What is Sei ? What problem does Sei solve ? Why is Sei important ?

In this article I wanna share my knowledge about Sei !

To begin with, I wanna talk about 2 different types of Layer 1 Blockchains :

+ General-purpose Layer 1 chains : they are blockchains that don’t have any specific applications, instead, they were created with an aim to be an infrastructure for decentralized applications and protocols to be built on top of them. Which means, these chains allow sharing and competing for users, liquidity and blockspace between protocols.

Examples : Etherum, Solana, Avalance, Binance Smart Chain

+ App-Specific L1 chains : they are specifically developed for one or a few decentralized applications. Which means, these chains have their own customized technology, like programming language, frameworks, consensus mechanisms,… to best suit their protocols needs.

The idea of App-specific chains become widely feasible thanks to the development of Cosmos and Polkadot.

So, what are the differences between those two ?

App-specific chains sure have many benefits over the General counterparts :

+ Flexibility : these chains are fully customizable for developers

+ Performance : these chains can be optimized for tx speed, volume, privacy, and much more. And since they don’t have to deal with congestions stemming from other blockchains, the performance would remain constant for users

+ Interoperability : like IBC chains on Cosmos, which allow chains to interact with each other

+ Security : due to the smaller number of permitted interactions between users in a chain, app-specific blockchains are easier to audit and secure in general

However, many protocols still choose to build on general-purpose chains, since it offers a huge advantage : Simplicity. This includes validator set and sourcing liquidity, which is extremely difficult to obtain for a stand-alone chain. That is why only large protocols, OKX and dYdX for instance, are willing to accept the risks and move to Cosmos. This leads to a perception : app-specific L1 is a “ late game “ move, instead of a good starting point of Web3.

Then, what is Sei ?

Sei is the Fastest L1 blockchain, and the fastest chain to finality in Web3, borns with an aim to change the perception above. Envisioned itself as a DeFi-specific L1 instead of an app-specific chain,Sei optimize its chain for a Class of protocols, instead of trying to build a one-size-fits-all solution.

What is Sei features

+ Performance : one of Sei’s core features is its speed. With the TTF sitting at approximately 600ms, which is 5 times faster than Solana and 2x Aptos, Sei is now the fastest L1 chain

+ Security : protocols building on Sei will be able to use Sei’s focused validator set, instead of assembling their own

+ Interoperability : Sei has partnered with Alexar Network to leverage its cross-chain messaging tech. This enables Sei to interact with users and liquidity from foreign chains ( IBC and EVM chains ),  therefor greatly expanding the total market for its protocols

Why is Sei important

The ultimate goal of Web 3 has always been to empower users and devs to interact in optimized and decentralized manners. But at the moment, almost all Layer 1 blockchains fall into a barbell distribution with General-purpose chains on one side and app-specific chains on the other, which left a huge design space in the middle, where Sei decided to explore

=> In my opinion, Sei will unlock an entirely new DeFi design space, enabling existing protocols to bloom and novel protocols to be created