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Snowside Docs

Architecture Overview

Snowside is an EVM-compatible Layer-1 blockchain running on Avalanche’s consensus infrastructure. It combines three layers: an EVM execution environment, Avalanche’s Snowman consensus protocol for fast finality, and Blind Merged Mining for Bitcoin-anchored settlement security.

EVM Execution Layer

Section titled “EVM Execution Layer”

Snowside runs a standard EVM execution environment. All existing Ethereum developer tools — Remix, Hardhat, Foundry, The Graph, viem, ethers.js — work without modification. Smart contracts written in Solidity or Vyper deploy identically to how they would on any other EVM chain.

The EVM is augmented with custom precompiles for eCash-specific logic, configurable via NodeRunr’s precompile concierge feature. This allows eCash protocol rules to be enforced at the consensus level rather than through external smart contracts.

Avalanche Consensus (Snowman)

Section titled “Avalanche Consensus (Snowman)”

Snowside validators use Avalanche’s Snowman consensus — the linear-chain variant of the Avalanche Consensus Protocol. Snowman provides deterministic finality: once a block is accepted by the validator set, it is final and cannot be reverted.

Key properties:

  • Sub-second finality — transactions confirm in approximately 1–3 seconds
  • Sovereign validator set — independent of C-Chain or any other Avalanche subnet
  • Permissionless participation — anyone meeting the stake requirement can validate
  • Custom throughput — Snowside sets its own block size and gas limits

Blind Merged Mining Settlement

Section titled “Blind Merged Mining Settlement”

While Avalanche consensus provides fast, deterministic finality, ultimate settlement security comes from Bitcoin via Blind Merged Mining (BIP-301). Snowside block producers submit compact header commitments to Bitcoin miners, who include them in coinbase transactions. This creates a cryptographic link between Bitcoin’s proof-of-work and Snowside’s activity.

This two-layer security model provides a three-tier confirmation architecture:

Tier Time Security
Instant 1–3 seconds Avalanche Snowman consensus
Confirmed ~10 minutes Avalanche + multiple validator rounds
Settled ~60 minutes Bitcoin-anchored via BMM

Users and applications choose the tier that matches their requirements: payment applications can accept Instant confirmation, while high-value settlements may wait for Settled confirmation.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”