Microsoft releases Enclave-ready Ethereum Virtual Machine on Azure (eEVM)


Microsoft releases Enclave-ready Ethereum Virtual Machine on Azure (eEVM)

Microsoft’s Blockchain team just announced a release of Enclave ready Ethereum Virtual Machine (eEVM) for blockchain developers.

eEVM was originally built to run within a TEE on top of the Open Enclave SDK along with Microsoft's Confidential Consortium Blockchain Framework.

This codebase can be used on any blockchain with any on-chain or off-chain compute scenarios where TEE-enabled (Trusted Execution Environment) EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) contract logic works.

The announcement claims that eEVM can be complementary and integrate with Sawtooth and Burrow. The cross blockchain support via ABCI allows for an EVM to connect any blockchain.

The blog post announcement also notes that this release is:
  • Is a C++ implementation of the EVM that can run within a TEE/enclave which has no operating system dependencies and can “run out-of-the-box" in an enclave.
  • Is “gas-less”, i.e., it does not compute gas during contract execution.
  • Supports the Homestead EVM opcodes.
  • Executes existing EVM bytecode.
  • Strictly decouples from storage and the replication engine/blockchain.
  • Could execute in an enclave on the node or off-chain.
  • Released under MIT License.
This EVM is NOT:
  • A new blockchain.
  • A supported product offering.
  • Intended to compete with any implementation.

Executive Opinions

Director of Intel's Blockchain Program Office, Mike Reed,  said, “The open source eEVM and Trusted Execution Environments like Intel(R) Software Guard Extensions can help improve blockchain scalability and privacy by enabling off-chain Ethereum smart contract execution. With the eEVM released to open source and the EEA’s announcement of the Trusted Compute API, off-chain smart contract capability has been extended to any blockchain developer.”

CEO & Founder, Truffle Suite, Tim Coulter, said "With the eEVM, Microsoft is open-sourcing a core component of their already-impressive blockchain cloud infrastructure. This means that developers can take advantage of the wide array of existing Ethereum-based smart contracts and build richer applications that solve the issues enterprises face. At Truffle we're excited because the eEVM provides a strong base for future platforms and tools in the enterprise space -- tools we'd love to help develop. Microsoft's strong stance toward interoperability makes this an easy win, and helps make enterprise blockchain developers' lives easier in the process.”

CEO & Founder blk.io and Technical Standards Chair, Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, Conor Svensson said “Microsoft are working at the leading edge of blockchain - directly contributing to the ecosystem with initiatives such as the eEVM, Enterprise Smart Contracts and contributions to the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance specifications. We’re proud to be partnering with them and excited about further opportunities for collaboration through web3j for Java developers and our Epirus platform.”

Community Interest:

Intel, Truffle, Quorum, and blk.io have already expressed interest in utilizing this technology.
Notably, Microsoft has partnered with ConsenSys since 2015 to create the Ethereum Azure ARM templates and the first blockchain extension for Visual Studio and in August 2018 it launched Ethereum Proof-of-Authority on Azure cloud platform.
eEVM is available for download on GitHub now.

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Mandar Pise Opinions expressed by techsutram contributors are their own. More details

Mandar is a seasoned software professional for more than a decade. He is Cloud, AI, IoT, Blockchain and Fintech enthusiast. He writes to benefit others from his experiences. His overall goal is to help people learn about the Cloud, AI, IoT, Blockchain and Fintech and the effects they will have economically and socially in the future.

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