Solana News Today: EVM Compatibility and 10,000 TPS: Monad Emerges as Solana Rival

Monad, one of the most anticipated high-performance blockchains of 2025, has officially launched its mainnet, marking a pivotal moment for the Layer-1 (L1) ecosystem. The chain, designed to scale Ethereum-style applications without compromising developer tooling, is now live, enabling real transactions, EVM-compatible app deployment, and immediate access to a range of consumer and DeFi applications according to reports. The launch positions Monad as a direct competitor to established high-throughput chains like Solana, leveraging parallel execution to achieve 10,000 transactions per second and sub-second finality.

The mainnet's activation on November 24, 2025, at 14:00 UTC, introduces a production-ready environment for developers and users. Ethereum developers can deploy contracts without rewriting them, as Monad preserves full EVM compatibility at the bytecode level. This feature distinguishes it from competitors like Solana, which uses a different virtual machine (LLVM) and requires developers to adapt their code according to analysis. The chain's architecture emphasizes parallel execution, allowing multiple transactions to process simultaneously, bypassing the sequential bottlenecks common in traditional blockchains.

The launch coincides with a broad ecosystem rollout, including day-one applications across gaming, DeFi, and consumer platforms. Lumiterra, an AI-enhanced MMORPG, and LEVR.Bet, a sports-focused DeFi platform, are among the first apps to go live according to reports. These applications highlight Monad's focus on use cases requiring fast confirmation times, such as onchain prediction markets and high-frequency trading according to analysis. The chain's optimized state access and deterministic execution paths aim to reduce latency for real-time interactions according to reports.

Partnerships are accelerating adoption. Wallet in Telegram, a custodial crypto wallet integrated into the messaging app, has listed Monad's native token, MON, enabling users to trade and stake directly within the platform according to market data. This collaboration expands access to Telegram's vast user base, with incentives designed to drive early participation according to reports. Meanwhile, Wormhole Labs' Sunrise platform debuted on November 23, 2025, streamlining token imports to Solana by allowing cross-chain liquidity for Monad's MON token. These integrations underscore the chain's interoperability ambitions.

Market dynamics further highlight Monad's potential. The chain's public token sale on Coinbase raised $216 million, exceeding its $187 million target. While Solana maintains a larger market cap ($73 billion), Monad's initial fully diluted valuation of $2.5 billion signals investor confidence in its EVM-centric approach. Analysts note that Solana's recent ETF approvals and institutional adoption could intensify competition, but Monad's focus on Ethereum developers may carve out a niche for itself.

The mainnet's launch also triggers a $3.3 billion airdrop to 230,500 users, rewarding testnet contributors and early adopters. Validator incentives and staking rewards are expected to further bootstrap the network's security and decentralization according to reports. However, challenges remain, including tokenomics concerns (50.6% of MON tokens locked until 2029) and regulatory scrutiny of high-frequency trading onchain according to analysis.

As the blockchain landscape evolves, Monad's ability to balance Ethereum compatibility with Solana-like throughput will determine its long-term success. With day-one apps and strategic partnerships already in motion, the chain's mainnet launch represents both a technological milestone and a test of its vision for scalable, developer-friendly infrastructure according to reports.