Sei Labs Drops Cosmos Like a Hot Potato: Full EVM-Only Move Shocks Nobody

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So, get this: Sei Labs, the brain trust behind Sei (SEI)—if you can call any crypto team a “brain trust”—are now saying, “You know what? Forget Cosmos, we’re going all in on Ethereum Virtual Machine!” That’s right. SIP-3 is their latest proposal, and it’s basically an eviction notice for anything not living and breathing EVM.

CosmWasm? Native Cosmos transactions? Out the window! We’re talking about simplifying Sei’s whole deal here. Dual support? Please. That’s like wearing two watches because you’re worried about time zones. Who needs the headache?

Sei Labs: “Everybody Loves EVM” or Maybe Just Us 🤷‍♂️

SIP-3 is basically telling anyone with a Cosmos address, “Thanks for coming. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.” From now on, EVM addresses get the VIP treatment, and CosmWasm contracts are getting the boot. Staking and governance? Sure, you can still have those, but only through these mysterious little things called “precompiles.” Isn’t that reassuring?

“Moving to an EVM-only architecture will significantly simplify the Sei developer and user experience, reduce infrastructure overhead, and position Sei more strongly within the broader EVM ecosystem,” the proposal read.

Let me break down their three-phase breakup plan (because apparently, this relationship needed closure):

  • Step one: Make some “EVM pointers”—which means you’ll need a map if you want to find your Cosmos assets again. At least, you’re not walking blind.
  • Step two: Say goodbye to new CosmWasm deployments. Also, blocking Cosmos-based inbound IBC transfers, just to twist the knife a bit more.
  • Step three: Smash that “disable” button on legacy interactions. Non-EVM addresses? Don’t call us, we’ll call you. CosmWasm? Now just a fond memory, like my hairline in the ’90s 😎.

Phillip Su, the head engineer over at Sei Labs, points out that most of the traffic is EVM anyway. It’s like realizing everyone at the party is already in the kitchen, so you shut down the rest of the house. Makes sense, right?

Since dropping EVM support with Sei v2 (Q2 2024), numbers are apparently straight outta fantasyland: $500 million in TVL, 19.3 million wallets, and 4.1 million daily transactions. And not to forget, 200+ projects and a cool 300,000 daily active addresses. I mean, that’s a lot of numbers. I’m starting to wonder if these guys are running an app or holding a lottery.

The punchline? The two-architecture model is just too much. People are juggling wallets, node providers are pulling out their hair, and the codebase looks like my grandma’s old yarn stash—total mess. Debugging it must be a laugh riot. So, Sei’s doing everyone a “favor” by cutting the nonsense.

“The proposed transition will lead to greater adoption, improved developer experience, and a more cohesive community. What excites me most is how this positions Sei to solve the EVM’s biggest limitation: performance at scale,” Su wrote.

Now, is there a catch? Of course! Users, developers, and pretty much everyone who’s ever touched Sei need to change everything—porting apps, migrating assets, praying nothing breaks. RPC and indexing teams are officially on “please don’t break anything” alert. Application devs have to move their stuff to EVM and hope for the best.

SIP-3 promises performance, adoption, and…a really thrilling migration process. Will the community come together and survive this? Eh, time will tell. Crypto folks love a good drama. 🍿

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2025-05-09 14:23