What is Eclipse?

Eclipse is a blockchain platform developed by Eclipse Labs, operating on Ethereum’s Layer 2. It is the first Ethereum L2 to support the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM), aiming to combine Solana’s high-speed execution with Ethereum’s liquidity and security. The goal is to provide developers with an efficient and robust environment for building decentralized applications (dApps).

Vijay Chetty, serving as CEO of Eclipse, previously led business development at Uniswap and dYdX, and has also worked at BlackRock and Ripple. The project’s Chief Technology Officer, Ben Livshits, brings a strong technical background, having served as VP of Research at zkSync, Chief Scientist at the Brave browser, and a research scientist at Microsoft Research. He is also an associate professor at Imperial College London.

Eclipse has completed three rounds of funding. In its most recent Series A, it raised $50 million at a valuation of $1 billion, with major investors including HackVC and Polychain, and participation from OKX Ventures, Bankless Ventures, Delphi Digital, and others. The combination of a top-tier team and high-profile backers has generated considerable buzz in the market.

One particularly distinctive feature of Eclipse is its recognizable mascot, Turbo the Cow, inspired by the platform’s innovative “beefy sequencer”—a powerful ordering engine that serves as a key part of Eclipse’s technical foundation. This mascot reflects the platform’s core technical identity and adds a unique character to the brand.

Since launching its mainnet in November of last year, Eclipse has already generated 930 ETH in fees, attracted over 467,000 Discord members, and onboarded more than 1 million wallets. The platform has processed over 17 billion transactions in total. On average, Eclipse handles over 250 million transactions per day, with DEX trading volume surpassing $911 million, and daily trade counts ranging between 120 million to 240 million.

Solana on Ethereum?

For those who want the security and liquidity of Ethereum but also Solana’s high throughput, how exactly does Eclipse make that possible? The answer lies in the platform’s introduction of a new concept: the GSVM (GigaScale Virtual Machine).

Traditional Ethereum Layer 2s like Optimistic Rollups are constrained by the EVM’s serial execution model and limited hardware adaptability. Eclipse addresses these limitations with GSVM, a design that combines software-hardware co-optimization and cross-layer enhancements. It directly mirrors Solana’s Sealevel parallel runtime, but implemented in Layer 2 form—allowing Eclipse to enjoy the best of both worlds.

Eclipse’s core innovations span four key areas:

• Software-Hardware Co-Design
• Dynamic Scaling and Hotspot Isolation
• Cross-Layer Optimization
• Compute Abstraction and Parallelization
• These create a technological moat, giving Eclipse a competitive edge.

To explain simply:
If Ethereum is like a traditional city’s main thoroughfare—strict traffic rules and expensive tolls—and Solana is like a German autobahn—multi-lane, fast, and low-cost—then Eclipse is a high-speed expressway built on top of the main road, with on- and off-ramps that must connect back to Ethereum.

• With software-hardware co-design, vehicles are equipped with smart engines like GPUs/FPGA and autopilot systems like SmartNICs. These adapt in real time to traffic conditions. When a “truck” (complex contract execution) passes through, a dedicated lane is opened with extra compute resources. Simpler transactions (like basic contracts) travel on a fast general-purpose lane.

• Dynamic Scaling and Hotspot Isolation allows Eclipse to add more lanes during peak periods by dynamically allocating CPU resources. Popular applications can be isolated to their own lanes, avoiding performance drag on the rest of the chain.

• Cross-layer optimization means service stations and repair shops (data layers) communicate instantly. Gas stations get transaction data in advance to prep fuel, while AI-driven reinforcement scheduling predicts traffic jams or “block damages” before they happen.

• Lastly, off-chain computation + on-chain proof shifts heavy computational work off-chain, with Ethereum acting as the main toll booth. Vehicles pass through by presenting a license plate—in this case, a ZK proof.

By integrating all of these, Eclipse maximizes data security and processing efficiency, making it ideal for powering large-scale decentralized applications in the blockchain app era.

The Eclipse Ecosystem

As of now, the Eclipse ecosystem has attracted over 60 dApps and service providers, spanning areas such as DeFi, gaming, and consumer applications. Below is a deeper look at several native projects, compiled by BlockBeats.

NFT Ecosystem

After School Club

Eclipse’s official OG Genesis NFT collection, After School Club, consists of 10,000 NFTs, with a current floor price of 0.49 ETH. During an official AMA, it was hinted that airdrops may be distributed to holders, though details remain unclear. Given the already high floor price, those interested should carefully consider market volatility.

Scope

Scope serves as Eclipse’s NFT launchpad and secondary marketplace. It has close ties to the official ecosystem—for instance, the ASC NFT collection was launched here. The platform enables users to mint and trade NFTs, though the number of new projects is still limited.

Minty.Market

Launched on March 28 by HorseLabs, Minty.Market is a permissionless NFT platform that also supports the issuance of meme tokens. The same team is behind multiple creative NFT and meme launch initiatives.

GameFi Ecosystem

Send Arcade

SendArcade is an innovative blockchain gaming platform running on Solana and Eclipse mainnet, launched by Send. Those familiar with the Solana ecosystem will recognize Send as a key player in Solana’s AI efforts, managing hackathons and tools like the Solana On-Chain Kit. Last month, over 45,000 players were recorded on Eclipse’s version of Send Arcade.

Turbo Tap

TurboTap is an official “cattle-raising” game from Eclipse, centered around the mascot Turbo the Cow. It’s considered a must-play GameFi experience within the ecosystem. The mechanics are simple: own a wallet or protocol funds, and passively earn “grass”—similar to how Sonic token holders earn PP points. It gamifies Eclipse’s points (with airdrop expectations) and ties them to on-chain liquidity.

Hedgehog

Think of Hedgehog as Eclipse’s version of Polymarket—a prediction market where users can bet on various outcomes and earn rewards.

DeFi Ecosystem

Astrol

Astrol is a native lending protocol on Eclipse. It’s currently running a points campaign where users earn potential airdrops by participating in lending activities, in addition to interest earnings.

Invariant

Invariant is a DEX protocol native to Eclipse. Certain liquidity pools on the platform are also integrated with points programs, providing potential airdrop incentives.

Umbra

Umbra is a deeply integrated native DEX, collaborating with Astrol, Nucleus, and the Eclipse team. Users who provide liquidity (LPs) can earn points not just from Umbra, but also from the other two platforms, along with bonus points from the official Turbo Tap game.

Meme Ecosystem

Fight.Horse

Fight.Horse is a meme token launcher built on SVM and developed by HorseLabs (also behind Minty.Market). Currently deployed only on Eclipse, the meme coin culture and supporting tools like dashboards and bots are still under development. However, combining Solana’s ease-of-use with Ethereum’s liquidity has sparked excitement. With more ecosystem support, it could become a liquidity hotspot.

With Turbo the Cow nearly unleashed and the TGE just around the corner, Eclipse is poised at a critical juncture. Will it truly usher in a new era of blockchain applications—one that combines Ethereum’s liquidity with high performance—or will it fade into obscurity like many other Layer 2s? The answer remains uncertain. But as blockchain adoption marches toward mass scale, the emergence of new technologies is not just inevitable, but essential—and Eclipse is clearly playing its part.

Disclaimer:

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2. The views expressed are solely those of the author and do not constitute investment advice.

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