Which Chain
Which chain for which job? The answer depends on what you're proving, who you're serving, and what you're willing to pay for consensus.
Selection Criteria
| Criteria | Why It Matters | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction cost | Per-operation economics determine viable business models | Must have |
| Finality speed | User-facing apps need sub-second confirmation | Must have |
| Ecosystem / DeFi | Liquidity, composability, existing protocols to build on | Must have |
| Developer tooling | Audit tools, testing frameworks, deployment pipeline | Must have |
| Censorship resistance | Decentralisation level determines trust guarantees | Depends on use case |
| Interoperability | Cross-chain bridging, intent protocols, data availability | Should have |
| Language | Engineering skill investment — Solidity vs Rust vs Move | Must have |
Candidates
| Ethereum (EVM) | Solana (SVM) | SUI (Move) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | High on L1, low on L2s | Very low | Very low |
| Finality | ~12s L1, ~2s L2 | ~400ms | ~500ms |
| Ecosystem | Largest — DeFi, NFTs, DAOs | Growing fast — payments, DePIN, consumer | Early — gaming, object-centric apps |
| Tooling | Foundry, Hardhat, Remix, OpenZeppelin | Anchor, Seahorse | Move Prover, Sui CLI |
| Language | Solidity | Rust | Move |
| Decentralisation | Highest | Moderate | Moderate |
| Interop | Most bridges, LayerZero, CCIP | Wormhole, intent protocols | Limited |
| Best for | DeFi, governance, trust-critical | Consumer apps, payments, speed | Object ownership, gaming, parallel execution |
Dev Environment
| Item | EVM | SVM | SUI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blockchain | Ethereum + L2s | Solana | SUI |
| Language | Solidity | Rust | Move |
| Playground | Remix | — | — |
| Wallets | Metamask | Phantom | Sui Wallet |
| Explorers | Etherscan | Solscan | Sui Explorer |
| Roadmap | EVM Dev | SVM Dev | Move Dev |
Decision Checklist
Business Fit
- What are you proving? (identity, ownership, payment, coordination)
- Who are you serving? (DeFi traders, consumers, enterprises, agents)
- What transaction volume and cost envelope does the business model require?
- What network effects exist on this chain for your use case?
Technical Fit
- Finality speed meets UX requirements
- Gas cost viable for the transaction frequency
- Existing protocols composable with your use case (oracles, DEXs, lending)
- Audit tooling mature enough for production
Architecture Fit
- Monolithic (Solana) vs modular (Ethereum L2s) — which tradeoff profile?
- Lock-in risk — how portable is the contract logic?
- Interop requirements — does it need to talk to other chains?
- ZK proof requirements — privacy or scaling?
Team Fit
- Language expertise exists or can be hired
- Development time horizon matches ecosystem maturity
- Community health — active releases, documentation, responsive support
Our Choice
Multi-chain by purpose. Not one chain for everything.
| Purpose | Chain | Why |
|---|---|---|
| DeFi / Trust-critical | Ethereum L2s | Security inheritance, deepest liquidity |
| Consumer / Payments | Solana | Speed, cost, growing DePIN ecosystem |
| Object ownership / Gaming | SUI | Move's object model, parallel execution |
The hexagonal architecture makes this viable — blockchain is an adapter behind a port. Swap the chain without touching domain logic.
Context
- Blockchain Technology — architecture layers, primitives, protocols
- Languages — chain choice determines language investment
- Interop Services — cross-chain communication
- Zero Knowledge — privacy and scaling primitives
- Tech Decisions — the general decision process
- Expansion Podcast — chain ecosystem analysis