Exploring Monad Crypto: A Detailed Review of Its Features and Performance

In the crowded space of Ethereum-compatible Layer 1 chains, Monad has quickly carved out a significant place. Where many L1s have either sacrificed full compatibility for performance or offered compatibility without real differentiation, Monad aims to strike the right balance: delivering true EVM equivalence with order-of-magnitude improvements in throughput and efficiency.

This article takes a close look at whether Monad is succeeding:

• Does it faithfully preserve the Ethereum developer and user experience?
• Is it introducing enough technical innovation to attract value and users from Ethereum, while also enabling new use cases that Ethereum L1 or rollups can’t handle?

Though still in testnet, Monad has already earned critical attention for its architecture, growing ecosystem, and developer momentum. It is unquestionably a project to keep on your radar, one of the most anticipated L1 mainnet launches of 2025.

Here’s everything you need to know about Monad.

What is Monad?

Monad is a high-performance, Ethereum-compatible Layer‑1 "state-replication machine" built from the ground up in C++ and Rust. It delivers 10,000 TPS, 0.5 s block times, and ~1 s single-slot finality, all with near-zero gas fees, while preserving full EVM equivalence. That means existing Ethereum smart contracts and tooling (Solidity/Remix/Foundry, MetaMask, Ledger, etc.) work unchanged on Monad.

Core Innovations

• MonadBFT – A custom BFT consensus optimized from HotStuff with pipelined rounds and speculative single-round finality.
• RaptorCast – A streamlined broadcast protocol that accelerates block propagation among validators, smoothing network synchronization.
• Asynchronous Execution – Consensus and execution are decoupled, running in parallel—so blocks are validated while others execute—maximizing resource utilization.
• Parallel Execution – Transactions independent of each other are executed simultaneously across threads/VMs, preserving order during commit.
• MonadDB – A custom state database, based on Patricia Trie, that emphasizes low-RAM use and fast access, lowering hardware requirements to enable decentralization.

Key Milestones & Context

• Devnet demonstrated internal performance reaching 10,000 TPS during testing.
• Testnet launched on February 19, 2025, with ~57 validators, over 1.5 M unique addresses, 32M+ txns, 564K+ contracts, average fee ~0.01 MON.
• Backed by ~$225–248 M in funding from top investors like Paradigm, Dragonfly, Coinbase, Electric Capital, etc.

Ecosystem Status & Metrics

• Testnet adoption is strong: high activity, DApp usage, and airdrop campaigns.
• Ecosystem growth includes over 100 projects across DeFi, wallets, cross‑chain, oracles, NFTs, analytics tools (e.g. Band, Chainlink, Backpack, FoxWallet).
• Mainnet planned later in 2025—positioning Monad as a leading Ethereum-compatible high-throughput L1.

How Monad Works

Monad is built to run Ethereum applications, tooling, and infrastructure without modification. It preserves full EVM equivalence while introducing architectural changes to scale performance well beyond what the Ethereum L1 or typical rollups can achieve.

To reach 10,000 TPS with low-latency finality, Monad redesigns core parts of Ethereum’s execution model. It optimizes how consensus is reached, how transactions are processed, and how state is stored—all while keeping resource use efficient and hardware requirements modest.

This section explains the key changes: how Monad’s consensus, execution, and data systems differ from Ethereum’s, and how these innovations deliver its performance edge.

Consensus System: MonadBFT

MonadBFT is a Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) consensus protocol optimized for high throughput, fast finality, and support for large validator sets. In a BFT system, even if up to one-third of validators act maliciously or go offline, the network still achieves secure agreement.

Monad utilizes a Proof-of-Stake model where participants lock MON tokens to stake, and delegation is permitted, allowing users to delegate stake to validators without running nodes themselves. Though MON underpins consensus, the testnet phase does not yet assign any real monetary value to MON.

Pipelined Block Proposal and Finality

MonadBFT implements a pipelined approach: during each consensus round, the current leader proposes a block while simultaneously voting to finalize the previous one. This overlapping pipeline enables speculative one-round finality and achieves full finality within about 1 second. MonadBFT is built with tail-fork resistance, meaning it prevents valid and accepted blocks from getting excluded from the canonical chain due to MEV manipulation.

Network Parameters & Validator Set

• Round time: ~500 ms; finality is achieved in ~1 s.
• Byzantine fault tolerance: Supports up to 33% malicious participants.
• Validator count: The testnet hosts 100–200 active validators, positioning the network as robustly decentralized for this development stage.

Asynchronous Execution

Ethereum operates with synchronous execution: each block’s transactions are proposed, ordered through consensus, and then fully executed across the network before moving to the next block. Because execution can’t start until ordering is finalized, the network often faces delays, especially across a global, decentralized validator set where latency adds up.

Monad takes a different approach: asynchronous execution. In Monad, the stages of block processing—proposal, voting, execution, and finalization—proceed in parallel across multiple blocks. For example:

• One block may be proposed
• Another block voted on
• A third being executed
• And a fourth being finalized — all at once

This pipelined design allows Monad to keep validator hardware busy at all times, making far more efficient use of compute and network resources. It eliminates the idle gaps inherent in Ethereum’s sequential flow, directly contributing to Monad’s high throughput and low latency.

Parallel Execution in Monad

Another important efficiency gain in Monad comes from the parallel execution of transactions.

In Ethereum, transactions are executed strictly one after another, even when many are independent and could safely run in parallel. This limits throughput unnecessarily.

Monad removes this bottleneck. Its engine analyzes incoming transactions to detect which ones do not touch overlapping parts of the state. These independent transactions are executed in parallel across multiple processing threads.

Once executed, the results are ordered and committed into the blockchain in the same linear order as they would be on Ethereum, preserving full compatibility.

By parallelizing what can be safely parallelized, Monad significantly increases throughput while maintaining the final state as fully deterministic and EVM-equivalent.

MonadDB

MonadDB is a custom-built database system that stores and manages Monad’s blockchain state, encompassing everything from account balances to contract data.

Ethereum clients use general-purpose databases, which were never designed for the specific needs of blockchains running at high speed or in parallel. These legacy designs struggle with the demands of asynchronous execution and very high TPS—both of which are central to Monad.

To solve this, MonadDB was designed from the ground up for Ethereum’s state model, but optimized to:

• Store data more efficiently, without unnecessary layers that slow things down
• Support asynchronous, parallel execution so the system can process multiple transactions at once
• Use modern SSD storage more effectively, avoiding common issues like fragmentation or wasted I/O operations
• Handle multiple readers and writers safely, so consensus, execution, and RPC can all access the state without conflicts or delays

The result is a database that allows Monad to run at high performance without requiring expensive, high-end hardware, helping keep node operation affordable and accessible.

Transaction Lifecycle

A typical Monad transaction starts when a user submits a signed transaction through a wallet or application interface. Just like Ethereum, wallets use eth_estimateGas function to calculate gas limits, and users select a gas price in Monad’s native token.

Once submitted to an RPC node, the transaction is checked for validity (signature, nonce, gas limits) and then propagated to the network’s leader nodes through a multi-stage mempool process. If it isn’t picked up right away, the transaction is forwarded again until it is included.

When a leader includes the transaction in a block, it is broadcast across the network. Monad’s pipelined consensus flow means the transaction moves from Proposed → Voted → Finalized stages—typically within 1–2 seconds.

Once finalized, nodes execute the transaction, using parallel optimistic execution, and commit results in Ethereum-compatible order. Users can then confirm the outcome via standard Ethereum RPC calls.

Hardware Requirements

Running a Monad validator or full node requires:

• CPU: 16-core processor @ 4.5 GHz+ (e.g. AMD Ryzen 7950X)
• Memory: 32 GB RAM
• Storage: 2 × 2 TB NVMe SSDs (with one SSD dedicated to MonadDB)
• Bandwidth: 100 Mbps internet connection

Compared to other blockchains:

• Ethereum nodes have relatively light CPU requirements but can consume large amounts of storage over time, and full archival nodes demand even more (several terabytes). Ethereum also does not benefit from multi-core CPUs as execution remains single-threaded.
• Solana validators have heavier compute and bandwidth requirements—recent recommendations suggest 16–24 core CPUs @ 3.7+ GHz, 256+ GB RAM, and 1 Gbps+ bandwidth to handle Solana’s ultra-high TPS.

Monad strikes a middle ground: modest RAM compared to Solana, less network bandwidth, and modern multi-core CPU use is fully utilized due to Monad’s parallel execution. This keeps validator costs and hardware needs within reach for a wider range of operators.

Monad Ecosystem

The Monad ecosystem blends native applications alongside Ethereum-originated platforms, leveraging full EVM compatibility. Although still operating in testnet, it already features a diverse and vibrant landscape, with over 100 active DApps, 99 validators, and 1 billion+ transactions processed since the testnet’s February 2025 launch.

Users and on-chain liquidity are scaling rapidly. For example, Puffer Finance, a native liquid staking protocol, manages a $1.4 billion TVL, while airdrops and app onboarding campaigns drive broader ecosystem engagement.

Below is a curated overview of key applications, selected for their traction and ecosystem impact:

Cross‑chain & Bridging

• Chainlink CCIP – Secure infrastructure for cross-chain messaging and token transfers.
• Garden – Fast, trust-minimized BTC bridge delivering swaps in ~30 seconds.
• Wormhole – Established bridge enabling connectivity to 30+ chains.
• Bitlayer Bitcoin Bridge – Enables trustless BTС ingress into Monad via BitVM.

DEX (Decentralized Exchanges)

• Uniswap – Veteran EVM DEX, fully functional on Monad testnet.
• PancakeSwap – BSC-origin AMM now live, enabling ultra-low-fee swaps.
• Clober – CLOB-style on-chain order book with efficient settlement.
• Crystal – Order-book DEX delivering centralized-exchange performance.

Lending & Borrowing

• Euler – On-chain, asset-specific configurable lending markets.
• Ammalgam – Hybrid platform combining lending and exchange.
• Bima – Facilitates Bitcoin yield generation via USBD and LST.

Trading & Derivatives

• Bean Exchange – Monad-native spot and perpetuals trading with gamified UX.
• Defx – Multi-collateral perpetuals trading via on-chain order books.
• FWX – DEX offering leveraged trading on testnet.

Wallets

• Backpack Wallet – Popular multi-chain wallet with futures and Ledger support.
• FoxWallet – Mobile/browser wallet with broad ecosystem integration.
• Bitget Web3 Wallet – Non-custodial wallet enabling multi-chain swaps.

Liquid Staking

• Kintsu (sMON) – Leading liquid staking solution with DeFi composability, backed by Primex/LBank funding.
• aPriori – Monad-native MEV-optimized liquid staking.
• Puffer Finance – Restaking protocol with $1.4B TVL and Chainlink integration.

Gaming

• DRKVRS – Multiplayer RPG leveraging NFTs for in-game assets.
• DiscoCats – Yield-driven NFT DeFi platform.
• Mozi – Telegram-integrated gaming with LST features.

Noteworthy Monad‑Native Apps

• ApeBond – Bonding protocol with multi-millions raised.
• Atlantis – Modular DEX offering farming, staking, and fiat on-ramp.
• Diffuse – Decentralized data infrastructure leveraging zero-knowledge techniques.

Legacy‑Migrated Apps

• Balancer – Portfolio-manager AMM migrated from Ethereum.
• Band Protocol – Cross-chain oracle service now integrated.
• PancakeSwap – BSC mainstay ported to Monad for low-fee swaps.
• Uniswap – Leading Ethereum DEX now offering native testnet liquidity.

During its testnet phase, Monad hosts a diverse range of projects, from DeFi to gaming, displaying early yet strong metrics in TVL and transaction volume. This positions it well for a strong debut once the mainnet launches later in 2025.

MON Token

MON is Monad’s native token, serving as the core of its staking and fee economy.

Testnet Usage

In the current testnet phase, MON tokens are distributed via faucets and ecosystem engagement activities. These tokens carry no monetary value and are used strictly to pay gas fees and interact with testnet DApps.

Several DeFi protocols on testnet—such as liquid staking platforms—already integrate MON for simulated staking and yield experiments. For example, Kintsu and Puffer Finance enable testnet staking of MON into derivative tokens used across DApps.

Mainnet Utility

Upon mainnet launch, MON will be used to:

• Pay transaction fees
• Stake for validator participation
• Enable delegation by token holders
• Power liquid staking services through third-party protocols
• Support fee markets and future governance frameworks

As the network moves to the mainnet later in 2025, MON will become central to securing consensus and facilitating core ecosystem functions.

Final Thoughts

Monad is shaping up to be a high-performance, Ethereum-compatible Layer‑1 with true potential to scale EVM workloads without sacrificing decentralization or developer experience. Its innovations—asynchronous execution, parallel processing, and MonadDB—set it apart from both rollups and older L1s.

The project has already built an impressive ecosystem, drawing both native builders and established apps from Ethereum and other chains. For a chain still in testnet, the traction in user adoption, validator participation, and DeFi activity is noteworthy, especially with over $1.4B TVL in testnet staking and an increasingly active developer base.

As the mainnet approaches later in 2025, key signals to watch will be:

• MON token price discovery post-TGE
• Validator participation and staking rates
• Real user activity and fee volume on the mainnet

For now, the outlook is decidedly positive: Monad enters mainnet launch with strong technical foundations, deep funding, and growing community momentum.