Key Insights

• Somnia’s testnet, Shannon, settled over 1 billion transactions while maintaining a 0.10-second average block time. Since going live in February, 4.2 million accounts have deployed 18.3 million contracts.
• MSquared and Improbable will use $270 million in ecosystem funds, a $10 million grant program, and a six-month gaming accelerator to nurture early-stage builders on Somnia and foster a robust network.
• Established protocols are being deployed on Somnia. Yuga Labs ported its Otherside avatars, QuickSwap launched its DEX, and infrastructure partners such as Ankr, DIA, thirdweb, LayerZero, Privy, and Hyperlane are reducing integration overhead and broadening distribution channels.
• Sparkball, a 4v4 brawler from ex-Riot and Blizzard devs, is launching on Somnia. The team migrated from Monad in early June. A free demo is available at Steam Next Fest (June 9-16), which features an exclusive Somnia-themed skin, available with Season Zero’s battle-pass rollout later this year.

Introduction

Blockchains today are often too slow, expensive, and fragmented to support the kinds of real-time, high-volume experiences expected by modern consumers. Somnia is a high-performance EVM-compatible Layer 1 (L1) blockchain designed to overcome these pain points and unlock the full potential of immersive, real-time digital economies with high throughput (sub-second block times) and low transaction fees. During devnet, the network exceeded 1 million transactions per second (TPS) under stress‑testing, with average block times near 0.1 seconds and fees consistently below one cent. Somnia’s Shannon Testnet is currently live and open to the public. It was officially launched on February 20, 2025, providing developers and users with a high-performance environment to test and build scalable blockchain applications.

The architecture is purpose-built for mass-consumer apps, prioritizing ultra-high throughput, low fees, and real-world reliability. Somnia envisions new use-cases and revenue streams emerging from fully onchain applications that leverage its high-performance infrastructure. The protocol combines technical breakthroughs like Multistream Consensus, Accelerated Sequential Execution, and a custom-built IceDB database to enable internet-scale throughput and sub-second finality, while maintaining fees under a cent. The network supports seamless interoperability via standardized asset layers like its Metaverse Markup Language (MML). By targeting infrastructure-level pain points with developer-friendly, creator-centric tools, Somnia aims to unlock a new class of persistent, high-density onchain experiences that have been impractical on existing blockchains.

Background

Somnia was created to remove the performance, cost, and interoperability bottlenecks that hinder mainstream adoption. It was incubated by Improbable and received initial funding from MSquared with the goal of realizing an open Layer-1 blockchain. Somnia is led by director and founder Paul Thomas. Thomas spent more than a decade at Improbable, evolving from software engineer to commercial head of its metaverse business before spinning Somnia out with support from Improbable leaders Herman Narula, Rob Whitehead, and Peter Lipka. Spun out of Improbable, MSquared focuses on interoperability, creating protocols, identity standards, and SDKs that allow avatars, assets, and social graphs to move seamlessly across virtual environments. MSquared complements Somnia’s onchain infrastructure by enabling offchain interconnection between worlds built on Improbable’s engine and beyond.

Somnia is an Msquared initiative whose runway is anchored in Msquared’s fundraising. In April 2022, MSquared raised $150 million from a16z crypto, SoftBank, Mirana, DCG, and others to launch an open, interoperable blockchain. In March 2024, it formed the Somnia Foundation to steward the network’s open‑source protocols and broader ecosystem development. Improbable and MSquared have jointly earmarked up to $270 million from their treasuries for grants and strategic investments in teams building on Somnia. (MSquared is an Improbable‑created venture. Improbable itself has raised more than $650 million since 2017.)

Technology

Key Innovations

Somnia’s performance is enabled by four innovations in blockchain architecture. Accelerated Sequential Execution converts EVM bytecode into compiled native code, squeezing maximum work out of each core. IceDB reorganizes state storage into a purpose-built, log-structured database that delivers predictable read/write latency even at extreme TPS. MultiStream consensus, a partially synchronous, proof-of-stake BFT protocol, distributes the messaging path so validators can commit blocks without the usual bottlenecks. Finally, advanced compression techniques curb the surge of node-to-node traffic that comes with higher throughput, ensuring bandwidth stays manageable. Together, these four innovations form the engine that powers Somnia’s scalable virtual-world economy.

Multistream Consensus

Inspired by the 2024 whitepaper Autobahn: Seamless High-Speed BFT, it differs from linear blockchains by allowing each validator to operate an independent “data chain.” Validators add blocks to their own chains without requiring global consensus, eliminating coordination overhead and enabling continuous block production.

These data chains lack embedded consensus or safety mechanisms; instead, a separate “consensus chain” aggregates their heads to form a unified network state. This structure decouples data availability from consensus, allowing the system to synchronize validator activity efficiently while avoiding the delays and bottlenecks of traditional designs. Each consensus block reflects the latest state of all data chains, enabling high throughput without forcing every validator to validate every transaction.

The architecture supports sub-second finality and accelerates sequential execution, maintaining determinism under load without the complexity of parallel execution models. Adding more validators effectively adds more parallel data streams and block production capacity to the network. This distributed approach to data production enables the network's overall transaction throughput to scale as the validator set grows, avoiding central points of failure and sustaining performance under extreme demand.

Compression is achieved through stream-based techniques that exploit shared state history within each validator’s data stream, further enhanced by BLS signature aggregation. This allows for gigabit-scale data streaming and dramatically reduces overhead. With low latency, minimal fees, and hardware-limited scalability, the system is well-suited for demanding use cases.

Accelerated Sequential Execution

Accelerated Sequential Execution processes transactions one at a time on a single core, but at extremely high speeds. This contrasts with parallel execution, where unrelated transactions are processed simultaneously on different cores.

Many modern blockchains attempt to scale using parallel execution, which can effectively process unrelated transactions concurrently. This approach works well when the state is evenly distributed, but can break down when demand is highest, such as during popular NFT mints or volatility spikes in Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs). In these scenarios, a large number of users interact with the same smart contract or piece of state, making parallel processing less effective because multiple threads cannot simultaneously access and modify the same data without complex and potentially inefficient coordination mechanisms. This leads to congestion, transaction delays, gas wars, and high fees.

Somnia's architecture recognizes that the "hot state" problem is a normal usage pattern for real-time experiences where many users perform similar actions in the same virtual space. Instead of relying on parallel execution, Somnia focuses on making a single core execute transactions extremely fast. Accelerated Sequential Execution processes transactions in the order they occur. Paired with sub-second block times and time-to-finality, this design aims to keep the chain responsive even when most users are hitting the same contracts. Unlike most EVM chains that interpret the EVM bytecode (which is relatively slow), Somnia includes its own EVM compiler. This compiler translates EVM bytecode directly into highly optimized native code (specifically x86 assembly instructions). This compiled code can be executed by the CPU at speeds approaching what would be possible if the code were handwritten in a low-level language like C++. This translation reduces redundant operations often included by standard Solidity compilers, optimizing for bytecode size over gas efficiency.

While Somnia does not use software-level parallelism (running unrelated transactions on separate cores), it leverages the hardware-level parallelism inherent in modern CPUs. Modern CPU cores execute instructions out of order and can perform multiple operations simultaneously. By compiling EVM bytecode to native assembly, Somnia allows the CPU to fully utilize this internal hardware parallelism to speed up the execution of each individual transaction. For example, during an ERC-20 transfer, the CPU can concurrently perform actions like hashing the sender's account and looking up the receiver's balance, significantly reducing the total time needed for that single transaction.

IceDB

IceDB is a custom-built database that helps address the performance limitations found in databases typically used by other blockchains. With traditional databases like LevelDB and RocksDB, reads and writes can vary in speed depending on where the data is stored, making it impossible to accurately determine an operation's gas cost beforehand. Attackers can also exploit this variability to slow down the chain. Somnia requires a database that provides consistent and predictable performance to enable accurate gas fee estimation and high throughput. It has three key properties:

• Deterministic Performance: Unlike traditional databases, every read and write operation in IceDB returns a "performance report." This report specifies the number of cold cache lines read from RAM and disk pages read from the SSD. Due to the consistent nature of this information across all nodes, Somnia can implement gas fees based on the actual system load imposed by a transaction. This approach optimizes block utilization by charging less gas for reads accessing frequently used data in RAM, enabling more transactions per block.
• In-Memory Cache with Read Promotions: IceDB employs an optimized in-memory cache that enhances both read and write performance, contributing significantly to its average operation speeds of 15 to 100 nanoseconds. This optimized cache allows IceDB to achieve these low-latency read/write operations, contrasting with typical database systems that use caching primarily for read optimization.
• Built-in Snapshotting: A key requirement of blockchain systems is achieving consensus on the global state following the addition of each new block. Traditionally, this is accomplished through Merkle tree-based structures, which compress the entire state into a single hash, enabling efficient verification and state commitment. IceDB departs from this conventional model by leveraging log-structured merge trees (LSM trees). Unlike Merkle tree implementations that operate at the user level and often require considerable coordination between the execution engine and the database layer, LSM trees inherently support append-only, immutable data segments. This enables IceDB to offer native snapshotting capabilities at the storage level.

Advanced Compression Techniques

Transaction data often contains redundant information. For instance, certain contracts or accounts may be involved in a high percentage of transactions. By intelligently compressing this redundant data, the bandwidth required can be dramatically reduced.

Somnia employs two main forms of compression: Block compression and Streaming compression.

• Block Compression involves compressing a single block of data independently. The receiver only needs that specific block of data to decompress it. While convenient because the compressor doesn't need assumptions about other information the client has or the order data was sent, it is limited in its compression efficiency compared to streaming compression. Traditional blockchain architectures are often forced to use block-based compression, if any, significantly impacting achievable compression ratios.
• Streaming Compression is where Somnia's architecture shines. It assumes that the sender and receiver share an identical history of the data that was compressed and decompressed. This shared history allows the system to build a large amount of internal implicit information that never needs to be sent over the wire. For example, it can reference data that was sent megabytes earlier instead of resending it. This achieves much better compression ratios than block compression. The challenge is that this requires the sender and receiver to share an identical stream of data, and the 'implicit' data cannot easily be moved across different machines or processes.

Somnia overcomes this challenge by designing its consensus and data availability algorithm to support streaming-based compression. In Somnia, each validator is responsible for publishing their own stream of data to their own data chain. The fact that data chains use the same process for publishing this continuous stream unlocks the ability for streaming compression.

• Transaction hashes are reproducible based on the transaction data itself. Therefore, they can simply not be sent, as the receiving client is required to recalculate them anyway.
• Signatures are more challenging as they must be sent alongside each transaction and are uncompressible. This would heavily limit the compression ratios achievable on transaction data.

Somnia mitigates the signature-verification bottleneck by adopting the BLS scheme, which lets any number of transaction signatures collapse into a single, constant-size aggregate. When Somnia batches transactions, it can optionally apply this aggregation, trimming both the data footprint and the CPU work needed to check signatures. The resulting compression and speed gains are foundational to the network’s architecture, enabling nodes to transmit 10–20x more data than typical blockchains.

Ecosystem

The Somnia ecosystem integrates various elements to empower users and creators within the virtual society.

Somnia has assembled a strong roster of partners to cover nearly every layer of the development stack. Ankr provides scalable RPC and API services, while thirdweb and Sequence offer developer platforms complete with SDKs, templates, and smart wallets. These integrations reduce the technical barriers to building sophisticated dApps and games onchain.

DIA’s customizable price feeds, Dune dashboards, and Ormi-hosted subgraphs give builders a full analytics suite covering raw onchain reads, indexed GraphQL queries, and social-data overlays, while Block Scout offers contract verification, onchain stats, and token metadata in a single explorer. At the network edge, Glacis Labs’ cross-chain messaging and Hyperlane’s bridge move assets across 100+ chains, ensuring Somnia’s dApps feel natively multichain from day one.

Games are already being built and launched within this environment. Sparkball leads as an esports-grade, team-based arena brawler, delivering real-time gameplay and settling wagers onchain. QRusader uses QR codes as an unpredictable entry point into procedurally generated dungeons, showcasing how everyday inputs can drive dynamic, composable game sessions. Gamers L.A.B. underlies many flagship titles with persistent match data, supporting cross-title systems like bounty quests, ranked leaderboards, and interoperable achievements. That infrastructure powers games like Maelstrom, a naval combat brawler with collectible ship upgrades, Mullet Cop: Mall Sim, a dystopian retail sim blending satire and strategy, and Masks of the Void: Infinity, a dungeon crawl that mints cosmetic assets as tradable NFTs. More experimental titles like Chunked, an onchain MMO sandbox, and Kazar, a collection of mini-games like Snake Wall Game and Somnia Ghibli, while HandsNFT AI kicks off its Somnia journey with an incentivized testnet starting June 12. Players can earn from a 1,800 STT reward pool through skill-based gameplay, with additional bonuses for early migrators.

Somnia also supports a DeFi ecosystem optimized for speed and composability. QuickSwap is already live on the network, and Standard Protocol offers a more advanced suite of DeFi tools, including perpetuals and a central limit order book (CLOB). Unlike AMM-based DEXs, Somnia’s performance allows for real-time trading with minimized slippage and MEV exposure. Experimental platforms like Haifu.fun, and Otomato push the boundaries of onchain automation and culture-finance hybrids, while QSTN enables tokenized survey feedback loops. Somnia’s infrastructure even supports onchain AI agents like ForU AI, paving the way for AI agent participation in virtual economies.

Incentives and Developer Support

Somnia is actively cultivating its ecosystem by providing support for developers and teams. As covered in the background section, Improbable and Msquared have committed $270 million to fuel ecosystem growth and provide funding for builders and projects. A $10 million grant program was announced specifically to onboard developers into the Somnia ecosystem before the network went live. Somnia Network is launching more grant and accelerator programs. A key initiative is the Dream Catalyst accelerator, a partnership with Uprising Labs focused on supporting Web3 game development studios. (Discussed in the Gaming section)

Direct communication channels, such as the Somnia Developer Discord, are available for assistance and feedback. Somnia also offers Go-to-Market (GTM) support and facilitates introductions to investors and connections within key industries like gaming.

By combining high-performance infrastructure with extensive financial, technical, and community support, Somnia aims to lower the barriers to entry for creators and attract ambitious projects, accelerating the development of scalable, onchain applications that can support millions of users.

Gaming

Somnia’s growth strategy centres on releasing fully playable titles that showcase the chain’s high throughput and low fees. By highlighting live games, the network demonstrates real‑time settlement for every action onchain. Partnerships with publishers and a dedicated accelerator supply both the content pipeline and the developer support needed to bring these projects to market.

Uprising

Uprising Labs, a full‑stack Web3 game publisher, curates and launches games while providing production support, marketing, and a shared token economy via the upcoming Uprising token. The team consists of multiple gaming industry professionals, specializing in transforming quality games into onchain experiences. Uprising is developing a diverse slate of games on Somnia, such as Malestrom, Masks of the Void, Night Spawn, and QRusader, making them concrete examples of what Somnia’s performance layer can enable for the gaming community.

Dream Catalyst Accelerator

In February 2025, Somnia and Uprising Labs sealed a partnership to incubate games using the Dream Catalyst, a six-month accelerator financed with a $10 million grant. The program pairs capital with deep technical and go-to-market mentorship, shepherding studios from early design to commercial launch.

The inaugural cohort showcases 5 projects:

• Netherak Demons – a dark-fantasy action RPG where players scour hostile realms, harvest resources from defeated foes, and rebuild the shattered citadel of Imuran while every item and milestone is recorded on Somnia.
• Dark Table CCG – a free-to-play collectible card game that stages four-way matches and supports a cross-platform onchain economy, trading traditional booster-pack grind for streamlined deck-building inside a Lovecraft-tinged universe.
• Mullet Cop: Mall Sim – a top-down management adventure set in the sprawling Megamall 4472-158, where players decide whether to run a cosy food-court empire or unleash full-blown mall mayhem as Fred “the Mullet Cop.”
• QRusader – a mobile roguelite that transforms everyday QR codes into procedurally generated dungeons, turning real-world exploration into endlessly varied runs while keeping every loot drop onchain.
• NightSpawn - a horror escape room game where players must work together to solve intricate puzzles while being hunted by supernatural predators.

Sparkball

Sparkball, a 4v4 sports brawler built by veterans from Riot and Blizzard, migrated from Monad to Somnia to leverage wager mechanics, AI‑versus‑AI leagues, and onchain rewards tracking. The game will be available for a public demo during Steam Next Fest (June 9–16). Sparkball’s first major update will be Season Zero, which introduces a battle pass, reward system, and a Somnia-themed in-game skin among other upgrades.

Roadmap

Somnia’s roadmap consists of the following key milestones:

• Q2 2024 - Betanet launch
  • The Betanet phase was focused on testing Somnia's SOM0 protocols, including the Object, Attestation, and Marketplace protocols.
  • Betanet also included the initial release of the Somnia Playground, a web-based tool for creating virtual spaces.
• Q3 2024 - Somnia Playground Expansion
  • Playground expanded to include tools like the Item Builder and Canvas Builder, which allow users to create and deploy their own items and NFTs, and the World Builder, which allows users to create virtual worlds and experiences. These tools demonstrate practical applications of Somnia's protocols and provide sandboxes for early development and experimentation.
• Q4 2024 - Devnet Launch
  • Devnet allowed for real-time testing of Somnia’s performance capabilities. During the Devnet phase, Somnia integrated partners and launched a prototype DEX on Devnet for testing purposes. Public users were able to test out initial applications with Somnia Test Tokens (STT).
  • Devnet testing confirmed Somnia’s initial assumptions. Testing showed the blockchain had a throughput of 1.05 million ERC-20 transfers, 300k NFT mints, and 50k Uniswap V3 trades per second across 100 nodes in Europe and the U.S..
• Q1 2025 - Testnet Launch
  • After shifting from devnet to testnet in February 2025, the Somnia team onboarded over 60 projects to its testnet, including Privy, Dune Analytics, Hyperlane, and Coin98.
• H2 2025 - Mainnet Launch
  • Slated to launch in 2025, with a date to be announced by the team.

Closing Summary

Somnia positions itself as an EVM-compatible “gigachain” engineered for the real-time demands of virtual worlds and onchain games. Its architecture replaces monolithic blocks with validator-specific data streams, then stitches them together in a lightweight consensus layer. The result is hardware-limited throughput, constant-size aggregated signatures, and fees kept below one cent, capabilities made possible by a native-code EVM compiler and the deterministic IceDB storage engine.

Beyond raw speed, Somnia tackles fragmentation with the SOM0 and SOM1 protocol suite. Objects, identities, and marketplaces move freely across chains, while developers can remix assets through component-based smart contracts. This interoperability thesis underpins the project’s vision of a “Virtual Society” where every new application amplifies the network effect of the whole.

If Somnia executes its plan, it could become the substrate on which persistent, creator-owned gaming applications run at internet scale, bringing blockchain performance, interoperability, and user experience in line with Web2 expectations while retaining Web3 ownership.