Subnet EVM

Avalanche is a network composed of multiple blockchains. Each blockchain is an instance of a Virtual Machine (VM), much like an object in an object-oriented language is an instance of a class. That is, the VM defines the behavior of the blockchain.

Subnet EVM is the Virtual Machine (VM) that defines the Subnet Contract Chains. Subnet EVM is a simplified version of Coreth VM (C-Chain).

This chain implements the Ethereum Virtual Machine and supports Solidity smart contracts as well as most other Ethereum client functionality.

Building

The Subnet EVM runs in a separate process from the main AvalancheGo process and communicates with it over a local gRPC connection.

AvalancheGo Compatibility

[v0.1.0] AvalancheGo@v1.7.0-v1.7.4 (Protocol Version: 9)
[v0.1.1-v0.1.2] AvalancheGo@v1.7.5-v1.7.6 (Protocol Version: 10)
[v0.2.0] AvalancheGo@v1.7.7-v1.7.9 (Protocol Version: 11)
[v0.2.1] AvalancheGo@v1.7.10 (Protocol Version: 12)
[v0.2.2] AvalancheGo@v1.7.11-v1.7.12 (Protocol Version: 14)
[v0.2.3] AvalancheGo@v1.7.13-v1.7.16 (Protocol Version: 15)
[v0.2.4] AvalancheGo@v1.7.13-v1.7.16 (Protocol Version: 15)
[v0.2.5] AvalancheGo@v1.7.13-v1.7.16 (Protocol Version: 15)
[v0.2.6] AvalancheGo@v1.7.13-v1.7.16 (Protocol Version: 15)
[v0.2.7] AvalancheGo@v1.7.13-v1.7.16 (Protocol Version: 15)
[v0.2.8] AvalancheGo@v1.7.13-v1.7.18 (Protocol Version: 15)
[v0.2.9] AvalancheGo@v1.7.13-v1.7.18 (Protocol Version: 15)
[v0.3.0] AvalancheGo@v1.8.0-v1.8.6 (Protocol Version: 16)
[v0.4.0] AvalancheGo@v1.9.0 (Protocol Version: 17)
[v0.4.1] AvalancheGo@v1.9.1 (Protocol Version: 18)
[v0.4.2] AvalancheGo@v1.9.1 (Protocol Version: 18)
[v0.4.3] AvalancheGo@v1.9.2-v1.9.3 (Protocol Version: 19)
[v0.4.4] AvalancheGo@v1.9.2-v1.9.3 (Protocol Version: 19)
[v0.4.5] AvalancheGo@v1.9.4 (Protocol Version: 20)
[v0.4.6] AvalancheGo@v1.9.4 (Protocol Version: 20)
[v0.4.7] AvalancheGo@v1.9.5 (Protocol Version: 21)
[v0.4.8] AvalancheGo@v1.9.6-v1.9.8 (Protocol Version: 22)
[v0.4.9] AvalancheGo@v1.9.9 (Protocol Version: 23)
[v0.4.10] AvalancheGo@v1.9.9 (Protocol Version: 23)
[v0.4.11] AvalancheGo@v1.9.10-v1.9.16 (Protocol Version: 24)
[v0.4.12] AvalancheGo@v1.9.10-v1.9.16 (Protocol Version: 24)
[v0.5.0] AvalancheGo@v1.10.0 (Protocol Version: 25)
[v0.5.1] AvalancheGo@v1.10.1-v1.10.4 (Protocol Version: 26)
[v0.5.2] AvalancheGo@v1.10.1-v1.10.4 (Protocol Version: 26)
[v0.5.3] AvalancheGo@v1.10.5-v1.10.8 (Protocol Version: 27)
[v0.5.4] AvalancheGo@v1.10.9-v1.10.12 (Protocol Version: 28)
[v0.5.5] AvalancheGo@v1.10.9-v1.10.12 (Protocol Version: 28)
[v0.5.6] AvalancheGo@v1.10.9-v1.10.12 (Protocol Version: 28)
[v0.5.7] AvalancheGo@v1.10.13-v1.10.14 (Protocol Version: 29)
[v0.5.8] AvalancheGo@v1.10.13-v1.10.14 (Protocol Version: 29)
[v0.5.9] AvalancheGo@v1.10.15-v1.10.17 (Protocol Version: 30)
[v0.5.10] AvalancheGo@v1.10.15-v1.10.17 (Protocol Version: 30)
[v0.5.11] AvalancheGo@v1.10.18-v1.10.19 (Protocol Version: 31)

API

The Subnet EVM supports the following API namespaces:

• eth
• personal
• txpool
• debug

Only the eth namespace is enabled by default. Subnet EVM is a simplified version of Coreth VM (C-Chain). Full documentation for the C-Chain's API can be found here.

Compatibility

The Subnet EVM is compatible with almost all Ethereum tooling, including Remix, Metamask, and Foundry.

Differences Between Subnet EVM and Coreth

• Added configurable fees and gas limits in genesis
• Merged Avalanche hardforks into the single "Subnet EVM" hardfork
• Removed Atomic Txs and Shared Memory
• Removed Multicoin Contract and State

Block Format

To support these changes, there have been a number of changes to the SubnetEVM block format compared to what exists on the C-Chain and Ethereum. Here we list the changes to the block format as compared to Ethereum.

Block Header

• BaseFee: Added by EIP-1559 to represent the base fee of the block (present in Ethereum as of EIP-1559)
• BlockGasCost: surcharge for producing a block faster than the target rate

Create an EVM Subnet on a Local Network

Clone Subnet-evm

First install Go 1.20.12 or later. Follow the instructions here. You can verify by running go version.

Set $GOPATH environment variable properly for Go to look for Go Workspaces. Please read this for details. You can verify by running echo $GOPATH.

As a few software will be installed into $GOPATH/bin, please make sure that $GOPATH/bin is in your $PATH, otherwise, you may get error running the commands below.

Download the subnet-evm repository into your $GOPATH:

cd $GOPATH
mkdir -p src/github.com/ava-labs
cd src/github.com/ava-labs
git clone git@github.com:ava-labs/subnet-evm.git
cd subnet-evm

This will clone and checkout to master branch.

Run Local Network

To run a local network, it is recommended to use the avalanche-cli to set up an instance of Subnet-EVM on a local Avalanche Network.

There are two options when using the Avalanche-CLI:

1. Use an official Subnet-EVM release: https://docs.avax.network/subnets/build-first-subnet
2. Build and deploy a locally built (and optionally modified) version of Subnet-EVM: https://docs.avax.network/subnets/create-custom-subnet