Metis Hyperion: Igniting hope for AI narratives on Ethereum?

Author: YBB Capital Researcher Ac-Core

1. Overview of Metis Hyperion

Metis is an Ethereum L2 ecosystem, which is based on Optimistic Rollup, and launched the Andromeda mainnet in the early days. In March 2025, Metis officially announced its dual-chain strategy: launching a high-performance Hyperion chain on the basis of the existing universal chain Andromeda. The former is positioned as a safe and reliable general-purpose L2, while the latter focuses on high-frequency, high-throughput, and AI-driven application scenarios. The Hyperion architecture is built on top of the Metis SDK, and at its core is the new MetisVM virtual machine (EVM-compatible to support AI-optimized instructions), with the goal of optimizing scalability and decentralization, while greatly improving transaction efficiency.

According to the official introduction from Metis, Hyperion is dedicated to building a "high-performance, AI-native" L2 network that can achieve near millisecond transaction confirmations and extremely high transaction throughput, making AI-native applications (such as on-chain LLM inference and decentralized AI agents) possible. Overall, Metis emphasizes security and decentralization through its dual-chain architecture, with Andromeda focusing on safety and decentralization, while Hyperion emphasizes high performance and AI applications, providing complementary support for different application scenarios.

Overall, Metis's development roadmap can be summarized in two points: First, continuously improving the core L2 infrastructure, such as the addition of real-time data availability migration and fraud proof mechanisms in the Andromeda upgrade in May 2025, making it the industry's first "truly decentralized" Layer 2; Second, moving towards modularization and multi-chain interoperability, lowering the development threshold through the Metis SDK, and promoting multi-chain ecosystem development. The launch of Hyperion has, to some extent, reshaped the value logic of the METIS token: making Metis not just an L2, but transforming it into a platform for "multi-chain infrastructure + AI dedicated chain."

2. On-chain LLM? What is the logic implemented by Metis?

Image source: Metis

2.1 AI Ecosystem Closed Loop Three-piece Set: SDK, Hyperion, LazAI

Hyperion, as an Optimistic Rollup, inherits the security models of Metis and Optimism, while primarily making improvements in parallel computing, data availability, and decentralization. The main optimization direction focuses on AI and high-frequency application scenarios. Specifically, Metis promotes ecosystem development through the three major systems of Metis SDK + Hyperion + LazAI.

● Parallel Execution Engine: Traditional blockchains typically execute transactions in sequence, while Hyperion introduces parallel execution technologies like Block-STM, allowing independent transactions within a block to run simultaneously. By employing optimistic concurrency control and dynamic DAG scheduling algorithms, independent transactions in the same block can operate concurrently, significantly enhancing throughput;

● Decentralized Sorter: The transaction sorting rights of Hyperion are shared by a multi-node network, rather than being controlled by a single node or a few operators. The specific mechanism includes Leader Rotation and Encrypted Mempool combined with Proposer-Builder Separation (PBS) to prevent front-running and centralized intervention;

● Data Availability: The Hyperion program fully utilizes Ethereum's new features and external DA services to ensure data availability. With the advancement of Ethereum EIP-4844, Hyperion (and Andromeda) will directly publish transaction data to L1 via blob transactions, inheriting Ethereum's security and reducing costs. According to official statements, Metis is also preparing to integrate EigenDA;

● Fraud Proof: Hyperion continues to use the optimistic model, but upgrades the fraud proof. Metis committed early on to introducing a complete fraud proof mechanism and data availability scheme; Its ReGenesis roadmap also proposes to "implement the latest proof-of-fault system from the OP Stack". In other words, Hyperion will employ an interactive error correction mechanism: when the sequencer publishes a new block, the "observers" in the network have a window to submit a challenge (e.g., a 7-day period) to prove the block invalid. Once this challenge is successful, the malicious block is rolled back and the responsible party is penalized.

In terms of AI-native infrastructure, the Metis SDK allows users to build L2 or L3 blockchains by themselves, which already integrates an upgraded version of the EVM (called MetisVM) and parallel processing capabilities, and is also equipped with a decentralized ordering mechanism. Hyperion is a high-performance AI-specific Layer 2 built with this SDK, which combines optimistic rollup, parallel execution, and distributed ordering to achieve near-real-time transaction confirmation and on-chain AI inference. Officially, MetisVM has improved transaction efficiency by about 30% by dynamically optimizing opcodes and parallel execution mechanisms. At the same time, MetisDB uses memory-mapped Merkle trees and concurrency control, and state access can be achieved in nanoseconds, almost eliminating storage bottlenecks. Together, these technologies allow Hyperion to run AI inference tasks like large language models (LLMs) directly on-chain, laying a strong foundation for AI contracts.

In terms of AI narrative project incubation: Metis is also actively incubating AI-related projects, such as the LazAI protocol. It's an open network focused on "trusted AI data assets" with the goal of solving the problem of opaque, inconsistent data used by AI. LazAI leverages blockchain's verifiable computation and standardization mechanisms to create an open and transparent data marketplace that ensures that AI models use high-quality data and can be used across chains. Based on this protocol, Metis has also launched the Alith framework, an AI agent development tool tailored specifically for blockchain. Developers can use the Alith SDK to quickly write AI agents on Metis and deploy them online. The official also gave a very down-to-earth example: users only need to send instructions in natural language through the Telegram chatbot to complete DeFi operations such as lending, and there is no need to write smart contracts by themselves. This design greatly lowers the threshold for ordinary people to use AI applications, and also makes the work of developers a lot easier.

2.2 Compared to other L2s, what capabilities does Hyperion enhance for Metis?

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

High-performance execution layer: Metis Hyperion is a high-performance Layer 2 for AI, which is officially said to achieve near-real-time settlement and Web2-level response speed through optimistic rollup, parallel execution, and distributed ordering technology. Hyperion introduces MetisVM, a virtual machine tailored for high-frequency trading and AI tasks, with dynamic opcode optimization, parallel execution, and caching mechanisms to greatly improve the efficiency of smart contract execution, while Hyperion has designed on-chain inference support for AI inference, including specialized precompiled contracts and execution engine optimization; Dual-Chain Strategy (Andromeda + Hyperion): Metis retains the original Andromeda chain as a general-purpose L2, continuing to provide stable infrastructure for applications such as DeFi; at the same time, it launches Hyperion specifically to serve AI scenarios. This "dual-network" architecture addresses the trade-off between versatility and specialization: it not only avoids deadlock in homogeneous competition with other L2s but also finds a dedicated space for AI applications.

Metis SDK and Developer Ecosystem: Metis SDK is a modular toolkit for developers that integrates blueprints, building tools, and standard interfaces, allowing developers to quickly set up custom execution layers or applications. Metis SDK enables developers to rapidly deploy Layer2/Layer3 using mature modules, and it also facilitates smooth migration or interaction between Andromeda and Hyperion, significantly enhancing ecosystem construction efficiency and interoperability.

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

3. If Ethereum focuses on L1, how will Metis respond?

Source: investx.fr

3.1 If the main chain does not distribute rewards, Metis will build its own candy factory.

Assuming Ethereum will focus on its own L1 development (such as underlying consensus and sharding upgrades) in the future, rather than continuing to directly expand L2, how can L2 platforms like Metis maintain and expand their influence? According to the All in AI strategic roadmap released by Metis, the current strategy for Metis is to adopt a modular and multi-chain approach.

First of all, Metis' dual-chain architecture and Metis SDK provide it with the ability to build multiple dedicated chains, and the launch of Hyperion marks the transformation of Metis from a "single L2" to a "modular multi-chain infrastructure". With the Metis SDK, any team can quickly create a custom blockchain like building blocks – configuring components such as parallel execution consensus, EVM compatibility layer, AI-optimized VM, on-chain storage, etc., which means that Metis not only operates two chains, but also supports more "industry-specific chains": such as AI computing chains, DePIN infrastructure chains, and game chains, each meeting the needs of different scenarios.

Secondly, Metis attaches great importance to cross-chain interoperability and collaborative ecology, and it has been mentioned many times in the official roadmap and community communication that cross-chain bridging and data/computing aggregation mechanisms will be introduced, and it is not difficult to find that Metis will integrate Chainlink CCIP, so that assets and smart contracts can flow freely between Metis and other public chains, and the Hyperion architecture also emphasizes "shared bridge + cross-chain interconnection", and proposes "decentralized data and computing aggregation" to integrate AI Applications are connected to various data networks and computing resources. The community is not only users but also direct participants and beneficiaries of network operation. By opening up the role of the sorter, anyone can become a block proposer through staking and receive sorting rewards. At the same time, Metis plans to introduce an AI node operation incentive mechanism to encourage more developers to deploy inference services that provide on-chain AI capabilities.

3.2 Metis All in AI strategy, how to drive ecological development through AI

Let's look at the problem directly: the current on-chain use of AI services, such as the transmission of results through oracles, has obvious centralization risks and performance bottlenecks. To address these issues, Hyperion and LazAI have partnered to introduce an AI proxy framework called Alith. Developers can use the Alith SDK to write "AI agents" and deploy them as contract modules on Hyperion, which can handle functions such as model selection, inference logic, and fault response, which can be directly invoked by other contracts on the chain, such as chatbots, prediction tools, or DAO assistants. Through mechanisms such as precompiled contracts, Hyperion incorporates AI inference into the on-chain execution process, and the inference results can also be fixed on-chain through logs, reproducible operations, or trusted execution environments, so as to be verifiable and credible. This not only retains the transparency of the blockchain, but also satisfies the computing needs of AI, and truly promotes "AI on the chain".

Additionally, Hyperion's parallel processing and low latency are particularly suitable for AI tasks. As long as there are no conflicts between requests, they can run simultaneously, achieving significantly higher efficiency than traditional L2 sequential execution. MetisVM has also been specifically optimized for AI, for instance, by using Rust/WASM to enhance performance and supporting various inputs such as text and images, allowing AI models to run directly on-chain. This entire design is aimed at realizing what Metis calls the "first Layer 2 protocol that can locally run large language models on-chain."

4. ETH Hyperion vs. Solana AI

Source of the image: homemade

4.1 AI Competition Arena

The market enthusiasm for Crypto+AI has undoubtedly achieved great success on Solana, and the Solana community is also promoting open protocols such as 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 "orthodox" AIs like Claude to directly access Solana blockchain information via RPC. However, most AI solutions on Solana run AI models off-chain and call the results on-chain.

As pointed out in "Solana and Base, which ecosystem is more suitable for AI Agent?": "Currently, all models including agents run off-chain, with input data, training, and output information not on-chain; neither EVM chains nor Solana/BASE support the combination of AI and contracts," solutions like Solana+MCP have not truly "put AI models on-chain to run"; they merely allow AI models to securely access on-chain data.

What's interesting about Hyperion, though, is that it tries to make AI inference itself execute on-chain, which Solana doesn't implement. If Hyperion implements the first Layer-2 protocol that supports local execution of LLMs on the chain, it means that Hyperion not only provides a data interface, but also directly provides on-chain computing power for AI models to run in MetisVM, and each step of computation is completed in the execution environment of the blockchain. This design decentralizes AI more thoroughly than Solana's solution, and AI inference results on Hyperion can be verified and traced on-chain, making it naturally resistant to tampering and censorship. Solana's MPC, on the other hand, is more about trusting the external model and only securing the data path.

Of course, Solana has a natural advantage in basic performance due to its high concurrency processing capability and mature GPU chip support architecture. Hyperion focuses on compatibility and ecological interaction with the Ethereum ecosystem: EVM compatibility, MetisSDK ecosystem, and METIS token liquidity.

Overall, Hyperion and Solana do not have a direct substitution relationship; rather, they provide another approach to integrating blockchain and AI: Solana relies on its network performance and traditional LLM interfaces (MCP); Metis, on the other hand, relies on its smart contract platform as a foundation to launch native on-chain inference capabilities.

4.2 Is Hyperion the universal key to unlocking Ethereum AI?

To put it directly, Hyperion is not the ultimate solution at this time. Most of the so-called "AI + blockchain" projects are still at the conceptual stage, with very few cases that can be validated as productive applications. Issues of model ownership and trust have also not been resolved: how to trace the origin of models trained off-chain, and how to prove the correctness of their execution results on-chain? These are fundamental 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 reasoning at the protocol layer, which solves part of the computing power issue: parallel execution and the optimization of MetisVM greatly enhance on-chain computing capability beyond traditional L2, but this does not mean that Hyperion has solved all problems at once.

However, it can be confirmed that Hyperion has brought new possibilities for Web3 AI and provided the Ethereum camp with leverage to participate in the AI narrative. It primarily addresses issues related to computational architecture and trust foundations: a large amount of parallel computing power, on-chain verifiable execution processes, a modular toolchain, and native support for the special needs of AI. These efforts create possibilities 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.

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