The Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM) has officially launched on Filecoin mainnet! Nicknamed 'Hygee', Network Upgrade v18 is the largest update in Filecoin network history, and a major FVM milestone as the network becomes programmable for the first time.
The launch of FVM will unleash the enormous potential of an open data economy. Through its introduction of programmable smart contracts and the launch of an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) as a runtime on top of FVM, Hygee allows developers to port existing EVM contracts with no changes while connecting them to the Filecoin network and storage services and is compatible with any EVM development tool. Developers can deploy smart contracts written in Solidity or Yul and compile them to EVM.
The FVM unlocks countless new opportunities, including data onboarding and management tools to automate storage dealmaking; enhanced reliability of the decentralized cloud for users through Storage provider discovery and reputation; facilitation of the collective creation, curation, and monetization of a valuable dataset through DataDAOs; cross-chain interoperability, and much more.
What’s next for the Filecoin network? To start, the second wave of FVM microgrants is open — we’re looking for stand-out projects building with FVM to apply for a chance to be awarded with one of 20 available grants worth $5K to help your project take the next step. If you haven’t started building but are ready to start, check out the FVM Request for Startups for ideas on some of the systems, apps, and building blocks unlocked by the FVM.
Looking further ahead, Milestone 2.2 will arrive later this year, enabling developers to deploy custom smart contracts written in Rust, AssemblyScript, or Go, and compiled to WASM bytecode. SDKs, tutorials, and other developer materials will be available soon.
Today’s FVM update represents one of the most remarkable technical achievements for the network to date; and the direct result of the community-wide effort in planning, development, testing, and deployment.
Stay involved with the latest developer grant opportunities, governance discussions, and developments in the FVM by visiting the Filecoin GitHub and joining the Filecoin Project community slack.