Orca Crypto
Technology term

EVM

The Ethereum Virtual Machine, the runtime most chains have standardized on.

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Updated 2026-08-303 min readDefinition
Definition

The Ethereum Virtual Machine, the runtime most chains have standardized on.

The EVM is the environment smart contracts execute in. It defines the instruction set, the gas costs and the state model.

Because so many chains adopted it, one contract can be deployed across dozens of networks and one wallet works everywhere. That network effect is why EVM compatibility is such a common selling point.

In practice

Base, Arbitrum, Polygon, Avalanche and BNB Chain are all EVM compatible, which is why MetaMask works on all of them.

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