Sei Network Proposes Blockchain Upgrade to Version v2 with EVM Support

The Sei Network community has initiated a vote on upgrading the blockchain to its second version, featuring a “parallelized” Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).

Sei Pacific-1 validators have been notified that v2, an update to the Sei blockchain, is ready to be adopted on Mainnet, via an onchain proposal, beginning a 7 day governance approval process.

You can track the vote’s progress here: https://t.co/9SpqzhBGU6 pic.twitter.com/bYcnS7RAFB

— Sei ?? (@SeiNetwork) May 20, 2024

The voting will conclude on May 25, with the entire first phase of the upgrade—governance decision-making—taking seven days. At the time of writing, the proposal has garnered 100% support.

The subsequent phases will involve launching the alpha version of Sei v2, followed by a transition to a full beta mode in the foreseeable future.

Amidst the upgrade process, the native token SEI has surged over 9.5% in the past 24 hours, trading at approximately $0.58.

The developers announced the second version of the protocol in November 2023. It was anticipated that post-upgrade, it would become the “first parallelized blockchain” with EVM support.

This development will enable the transfer of Ethereum-based smart contracts to Sei, significantly expanding the network’s capabilities. Initially supporting Cosmos-based decentralized applications, Sei aims to attract developers from the ecosystem of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

With the launch of Sei v2, the project will enter competition with other “parallelized” EVM solutions like Monad and Neon.

Back in April 2023, the Sei team raised $30 million at a valuation of $800 million. In August, the protocol conducted a SEI airdrop, which disappointed the community with low rewards.