Metis Hyperion: A New Hope for Ethereum AI?

1. Overview of Metis Hyperion

Metis is a member of the Ethereum L2 ecosystem, based on Optimistic Rollup technology. Its early launched Andromeda mainnet features a decentralized sequencer, allowing transaction ordering rights to belong to community participants. In March 2025, Metis announced a dual-chain strategy: launching a high-performance Hyperion chain on top of the existing general-purpose chain Andromeda. Andromeda is positioned as a secure and reliable general-purpose L2, while Hyperion focuses on high-frequency, high-throughput, and AI-driven application scenarios.

The Hyperion architecture is based on the Metis SDK, with its core being the brand new MetisVM virtual machine ( which is compatible with EVM and supports AI-optimized instructions ). The goal is to optimize scalability and decentralization while significantly improving transaction efficiency. According to reports, Hyperion is committed to building a "high-performance, AI-native" L2 network, capable of achieving near millisecond transaction confirmations and extremely high transaction throughput, thereby making AI-native applications ( such as on-chain LLM inference and decentralized AI agents ) possible.

The development roadmap of Metis can be summarized in two points: first, continuously improving the core L2 infrastructure, such as adding real-time data availability migration and fraud proof mechanisms in the Andromeda upgrade in May 2025; second, moving towards modularization and multi-chain interoperability, lowering development barriers through the Metis SDK, and promoting the development of a multi-chain ecosystem. The launch of Hyperion has, to some extent, reshaped the value logic of the METIS token: it has transformed Metis from merely an L2 into a platform of "multi-chain infrastructure + AI dedicated chain."

2. On-chain LLM? The Implementation Logic of Metis

2.1 AI ecosystem closed loop three-piece set: SDK, Hyperion, LazAI

Hyperion, as an Optimistic Rollup, inherits the security model of Metis and the Optimism family, with upgrades mainly in parallel computing, data availability, and decentralization. The optimization direction focuses on AI and high-frequency application scenarios. Specifically, Metis promotes ecological construction through the three major systems of Metis SDK + Hyperion + LazAI.

Hyperion introduces a parallel execution engine that employs optimistic concurrency control and dynamic DAG scheduling algorithms, allowing independent transactions within the same block to run simultaneously, significantly increasing throughput. Its decentralized sorter is jointly responsible for transaction sorting rights by a multi-node network, with mechanisms that include rotating leaders and a cryptographic memory pool combined with proposer-builder separation to prevent front-running and centralized interference.

In terms of data availability, Hyperion plans to fully leverage the new features of Ethereum and external DA services. With the advancement of EIP-4844, Hyperion will directly publish transaction data to L1 through blob transactions to inherit Ethereum's security and reduce costs. Metis is also preparing to integrate EigenDA.

Hyperion adopts an optimistic system model, but has made upgrades in the fraud proof. There is a window period of "observers" in the network (, such as 7 days ) to submit challenges to prove the block is invalid. After a successful challenge, malicious blocks will be rolled back, and the responsible party will be penalized.

In terms of AI-native infrastructure, the Metis SDK allows users to build their own L2 or L3 blockchains, integrating an upgraded EVM( MetisVM) and parallel processing capabilities, equipped with a decentralized sorting mechanism. Hyperion is a high-performance AI-specific Layer 2 built using this SDK, combining Optimistic Rollup, parallel execution, and distributed sorting, enabling almost real-time transaction confirmations and on-chain AI inference.

MetisVM enhances transaction efficiency by approximately 30% through dynamic optimization of operation codes and parallel execution mechanisms. MetisDB uses memory-mapped Merkle trees and concurrent control, enabling state access at the nanosecond level. These technologies combined allow Hyperion to run AI inference tasks like LLM directly on-chain, laying the foundation for AI contracts.

In the AI narrative project incubation, Metis actively promotes the LazAI protocol, which is an open network focused on "trusted AI data assets" and aims to address the issues of data opacity and inconsistency in AI usage. LazAI utilizes blockchain's verifiable computing and standardization mechanisms to create an open and transparent data market, ensuring that AI models use high-quality data and support cross-chain usage. Based on this protocol, Metis has launched the Alith framework, which is a development tool for AI agents customized for blockchain. Developers can quickly write and deploy AI Agents on Metis using the Alith SDK.

2.2 Hyperion's differentiated competitiveness

Hyperion is still based on Optimistic Rollup, and Metis has built differentiated competitiveness through forward-looking technology and strategic layout: technologies such as Hyperion meet the performance requirements of AI applications, the dual-chain and SDK model caters to both general and professional needs, and decentralized ordering enhances ecological trust. The differentiation in competition with other L2s mainly lies in aspects such as the Hyperion architecture, dual-chain strategy, Metis SDK, and decentralized orderer.

Hyperion, as a high-performance Layer 2 designed for AI, achieves near real-time settlement and Web2-level response speed through Optimistic Rollup, parallel execution, and distributed sorting technology. MetisVM is tailored for high-frequency trading and AI tasks, featuring dynamic opcode optimization, parallel execution, and caching mechanisms, significantly enhancing the execution efficiency of smart contracts. Hyperion has also designed on-chain support for AI inference, including specialized precompiled contracts and execution engine optimization.

Metis' dual-chain strategy retains the Andromeda chain as a general-purpose L2 while launching Hyperion specifically to serve AI scenarios. This "dual-network" architecture addresses the trade-off between generality and specialization: it avoids being stuck in homogeneous competition with other L2s and provides a dedicated space for AI applications.

Metis SDK is a modular toolkit for developers that integrates blueprints, building tools, and standard interfaces, enabling developers to quickly build custom execution layers or applications. It allows developers to rapidly deploy Layer2/Layer3 using mature modules and facilitates smooth migration or interaction between Andromeda and Hyperion, improving the efficiency of ecosystem construction and interoperability.

In terms of decentralized sorting, Metis successfully launched the industry's first fully decentralized sorter in 2024, transferring transaction sorting rights to community nodes and a staking mechanism. This mechanism achieves fault tolerance and censorship resistance through the rotation of consensus nodes and incentive token governance, eliminating the risk of single points of failure.

Three, Metis's Response Strategy

3.1 Independent Development Route

Assuming Ethereum focuses on L1 development ( such as underlying consensus and sharding upgrades ), rather than continuing to directly expand L2, Metis's strategy is to take a modular and multi-chain approach.

First of all, Metis's dual-chain architecture and MetisSDK provide the capability to build multiple dedicated chains. The launch of Hyperion marks Metis's transformation from a "single L2" to a "modular multi-chain infrastructure." With MetisSDK, any team can quickly create customized blockchains, configure parallel execution consensus, EVM-compatible layers, AI-optimized VMs, on-chain storage, and other components, supporting more "industry-specific chains," such as AI computing chains, DePIN infrastructure chains, gaming chains, etc.

Secondly, Metis emphasizes cross-chain interoperability and collaborative ecosystems. The official roadmap mentions the introduction of cross-chain bridging and data/computation aggregation mechanisms, planning to integrate Chainlink CCIP to allow assets and smart contracts to flow freely between Metis and other public chains. The Hyperion architecture also emphasizes "shared bridges + cross-chain interconnection" and proposes "decentralized data and computation aggregation," connecting AI applications with various data networks and computing resources.

The community is not only users but also direct participants and beneficiaries of the network's operation. By opening the role of the sorter, anyone can become a block proposer through staking and receive sorting rewards. Metis is planning to introduce an AI node operation incentive mechanism to encourage more developers to deploy inference services that provide on-chain AI capabilities.

3.2 AI-driven ecological development strategy

To address the centralization risks and performance bottlenecks of on-chain AI services, Hyperion and LazAI have collaborated to introduce the Alith AI agent framework. Developers can use the Alith SDK to write "AI agents" that are deployed as contract modules on Hyperion, handling functions such as model selection, inference logic, and fault response, which can be directly called by other contracts to implement functionalities such as chatbots, predictive tools, or DAO assistants.

Hyperion incorporates AI reasoning into the on-chain execution process through mechanisms such as precompiled contracts. The reasoning results can be fixed on the chain through logs, reproducible operations, or trusted execution environments, achieving verifiable trust. This not only retains the transparency of the blockchain but also meets the computational needs of AI, promoting "AI on the chain".

Hyperion's parallel processing and low latency are particularly suited for AI tasks, allowing concurrent execution as long as there are no conflicts between requests, which is more efficient than traditional L2 sequential execution. MetisVM has made specific AI optimizations, such as using Rust/WASM to enhance performance and supporting various inputs like text and images, enabling AI models to run directly on-chain. This design aims to achieve "the first Layer 2 protocol that can run large language models natively on-chain."

4. ETH Hyperion vs. Solana AI

4.1 Comparison of AI Competition Scenarios

The Solana community is promoting open protocols such as the Model Context Protocol (MCP), attempting to allow off-chain AI models to query on-chain data through standardized interfaces. QuickNode demonstrated how to set up an MCP server for Solana, enabling AI like Claude to access Solana blockchain information directly via RPC. However, most AI solutions on Solana run AI models off-chain and call results on-chain.

Hyperion aims to execute AI reasoning directly on the chain. If the first Layer-2 protocol supporting local execution of LLMs on-chain is realized, it means that Hyperion not only provides a data interface but also directly offers on-chain computing power for AI models to run in MetisVM, with every computational step completed within the execution environment of the blockchain. This design decentralizes AI more thoroughly than Solana's solution, as AI reasoning results on Hyperion can be verified and traced on-chain, inherently resisting tampering and censorship.

Solana has a natural advantage in high concurrency processing capability and mature GPU chip support architecture, while Hyperion focuses on compatibility and ecological linkage with the Ethereum ecosystem: EVM compatibility, MetisSDK ecosystem, and METIS token liquidity.

Overall, Hyperion and Solana do not have a direct substitution relationship, but rather provide an alternative approach to the blockchain + AI integration: Solana relies on its network performance + traditional LLM interface (MCP); Metis, on the other hand, relies on its smart contract platform to launch native on-chain reasoning capabilities.

4.2 The Potential and Limitations of Hyperion

Hyperion is not the current universal key. Most "AI + blockchain" projects are still at the conceptual level, and there are very few cases that can be verified as productivity applications. The issues of model ownership and trust have also not been resolved: how to trace the source of models trained off-chain and how to prove the correctness of their execution results on-chain? These are all questions that need to be answered at the infrastructure level.

The system design of Hyperion addresses the above pain points to some extent by providing support for AI inference at the protocol layer, solving some computational power issues: parallel execution and the optimization of MetisVM greatly enhance on-chain computing capabilities beyond traditional L2, but this does not mean that Hyperion solves all problems at once.

It can be confirmed that Hyperion has brought new possibilities for Web3 AI and provided the Ethereum camp with the chips to participate in the AI narrative. It mainly addresses issues related to computational architecture and trust foundations: a large amount of parallelizable computing power, on-chain verifiable execution processes, a modular toolchain, and native support for AI's specific needs. These efforts create the possibility for the emergence of truly practical blockchain + AI applications (, such as on-chain autonomous agents and high-frequency data analysis ), adding substantial content to the AI narrative in the crypto space.