New-York, New-York, February 21st, 2025,
Chainwire
Somnia, the blockchain bringing the world’s data on-chain with
record-breaking speed and efficiency, has officially launched
Shannon Testnet, a major step toward mainnet. Named after Claude
Elwood Shannon, the father of information theory, Shannon Testnet
provides developers and users with a real-world testing ground for
high-speed, scalable, and cost-efficient blockchain
applications.
Following Somnia’s record-breaking DevNet performance of 1
million+ TPS, sub-second finality, and sub-cent transaction fees,
Shannon Testnet is here to push blockchain scalability even
further. During DevNet testing, Somnia processed over 3.6 million
transactions across more than 300,000 unique addresses, proving its
ability to handle real-world demand. Shannon Testnet is designed to
test congestion resistance and give developers the infrastructure
to deploy applications at a scale never before possible.
Shannon is designed to simulate real-world conditions, ensuring
that blockchain applications can function at mass scale.
What’s new on Testnet:
- Greater Decentralization – Multiple
third-party validators are now running, with staking protocols live
to enhance security and resilience.
- Increased Stability – No more state wipes,
allowing developers to build confidently without needing to
redeploy or replay state.
- Enhanced Developer Readiness – The necessary
infrastructure is fully in place for building and testing
applications.
- Ecosystem Growth – More projects will be
announced and onboarded to drive real adoption and testnet
activity.
Infrastructure Partners
Somnia’s Testnet is fully equipped with the infrastructure that
developers need to build and scale their applications. We have
integrated key infrastructure partners, ensuring seamless
development and deployment.
With the upcoming robust ecosystem in place, developers can
immediately start building without needing to wait for additional
integrations.
The Technology Powering Somnia
Somnia’s Shannon Testnet is powered by several groundbreaking
innovations, making it the most advanced blockchain testing
environment available today.
MultiStream Consensus: The Backbone of High-Performance
Scalability
Somnia’s MultiStream Consensus is a breakthrough in blockchain
scaling, allowing parallel execution of transactions without
network slowdowns. This innovation ensures that even at high
transaction volumes, Somnia maintains speed, efficiency, and
decentralization.
Additional Innovations Driving Somnia’s Unmatched
Performance
- Accelerated Sequential Execution: Converts EVM
bytecode into highly optimized native code, delivering unparalleled
single-core performance without runtime interpretation
bottlenecks.
- IceDB (Deterministic Database): A custom-built
blockchain database providing nanosecond-level read/write speeds,
ensuring consistent transaction finalization and accurate gas fee
estimation.
- Advanced Compression Techniques: Reduces
bandwidth requirements through streaming compression algorithms,
enabling scalability for millions of transactions per second.
By integrating these technologies, Shannon Testnet offers
developers a robust and scalable environment to build
next-generation blockchain applications.
Unlocking New Use Cases
With its high speed and low-cost transactions, Somnia provides
the foundation for entirely new categories of blockchain
applications, including:
- Reactive Applications: Smart contracts that
can instantly respond to on-chain events and real-world data,
unlocking new possibilities for real-time gaming, dynamic
marketplaces, and automated financial services.
- Fully On-Chain Gaming: Games with real-time
mechanics, instant transactions, and decentralized economies,
removing the need for centralized servers.
- Scalable DeFi Protocols: High-frequency
trading, instant swaps, and decentralized financial infrastructure
without congestion or excessive fees.
- Social Platforms and Metaverses: Interactive
digital worlds and social networks that scale seamlessly with
millions of users.
“Shannon Testnet is the proving ground for a fully on-chain
future. With 1M+ TPS, sub-second finality, and MultiStream
Consensus, developers can build without limits, and millions of
users can experience blockchain at true internet scale,” Somnia
founder Paul Thomas said.
What’s Next?
The launch of Somnia’s Shannon Testnet is a critical step toward
mainnet readiness. Over the coming months, developers will deploy
applications, optimize performance, and stress-test the network,
while Somnia continues refining its infrastructure for full-scale
adoption.
Start Building on Shannon Testnet Today
Access Shannon Testnet
to start deploying your application or just test out what the
network has to offer!
About Somnia
Somnia is the fastest and most cost-effective EVM Layer-1
blockchain, capable of processing over 400,000 transactions per
second (tps) with sub-second finality. Somnia’s new multi-stream
consensus technology achieves sub-second block certainty and higher
transaction throughput. Sequential execution and compression
algorithms effectively handle high-density scenarios, increasing
the amount of data transferred between nodes by 10-20x. The custom
database IceDB achieves 70-100 nanosecond read/write times,
reducing transaction costs to less than a penny. This makes Somnia
an ideal platform for building large-scale, real-time applications
in games, social, metaverse, finance, and other fields, serving
millions of users, all on-chain, making EVM more efficient than
ever before.
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Contact
Michelle
Kang
mkang@virtualsociety.foundation
