Neon EVM Adopts 'Network Extension' Title Amid Solana and Ethereum Debate

According to Blockworks, the term 'network extension' has gained traction within the Solana community, particularly following a statement by Solana Foundation's head of strategy, Austin Federa. Federa suggested that many Solana-centric networks should be considered 'network extensions' rather than layer-2 solutions, which are typically associated with Ethereum. This sparked a debate between Solana supporters and Ethereum advocates, who argued that Solana was merely rebranding the concept of layer-2s. Neon EVM, a platform for deploying Ethereum-centric applications on Solana, has formally adopted the 'network extension' title. Davide Menegaldo, Neon EVM's chief commercial officer, explained that unlike layer-2 solutions, Neon EVM does not add an extra layer on top of Solana. Instead, it operates differently by not batching transactions before settling on the main chain, thus avoiding liquidity fragmentation and user experience issues. Federa elaborated that 'network extensions' are intended to be a broad term that moves away from Ethereum-centric definitions of layer-2s. He described Neon EVM as a 'L1.5' because it is its own virtual machine (VM) but can still interact atomically with Solana's VM (SVM). This new terminology has received support from notable figures in the Solana community, including co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko. However, not everyone is on board with the new term. Tristan Frizza, founder of the Solana-based DeFi platform Zeta, expressed hesitation in adopting the 'network extension' label. He noted that Zeta's mission aligns more closely with traditional Ethereum layer-2 solutions, aiming to achieve lower latency than Solana's 400 ms block times. Similarly, Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz criticized the term as being too general and urged the community to focus on building useful projects to help the crypto space grow. The debate over terminology highlights the evolving nature of blockchain technology and the different approaches taken by various platforms to address scalability and user experience challenges. As the industry continues to develop, the definitions and classifications of these technologies are likely to evolve as well.