From: thepipeline_xyz
The inspiration for creating Monad arose from significant performance challenges observed within the decentralized finance (DeFi) space [01:41:00]. This realization stemmed from prior experience in high-frequency trading and direct engagement with DeFi projects [02:11:00].
The Genesis of Monad
The founders of Monad, James and his colleague, first met in 2014 while working on a high-frequency trading team at Jump Trading [00:16:00]. Their role involved building a complete trading system from scratch, processing packets from exchanges, making rapid trading decisions, and sending orders back [00:24:00]. This field is intensely competitive; faster decision-making and order placement determine success in taking liquidity or securing a queue position for passive orders [00:39:00]. This environment demanded continuous system improvements, latency reduction, and the creation of highly performant systems [01:03:00].
Identifying Gaps in Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
By 2021, the team transitioned to Jump’s crypto division, immediately engaging with DeFi projects [01:18:00]. During approximately six months of working specifically on Solana DeFi, they identified a substantial demand for more performant blockchains [01:35:00].
The Call for a Performant EVM
A critical need was recognized for a more performant EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) [01:46:00]. Existing EVM implementations were largely inefficient and had not undergone the level of optimization seen in high-frequency trading systems [01:51:00]. The team’s background in building systems from the ground up to be very performant made them uniquely suited to address this problem, despite anticipating it would be a lengthy endeavor [02:00:00].
The initial inspiration for Monad was a combination of their experience in building high-performance systems for different tasks and their direct interaction with Solana and Ethereum, highlighting significant performance discrepancies and the potential for substantial optimizations, particularly within the EVM space [02:11:00].