'Real-time Ethereum' MegaETH…"Web2-like blockchain apps will become possible" [Coin Interview]

Interview with Shuyao Kong, MegaETH Co-founder

Block time lowered to 10 milliseconds

Fastest among existing blockchains

"Provides a Web2-like experience"

Token sale oversubscribed by 28x

"We will create a 'public playground'"

"The reason MegaETH values 'speed' is simple. Web3 that feels like Web2 requires speed. What MegaETH pursues is a fast, secure, and 'useful' blockchain."

Shuyao Kong, MegaETH co-founder and Chief Business Officer (CBO), said this in an interview with BloomingBit on the 19th. Kong CBO explained, "There needs to be a really fast blockchain to build Web3 applications that users can feel like Web2," and added, "People use MegaETH not just because of speed but because it provides an experience similar to Web2."

MegaETH is an Ethereum layer-2 project that launched last year, promoting itself as a 'real-time blockchain.' Ethereum co-founders Vitalik Buterin and Joseph Lubin both participated in the seed funding round held in the first half of last year, drawing attention from the start.

"Cryptocurrency maximizes financial sovereignty"

Industry heavyweights like Vitalik Buterin invested in MegaETH partly because of Kong CBO's background. Kong CBO is considered one of the key figures in the Ethereum ecosystem. From 2017 for about six years, Kong CBO led global business development (BD) at ConsenSys, the Ethereum blockchain company founded by Joseph Lubin. One of the companies Kong CBO handled in business development was the Ethereum-based global wallet service MetaMask.

Kong CBO's reason for co-founding MegaETH stems from his time in Africa. After graduating from college in the United States, Kong CBO went to Africa and worked as an IBM consultant in countries such as Kenya and Nigeria. He explained, "Currency depreciation in Africa was rapid, and sometimes it was impossible to send money to the U.S.," adding, "Using cryptocurrencies and blockchain was practically the only way to protect assets." He also said, "Working in Africa made me realize the importance of 'self-sovereignty,' and cryptocurrency is a technology that maximizes financial sovereignty."

However, Kong CBO was not satisfied with the speed of existing blockchains. He said, "In permissionless blockchains anyone can write smart contracts, but existing blockchains are too slow to be true permissionless blockchains and have remained centralized databases (DBs)."

40 times faster than Solana

This context explains why MegaETH emphasizes 'speed.' MegaETH's block time is 10 milliseconds (ms, one thousandth of a second), the fastest among existing blockchains. Block time, the average time it takes for a new block to be created on a blockchain, serves as a barometer for transaction processing speed. Solana (SOL), commonly cited as a representative fast blockchain, has a block time of 400 milliseconds.

Kong CBO stressed the importance of latency. He said, "Figures like 1 million TPS (transactions per second) might be marketing," and added, "latency is an immutable performance metric of a blockchain." He continued, "MegaETH's long-term goal is to reduce latency from the current 10 milliseconds to 1 millisecond," calling this the reason they position MegaETH as 'real-time Ethereum.'

He explained that increasing blockchain speed can maximize capital efficiency. Kong CBO said, "If it takes 10 seconds to execute a single trade on a blockchain, you can only trade six times a minute," and "but with a 1 millisecond block time you can execute many trades per minute, dramatically increasing uses like arbitrage and derivatives trading." He added, "Especially for FX trading, where ultra-low latency infrastructure is crucial, on-chain migration requires speeds like those of MegaETH."

Kong CBO believes raising blockchain speed can also broaden on-chain activity. The seconds-to-tens-of-seconds transaction times of existing blockchains have been a barrier to entry for web3 technologies. He said, "One reason we founded MegaETH is that there were few everyday uses of blockchain beyond investment," and "ultimately MegaETH aims to enable blockchain apps that 'feel' like Toss or Kakao."

Eliminate gas fees with stablecoins

To increase blockchain usability, MegaETH eliminated gas fees. In September, they partnered with the synthetic stablecoin protocol Ethena to launch their own stablecoin, USDm. Unlike typical layer-2 projects, MegaETH operates its own stablecoin to generate revenue instead of gas fees. Kong CBO explained, "We subsidize gas fees using funds generated by our own stablecoin," and said, "(Removing gas fees is) part of maximizing user-friendliness."

The market interest is high. MegaETH's $15 million (about 22 billion won) token MEGA offering last month attracted subscription funds exceeding 28 times the offering amount. Kong CBO said, "An ecosystem where a few large funds monopolize tokens is not healthy," adding, "I believe blockchain should be a 'public playground' where individuals can join at low valuations and play together." He added, "Blockchain is a playground because it enables many fun experiences," and "MegaETH, with high transparency and interactivity, can be a great playground that inspires users."

He also mentioned blockchain's potential. Kong CBO said, "I think blockchain will become a technology with greater influence than artificial intelligence (AI)," explaining, "AI only increases individual productivity, but blockchain changes how we work together." He added, "Blockchain is fundamentally a technology for open collaboration," and "if AI makes 'me' better, blockchain makes 'us' better."

Regarding the Korean market, he said it "matters." He noted that several Korean teams are part of MegaETH's accelerator program 'Mega Mafia.' Kong CBO said, "I meet many developers every time I come to Korea," and explained, "We visit Korea not so much for fundraising as because of our expectations for Korea's developer ecosystem."