2.3 Settlement layer: High-performance EVM-compatible Chain

The settlement layer serves as the center of NERO. It is significant for both the execution and data availability layers. Regarding the execution layer, the settlement layer governs transaction fees and confirmation. In the context of the data availability layer, its importance is further emphasized as it drives the entire process of block construction, proposal, confirmation, and transaction payment.

2.3.1 Full Ethereum Compatibility

NERO believes that Ethereum is the industry standard for blockchain application development. To attract more high-quality Dapps projects and developers to join the NERO ecosystem, NERO has implemented the full Ethereum protocol in the settlement layer. NERO not only has full compatibility with EVM but also keeps up with the latest EIPs so that developers can directly deploy the existing Dapps on Ethereum to NERO. On the other hand, all the development tools developed on Ethereum, including Wallet, Solidity, Remix, Truffle, and Hardhat, can also be directly used on the NERO Chain. Besides, NERO is also compatible with almost all of the RPC interfaces of Ethereum, so developers can switch to NERO’s application development at no cost and get the rewards for NERO’s ecosystem development.

2.3.2 Performance-based Optimization

NERO's strategy for performance enhancement begins with the settlement layer. Although it doesn't directly execute individual user transactions, the settlement layer serves as a foundation for the entire system. For this reason, NERO has developed its unique consensus mechanism, combining DPOS and random sampling validator selection, alongside a Pipelined Optimized BFT process. This approach ensures exceptional performance, genuine decentralization, and an optimal balance between transaction throughput and instantaneous confirmation. Furthermore, NERO has refined storage synchronization and the EVM execution cache based on real-world performance profiling, resulting in substantial performance enhancements.