Why Aevum
A one-page version of the thesis: three bets the rest of the industry hasn't made yet, and why we think they're worth making together.
In one paragraph. A Layer-1 blockchain whose reference node is written entirely in JavaScript, whose contracts run in a deterministic Hardened JavaScript sandbox, whose signatures are post-quantum from genesis, and whose validators run on a Raspberry Pi 4.
In one paragraph: Aevum is a Layer-1 blockchain whose reference node is written entirely in JavaScript, whose smart contracts are written in JavaScript and execute in a deterministic Hardened JavaScript sandbox, whose signatures use NIST-standardized post-quantum cryptography from genesis, and whose validators run on consumer hardware — with a Raspberry Pi 4 as the supported floor.
The three bets
Aevum rests on three architectural decisions the broader industry has mostly overlooked or delayed.
Bet #1 — Cryptography: post-quantum from day one
Every production blockchain today relies on elliptic-curve signatures that a sufficiently large quantum computer breaks outright. Aevum deploys NIST FIPS 204 ML-DSA-65 (Dilithium3) from genesis, with no migration period and no legacy classical signatures sitting in the history books. The chain is built to outlast the cryptography securing every other Layer-1 today.
Bet #2 — Smart contracts: plain JavaScript, with the bugs removed
Contracts are plain JavaScript, deployed as source with no compiler to trust. They're immutable by default with no hidden upgrade keys, verifiable through a single hash comparison with no third-party verification service required, and asynchronous between contracts — which means reentrancy is structurally impossible, not just discouraged.
Bet #3 — Decentralisation: validators on real hardware
Aevum targets the median consumer PC: a 4-core CPU, 8–16GB RAM, an SSD, and residential broadband. A Raspberry Pi 4 is the supported floor. A 100-validator committee keeps post-quantum signature overhead inside real bandwidth budgets — a network that can actually be run by individuals from home, not just data centers.
Why now
Three things converged. NIST standardized a post-quantum signature scheme in August 2024, and almost nothing in the blockchain space has adopted it. A decade of smart contract exploits hasn't meaningfully improved developer safety. And “decentralized” networks have quietly consolidated into roughly ten data centers spread across three regions.
Any one of those is a good reason to build something. The thesis here is that all three are worth more solved together than solved separately — a chain designed around the fix, not three patches bolted onto an existing one.
What Aevum is not
- Not chasing raw throughput as the headline number
- Not bytecode-level EVM compatible — JSON-RPC compatibility means MetaMask and ethers.js work, but contracts are JavaScript, not Solidity
- Not shipping privacy or zero-knowledge features in v1
- Not using sharding or a native Layer-2 at launch
- Not supporting cross-chain bridges until the security model is ready
Where to go next
- Read the full thesis for the reasoning behind all of this
- See Post-Quantum Cryptography for the signature scheme in detail
- See Smart Contracts for the execution model
- Follow the quickstart to run a node yourself