Moonbeam is an Ethereum-compatible smart contract platform built on the Polkadot network. It aims to enhance the developer experience by offering complete Ethereum compatibility, while leveraging Polkadot's scalability, multi-chain integrations, and on-chain governance. This enables developers to deploy existing Solidity projects in a Substrate-based environment with minimal modifications.
Moonbeam utilizes Polkadot's Substrate framework to create a smart contract parachain. It supports the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), allowing smart contracts and DApps from Ethereum to be deployed seamlessly. The platform operates on a Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism, which empowers token holders to participate actively in the network's governance. Additionally, Moonbeam enables cross-chain interoperability through Cross-Consensus Messaging (XCM) to facilitate communication with different blockchains on the Polkadot network.
Moonbeam's potential use cases include:
Moonbeam was founded by Derek Yoo and Stefan Mehlhorn under PureStake, a company established in 2018. The development of Moonbeam began in 2020, supported by a grant from the Web3 Foundation. Moonbeam launched its testnet in September 2020 and secured a Polkadot parachain slot in November 2021. The network went live on Polkadot on January 11, 2022, and has since evolved with significant technological advancements such as a software development kit (SDK) for cross-chain interactions and substantial growth in its ecosystem of decentralised applications.