Cosmos SDK vs EVM: Execution

Full-stack sovereignty: You control the VM, consensus, fee market, and governance. This matters for protocols like Osmosis (DEX) or dYdX (orderbook) that require custom execution environments and maximal performance.

Native interoperability: Connect to 90+ IBC-enabled chains without bridges. This matters for building cross-chain applications where security and composability across sovereign chains are critical, as seen in the Cosmos Hub and Celestia data availability layer.

Ecosystem liquidity: Access to 5M+ Solidity devs, battle-tested tools like Hardhat and Foundry, and standards like ERC-20. This matters for rapid deployment and leveraging existing talent, as demonstrated by Arbitrum and Optimism scaling solutions.

Single-state environment: All dApps (e.g., Uniswap, Aave, MakerDAO) share the same state and liquidity pool on a given chain. This matters for DeFi protocols that thrive on dense, atomic composability and network effects within one execution layer.

Optimized throughput: No contention with other dApps. Chains like Injective achieve 10,000+ TPS with sub-second finality. This matters for high-frequency trading or gaming applications where consistent latency and capacity are non-negotiable.

Mature security model: The EVM's simplicity (256-bit words, ~140 opcodes) has a decade of audit expertise and formal verification tools like Certora. This matters for high-value DeFi where minimizing smart contract risk is paramount, as utilized by Compound and Lido.

Full-stack sovereignty: Builders control the entire tech stack, from the consensus (CometBFT) to the application logic and fee market. This enables custom fee tokens (e.g., ATOM, OSMO), native governance slashing, and protocol-level MEV capture (like dYdX v4). This matters for protocols needing maximal control over economics and security.

Higher initial complexity: Requires building and securing a full blockchain in Go/CosmWasm, not just a smart contract. Teams must manage validators, upgrades (via governance), and cross-chain security (ICS). The ecosystem has fewer battle-tested dev tools (vs. Hardhat, Foundry) and a smaller hiring pool. This matters for startups prioritizing speed-to-market over long-term sovereignty.

Massive developer leverage: Tap into the $50B+ DeFi TVL and 5M+ daily active addresses across Ethereum L1/L2s. Use standardized tooling like Foundry, Hardhat, and libraries (OpenZeppelin). This enables rapid prototyping, easier security audits, and access to a deep talent pool. This matters for projects needing immediate liquidity and composability.

Inflexible execution environment: Your app competes for block space on a shared virtual machine, subject to its gas model and potential network-wide congestion (see Base, Arbitrum gas spikes). Customizations like native account abstraction or novel fee structures are extremely limited. This matters for applications requiring predictable performance or unique economic models.

Massive ecosystem leverage: Access to 4,000+ live dApps, $50B+ in DeFi TVL, and battle-tested tools like Hardhat, Foundry, and MetaMask. This matters for projects prioritizing fast time-to-market and liquidity onboarding.

Proven security model: The EVM has secured over $1T in cumulative transaction value. Standards like ERC-20 and ERC-721 are universally adopted. This matters for high-value financial applications where auditability and composability are non-negotiable.

Full-stack control: Build a blockchain with custom fee logic, governance, and execution (e.g., CosmWasm). No competition for block space. This matters for high-throughput applications like gaming or order-book DEXs that need predictable performance.

Protocol-level bridging: Connect to 50+ IBC-enabled chains (Osmosis, Injective) without wrapped assets or external bridges. This matters for building interchain-native applications that require seamless asset and data transfer across a network of chains.

Architectural constraints: Inherits Ethereum's gas model, 30M gas block limit, and single-threaded execution. Upgrades require hard forks. This is a problem for applications needing custom economics or parallel processing.

High operational overhead: Must bootstrap your own validator set, security, and liquidity. Ecosystem tooling (oracles, indexers) is less mature than Ethereum's. This is a problem for teams without deep infrastructure expertise or capital for validator incentives.