Ethereum for settlement and consensus. This integration aims to combine Ethereum's liquidity and ecosystem with the SVM’s efficient parallel transaction processing model.
Statements from Leadership
Vijay Chetty, CEO of Eclipse, stated that Eclipse serves as the first solution bridging Solana and Ethereum, enabling developers from both ecosystems to build decentralized applications (dapps) effectively, fostering new opportunities across major networks.
Launch Details
Eclipse reports that at least sixty dapps and service providers will be operational at launch. Additionally, it introduces tETH, an aggregated restaking token that combines popular restaking liquid tokens like ether.fi, Renzo, Puffer, and Swell into one unified token.
Competition and Ecosystem Impact
Eclipse is not alone in bringing the SVM to Ethereum; Ellipsis Labs is also launching a custom SVM implementation with Atlas L2, and SOON (Solana Optimistic Network) is pursuing similar goals. The modularization of the Solana stack has been facilitated by Anza, which separated the SVM from the Solana validator client.
The increased use of Solana over the past year has led to heightened interest in Solana L2s or "network extensions." Projects like Grass network and "rollup-as-a-service" providers such as Termina are emerging to support this trend.
Market Positioning
Eclipse's entry prompts questions about competition with other general-purpose Ethereum chains like Monad or MegaETH, which also promise high transaction speeds. Additionally, it raises concerns about whether it competes with Solana by diluting the exclusivity of the SVM execution engine.
While Eclipse contributes to the Ethereum ecosystem, it may shift developer focus away from EVM, impacting innovation. Nonetheless, Eclipse’s mainnet could create a positive-sum scenario benefiting both Ethereum and Solana despite existing ecosystem rivalries.