Moonbeam

Moonbeam simplifies the developer experience by combining full Ethereum compatibility with the power of Polkadot, including scalability, cross-chain integrations, and on-chain governance.

Moonbeam simplifies the developer experience by combining full Ethereum compatibility with the power of Polkadot, including scalability, cross-chain integrations, and on-chain governance.

Moonbeam delivers complete Ethereum compatibility within a Polkadot parachain environment, so developers can continue to use the programming languages and tools they’ve grown used to — but within a fast-growing and scalable Layer 1 chain.

It is also compatible with the Substrate and Polkadot ecosystem, including block explorers, wallets, parachains, and more, allowing users the flexibility to choose the right tools and services for the job.

There are multiple long-lived Moonbeam-based networks. Most significantly, there is the Moonbeam deployment on Polkadot and Kusama.

We believe in a multi-chain future with many chains, and many users and assets on those chains. In this context, we have created Moonbeam: a smart contract platform that provides an Ethereum-compatible environment for building decentralized applications. Moonbeam was designed to serve these new kinds of assets and users that exist across two or more chains.

Existing smart contract platforms are designed to service the users and assets on a single, specific chain. By providing cross-chain smart contract functionality, Moonbeam allows developers to shift existing workloads and logic to Moonbeam and extend the reach of their applications to new users and assets on other chains.

Moonbeam's cross-chain integration is accomplished by becoming a parachain on the Polkadot network. The Polkadot network provides integration and connectivity between parachains that are connected to the network and to other non-Polkadot-based chains, such as Ethereum and Bitcoin, via bridges.

There are multiple long-lived Moonbeam-based networks. Most significantly, there is the Moonbeam deployment on Polkadot and Kusama.

An overview of our parachain deployments are as follows:

Moonbeam: deployment on Polkadot (December 2021)

Moonriver: deployment on Kusama (June 2021)

Moonrock: deployment on the Rococo TestNet (May 2021)

Moonbase Alpha: PureStake hosted parachain TestNet (September 2020)

This strategy allows us to de-risk software upgrades to Moonbeam on the Polkadot MainNet while still maintaining a reasonable update velocity.