Lux EVM

Overview

The Lux EVM is a high-performance Ethereum Virtual Machine implementation optimized for the Lux Network. It provides full Ethereum compatibility while leveraging Lux's advanced consensus and networking capabilities.

Lux 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.

EVM is the Virtual Machine (VM) that defines the EVM Contract Chains. Lux EVM is a customizable version of Lux Ethereum VM (C-Chain).

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

Key Features

• ⚡ High Performance: Sub-second finality with high throughput
• 🔄 Full EVM Compatibility: Deploy existing Ethereum dApps without modification
• 🏗️ Customizable: Configure gas limits, fees, and network parameters
• 🔐 Secure: Built on Avalanche consensus for maximum security
• 📊 Efficient: Optimized state management and storage

Building

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

Lux Compatibility

[v0.1.0] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 9)
[v0.1.1-v0.1.2] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 10)
[v0.2.0] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 11)
[v0.2.1] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 12)
[v0.2.2] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 14)
[v0.2.3] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 15)
[v0.2.4] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 15)
[v0.2.5] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 15)
[v0.2.6] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 15)
[v0.2.7] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 15)
[v0.2.8] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 15)
[v0.2.9] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 15)
[v0.3.0] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 16)
[v0.4.0] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 17)
[v0.4.1] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 18)
[v0.4.2] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 18)
[v0.4.3] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 19)
[v0.4.4] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 19)
[v0.4.5] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 20)
[v0.4.6] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 20)
[v0.4.7] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 21)
[v0.4.8] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 22)
[v0.4.9] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 23)
[v0.4.10] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 23)
[v0.4.11] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 24)
[v0.4.12] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 24)
[v0.5.0] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 25)
[v0.5.1] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 26)
[v0.5.2] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 26)
[v0.5.3] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 27)
[v0.5.4] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 28)
[v0.5.5] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 28)
[v0.5.6] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 28)
[v0.5.7] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 29)
[v0.5.8] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 29)
[v0.5.9] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 30)
[v0.5.10] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 30)

API

The Lux EVM supports the following API namespaces:

• eth
• personal
• txpool
• debug

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

Compatibility

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

Differences Between Lux EVM and Lux Geth

• Added configurable fees and gas limits in genesis
• Merged Lux hardforks into the single "Lux 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 EVM 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 1.23.9 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 evm repository into your $GOPATH:

cd $GOPATH
mkdir -p src/github.com/luxfi
cd src/github.com/luxfi
git clone [email protected]:luxdefi/evm.git
cd evm

This will clone and checkout to master branch.

Run Local Network

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

There are two options when using the Lux-CLI:

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

Configuration

Genesis Configuration

Configure your EVM instance through the genesis file:

{
  "config": {
    "chainId": 7777,
    "homesteadBlock": 0,
    "eip150Block": 0,
    "eip155Block": 0,
    "eip158Block": 0,
    "byzantiumBlock": 0,
    "constantinopleBlock": 0,
    "petersburgBlock": 0,
    "istanbulBlock": 0,
    "muirGlacierBlock": 0,
    "subnetEVMTimestamp": 0,
    "feeConfig": {
      "gasLimit": 15000000,
      "targetBlockRate": 2,
      "minBaseFee": 25000000000,
      "targetGas": 15000000,
      "baseFeeChangeDenominator": 36,
      "minBlockGasCost": 0,
      "maxBlockGasCost": 1000000,
      "blockGasCostStep": 200000
    }
  }
}

Network Upgrades (v2.0.0+)

Starting with version 2.0.0, all network upgrades are active from genesis. For adding future upgrades, see NETWORK_UPGRADES.md.

Development

Testing

# Run all tests
go test ./...

# Run tests with coverage
go test -coverprofile=coverage.out ./...
go tool cover -html=coverage.out

# Run specific package tests
go test ./core/...
go test ./eth/...

Benchmarking

# Run benchmarks
go test -bench=. ./core/vm/...
go test -bench=. ./core/state/...

Debugging

Enable debug APIs in your configuration:

{
  "eth-apis": ["eth", "debug", "net", "web3"]
}

Performance Tuning

Database Backend

The EVM uses BadgerDB by default for optimal performance:

{
  "database-type": "badgerdb",
  "database-cache-size": 2048
}

State Management

Configure state pruning for efficient storage:

{
  "pruning-enabled": true,
  "pruning-blocks-to-keep": 1000,
  "pruning-interval": 3600
}

Security

• Always run nodes with appropriate firewall rules
• Use secure RPC endpoints with authentication
• Keep your node software up to date
• Monitor for security advisories

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guidelines for details.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Resources

• Lux Documentation
• Discord Community
• GitHub Issues
• Ethereum Yellow Paper

License

This project is licensed under the BSD 3-Clause License. See the LICENSE file for details.