## **Overview** Sei is a blockchain infrastructure platform that offers a parallelized Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) execution layer. It aims to improve transaction processing and scalability, leveraging attributes from both Solana and Ethereum to support decentralized applications and smart contracts. ## **History** Founded by Dan Edlebeck, Jayendra Jog, and Jeff Feng, Sei was first [announced](https://twitter.com/SeiNetwork/status/1526577915202195456) in May 2022 under the ethos of “prioritizing reliability, security, and high throughput above all else.” The [Seinami Incentivized Testnet](https://blog.sei.io/seinami-incentivized-testnet-2/), also known as Atlantic-1, went [live](https://twitter.com/SeiNetwork/status/1546706235722014721) in July 2022. In March 2023, an upgraded Atlantic-2 testnet went [live](https://twitter.com/SeiNetwork/status/1635402155069939712?s=20). On Aug. 16, 2023, Sei [launched](https://blog.sei.io/mainnet-is-live/) the “public beta” of Pacific-1 mainnet. Since Sei’s mainnet launch, the following significant developments have occurred: - In November 2023, Sei [announced](https://twitter.com/SeiNetwork/status/1729867190671941636) its plans for [Sei v2](https://blog.sei.io/sei-v2-the-first-parallelized-evm/), which plans to introduce support for [three key upgrades](https://twitter.com/jayendra_jog/status/1729865532411916741) to the network: - [Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) Support](https://forum.sei.io/t/evm-integration/37?ref=blog.sei.io)\: Sei v2 plans to introduce compatibility for [EVM](https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/evm) smart contracts, which will be interoperable with existing [CosmWasm](https://cosmwasm.com/) smart contracts. EVM smart contracts will be backward compatible, meaning that all smart contracts on Ethereum and its Layer-2 networks can be seamlessly redeployed on Sei. This upgrade would combine the network’s optimized design for trading digital assets with the developer ecosystem that exists for the EVM. - [Optimistic Parallelization](https://forum.sei.io/t/optimistic-concurrency-control/28?ref=blog.sei.io)\: Parallelization on Sei is optional and requires smart contract developers to define the state that smart contracts use to take advantage of Sei’s [parallelization](https://docs.sei.io/advanced/parallelism) capabilities. Sei v2 plans to reduce developer friction by eliminating optional parallelization and introducing optimistic parallelization, where all transactions will be optimistically assumed to be eligible for parallel processing. If dependencies between transactions exist, they will be re-processed sequentially. - [SeiDB](https://forum.sei.io/t/seidb-improving-long-term-storage/22)\: Sei v2 [plans](https://blog.sei.io/sei-db-the-numbers/) to “change the way that state access, state commitment, and state storage works,” decreasing state bloat and increasing state/block sync times. This would be achieved by a new [storage layer](https://github.com/sei-protocol/sei-db) on Sei that [decouples](https://blog.sei.io/sei-db-the-numbers/#:\~:text=Enter%20SeiDB%3A%20Faster%20Storage%20for%20the%20Fastest%20Blockchain) state commitment and state store. Sei has [stated](https://blog.sei.io/sei-v2-the-first-parallelized-evm/#:\~:text=Sei%E2%80%99s%20major%20upgrade%20is%20nearly%20code%20complete%20right%20now.%20Once%20audits%20are%20complete%2C%20this%20upgrade%20will%20be%20released%20in%20a%20public%20testnet%20in%20Q1%202024%2C%20and%20will%20get%20deployed%20to%20mainnet%20sometime%20in%20H1%202024.%C2%A0) that Sei v2 “will be released in a public testnet in Q1 2024 and will get deployed to mainnet sometime in H1 2024.” Additionally, per Sei’s sponsored [Binance Research Report](https://www.binance.com/en/research/projects/sei#:\~:text=3.2%20Current%20Roadmap,ZK%20Light%20clients.), future planned upgrades for H1 2024 include (1) “MEV Auctions,” (2) “Intra-validator Sharding,” and (3) “.ZK Light Clients.”