Most execution environments ask: how fast can you go?
Metis asks: how intelligent can your system become?
Metis asks: how intelligent can your system become?
Metis is open-sourcing its SDK come mid-April 2025—and it changes the rules for execution. Altcoin Observer got the exclusive on why this release redefines infrastructure sovereignty.
Instead of one-size-fits-all chains, builders can now launch custom, modular, AI-ready compute layers—shaped by how their applications think, not just how they scale.
Infra gets ignored—until it breaks. Or until it quietly rewrites what’s possible. The Metis SDK does the latter.
Rethinking Infrastructure From the Execution Layer Out
Web3 infrastructure is evolving structurally—not through headlines, but through foundational change. Flexibility, programmability, and AI-driven processing are transforming how systems are conceived.
The Metis SDK, to be released as open-source Mid-April, enables teams to launch customized execution environments within the Metis ecosystem. It’s a modular framework that responds to a growing need: the ability to define execution logic according to use case—not constrained by general-purpose architecture.
This release arrives at a moment when the industry is confronting the limits of static stacks and re-evaluating what sovereignty looks like at the systems level.
We asked Natalia Ameline, Co-founder of Metis, about the strategic significance of execution-level configurability. Her response was clear:
“Metis isn’t just building technology—it’s rallying a movement. Our vision is to make Hyperion the backbone of decentralized AI, but it’s up to you—our community, our supporters, and our developers—to truly build out what the new world with decentralized AI can look like.”
Natalia ameline, co-founder of metis
Before we get into what the SDK unlocks (imagine a founder building a decentralized AI social protocol, not on top of infrastructure, but inside it), it’s worth tracing how Metis got here—and how its evolution set the stage for this moment.
Metis: From Rollup to Programmable Ecosystem Layer
Metis began as an Ethereum Layer 2 focused on scalability and decentralization, with Andromeda among the earliest rollups to experiment with decentralized sequencing and modular frameworks. But its trajectory shifted in 2023 when Andromeda’s sequencer decentralization significantly reduced censorship risks, proving modularity could enhance trust without sacrificing speed.
Over the past two years, the project has steadily evolved beyond its origins—re-architecting its stack for a more composable, application-driven future.
The focus isn’t just on speed or throughput. It’s on systemic autonomy: the ability for developers to build networks that operate on their own terms—optimized for their own constraints.
With the Metis SDK, that architecture becomes accessible.
Extending Modularity to the Execution Layer
The modular thesis—splitting consensus, data availability, and execution—has become standard in next-gen blockchain design. But execution itself has largely remained inflexible, with most networks offering variations on the same baseline performance model.
The Metis SDK shifts that baseline. It enables developers to launch compute layers that support:
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Parallel and speculative execution
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AI-specific coprocessors and native inference
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Custom opcode optimization
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Zero-knowledge computation support
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And critically, decentralized sequencing from day one
This expands the design space for execution: from fixed performance profiles to systems that respond to the logic of your app—not the limitations of your chain.
Full EVM compatibility means developers can work with familiar tools like Solidity, Hardhat, and Foundry—accelerating experimentation without steep learning curves.
Customization Takes Center Stage
The SDK doesn’t abstract the system away—it exposes it.
Developers can define how computation is handled, how fees are processed, how performance is prioritized, and how coordination unfolds. For example, a DeFi app prioritizing low fees over speed could use the SDK to cap gas costs dynamically, adapting in real time—unlike rigid chains.
Hyperion, Metis’ new AI-optimized runtime, is an example of this in practice. Built on the SDK’s foundation, its support for zk-AI, hardware-accelerated inference, and low-latency coordination makes it one of the first execution layers designed with intelligent computation at its core—not layered on top.
Andromeda, the general-purpose chain in the Metis ecosystem, continues to serve broader use cases while remaining fully interoperable. The SDK acts as a common thread between them, allowing for tailored compute systems under a shared framework.
It also enables seamless cross-chain interoperability—allowing execution environments launched on Metis to natively connect with Ethereum and other ecosystems without friction. Together, they point toward a multi-network future—one where ecosystems consist not of single chains, but a constellation of execution environments tailored to purpose.
Decentralized Sequencing Meets Adaptive Design
Unlike many scaling solutions that centralize sequencing for performance, Metis has prioritized decentralized sequencing as a core design element. This protects against bottlenecks and censorship vectors while reinforcing the network’s integrity at the coordination layer.
That said, decentralization can introduce latency risks in high-throughput scenarios—a challenge Metis mitigates with parallel execution and optimized throughput. As ecosystems become increasingly multi-environmental, maintaining trust-minimized coordination between runtime environments will be critical. The SDK supports that future natively.
It also points to a deeper thesis forming across Web3: infrastructure isn’t just something you deploy—it’s something you interact with.
Infrastructure That Adapts to Behavior
We’re entering a new era of infrastructure—where execution isn’t just optimized for speed or scale, but designed to respond to how people actually use systems.
The Metis SDK captures this shift. It moves beyond static execution logic to enable environments that can adapt in real time—shaped by intent, attention, and interaction, not just transactions per second. This makes it possible to build systems where behavior becomes an input, not just an afterthought.
As behavioral signals become foundational to system design, infrastructure needs to do more than process logic. It needs to engage with it. A social app, for instance, could adjust resource allocation based on engagement spikes, adapting with AI-driven features. Nadja Bester, Co-Founder of AdLunam, has suggested that if consensus defined Web1 and ownership defined Web3, then system intelligence will define what comes next.
That idea is beginning to shape how execution environments are designed. Platforms like AdLunam Social merge SocialFi and IdentityFi to build infrastructure where user engagement drives core logic—a direction the Metis SDK now makes technically and architecturally possible. By allowing developers to define how systems interpret and respond to real-time behavior, the SDK transforms execution into a dynamic layer of intelligence.
This is infrastructure that doesn’t just run applications. It evolves with them.
A New Coordination Layer for AI-Native Systems
The SDK supports use cases far beyond traditional DeFi or smart contract platforms.
For example:
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A governance protocol could deploy a chain with native support for zkML-based private voting
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A decentralized insurance network could embed AI co-processors for real-time fraud detection
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A social protocol might run locally-trained relevance models entirely on-chain
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An on-chain game or DePIN network could leverage Hyperion’s parallelism for real-time responsiveness
These are no longer edge cases—they’re emerging design problems that demand flexible, intelligent architecture.
And it does so without imposing UX tradeoffs. Flexible payment options—including stablecoin gas fees (e.g., USDC, USDT)—are on the roadmap, enabling seamless interaction for end users while maintaining decentralized guarantees.
Ethereum-Aligned, Specialization-Enabled
The SDK’s design aligns closely with the trajectory of Ethereum’s modular ecosystem. In conversations around Layer 3s, application-specific rollups, and execution-layer customization, the emphasis has shifted toward differentiation—not standardization.
Vitalik Buterin, Co-Founder of Ethereum, has argued that performance and decentralization can be preserved through customization. The SDK operationalizes that vision. It doesn’t fragment the ecosystem—it allows it to evolve in parallel.
Laying the Groundwork for Web3’s Future
What Metis is building with its SDK is more than performance—it’s permission. A platform not just for deploying apps, but for shaping coordinated systems from first principles.
Customization demands steeper learning curves, though Metis offsets this with familiar tools and extensive guides. As the AI x Blockchain space moves toward intelligent, composable infrastructure, tools like these won’t be add-ons, but prerequisites.
The SDK doesn’t define a new paradigm. It creates the conditions for one to emerge—through the builders who decide how their environments should think, compute, and coordinate.
With the Metis SDK, infrastructure isn’t the stage. It’s the script—and you’re holding the pen.
About Metis
Metis is building the future of decentralized infrastructure with a dual-network architecture: Andromeda, a proven and highly decentralized network, for general-purpose dApps, and Hyperion with its high performance and extra tooling for AI applications or high-performance needs.
Powered by the Metis SDK, both chains interoperate seamlessly—enabling builders to deploy scalable, efficient, and intelligent Web3 applications across sectors like DeFi, gaming, and AI.
For more information, visit developers.metis.io.
For media inquiries, please contact: carson@block-wire.com
