Hive is now EVM compatible, thanks to VSC.

vsc.network (70)in #hive • 3 months ago (edited)

Introduction

The VSC team has been busy cooking up some amazing things the past few weeks. We’ve made great progress toward building out some of the core components of the network as we move forward with our vision. We’re bringing a full-fledged smart contract platform to Hive that will radically change what users can do and build on the blockchain.

Imagine a future where you can use Hive directly with your metamask wallet.. Oh wait! You don’t have to! In the past few weeks, the team have been heavily testing VSC's native EVM wallet compatibility. This means that any EVM user can own Hive/HBD with by simply pressing a button.

Why does EVM wallet compatibility matter?

While you might be asking yourself “why does this matter if the entire point is to give them a Hive account”, well yes and no. Not all users will want or need to create a Hive account. Especially for first time users, creating a Hive account is a jarring experience even with some of the best tools. The majority of blockchain users would prefer to use already familiar tools such as metamask. Reducing the friction of onboarding new users is critical in the success of Hive and VSC.

For non-Hive users coming to VSC, the process is extremely simple. Simply login using your Metamask wallet like any other EVM chain or L2. Compared to needing download Hive Keychain, create a wallet, backup keys and finally setup your wallet, this process is very straight forward and familiar for those within the EVM ecosystem. This happens without the need to create a Hive account at any part of the process. Additionally, sending Hive/HBD to an EVM wallet is trivial.

VSC is creating a better onboarding experience for new users by adding a whole new class of ownership for existing Hive/HBD. In the future, we plan to add the ability for EVM wallet users to create content on Hive as well. Say goodbye to the need for multiple different wallet applications for your every-day needs!

What about transaction fees?

One of the biggest concerns that users may have with using their EVM wallet is that they may incur transaction fees (gas fees). Of course, no one wants to deal with having to buy a separate token just to pay a transaction fee. This greatly increases the amount of friction when trying to get started with a new platform. Enter VSC.

With our technology, all transactions are gas-free. This means that even though you are using an EVM wallet to send a transaction, you won’t need ETH (or other tokens) to pay for fees. You will just send, sign the transaction, and then those assets are sent to the receiving wallet. This works both ways, as well, so users can easily move funds back and forth from their Hive wallet and EVM wallet.

While transactions on VSC are gas-free, transactions do require Resource Credits. Resource Credits don’t cost anything, and only require you to have some amount of HBD in your wallet prior to performing a transaction. We recommend checking out our previous post below that explains everything you need to know about Resource Credits on VSC. In the current stage of the VSC network, RCs are not required, but we will enable that requirement in the future.

Sounds cool on paper… but even cooler on the blockchain!

We are excited to showcase all of this publicly, but even before that our team has been testing VSC transactions using EVM wallets. These are the first-ever transactions between an EVM wallet and a Hive account! We successfully sent HIVE to an EVM wallet, and then sent that HIVE back to a Hive wallet. History has been made.

In this transaction, @vaultec was able to send 10 HIVE straight to an EVM wallet. Currently, this is done with a custom Memo including the EVM wallet address, but our UI is going to handle this part for the user.

After successfully sending HIVE to an EVM wallet, we went ahead and tested the withdrawal function. Here you can see the withdrawal of 1.5 HIVE from VSC that was held in the EVM wallet. How cool is that?!

Example VSC Transaction being signed using Metamask. Transfering Hive from an EVM wallet to another Hive account.

These are just small steps toward an incredible future for Hive that we are excited to be building. Join us along the way with these updates as we build the future of Hive. Be sure to check out more of our articles below.