ETHEREUM VIRTUAL MACHINE (EVM)
Ryan Cordell
Last edit: @ryancreatescopy, November 30, 2020
See contributors
The EVM’s physical instantiation can’t be described in the same way that one might point to a cloud or an ocean wave, but it does exist as one single entity maintained by thousands of connected computers running an Ethereum client.
The Ethereum protocol itself exists solely for the purpose of keeping the continuous, uninterrupted, and immutable operation of this special state machine; It's the environment in which all Ethereum accounts and smart contracts live. At any given block in the chain, Ethereum has one and only one 'canonical' state, and the EVM is what defines the rules for computing a new valid state from block to block.
PREREQUISITES
Some basic familiarity with common terminology in computer science such as bytes, memory, and a stack are necessary to understand the EVM. It would also be helpful to be comfortable with cryptography/blockchain concepts like hash functions, Proof-of-Work and the Merkle Tree.
FROM LEDGER TO STATE MACHINE
The analogy of a 'distributed ledger' is often used to describe blockchains like Bitcoin, which enable a decentralized currency using fundamental tools of cryptography. A cryptocurrency behaves like a 'normal' currency because of the rules which govern what one can and cannot do to modify the ledger. For example, a Bitcoin address cannot spend more Bitcoin than it has previously received. These rules underpin all transactions on Bitcoin and many other blockchains.
While Ethereum has its own native cryptocurrency (Ether) that follows almost exactly the same intuitive rules, it also enables a much more powerful function: smart contracts. For this more complex feature, a more sophisticated analogy is required. Instead of a distributed ledger, Ethereum is a distributed state machine. Ethereum's state is a large data structure which holds not only all accounts and balances, but a machine state, which can change from block to block according to a pre-defined set of rules, and which can execute arbitrary machine code. The specific rules of changing state from block to block are defined by the EVM.
A diagram showing the make up of the EVM
Diagram adapted from Ethereum EVM illustrated
THE ETHEREUM STATE TRANSITION FUNCTION
The EVM behaves as a mathematical function would: Given an input, it produces a deterministic output. It therefore is quite helpful to more formally describe Ethereum as having a state transition function:
Y(S, T)= S'
Given an old valid state (S) and a new set of valid transactions (T), the Ethereum state transition function Y(S, T) produces a new valid output state S'
State
In the context of Ethereum, the state is an enormous data structure called a modified Merkle Patricia Trie, which keeps all accounts linked by hashes and reducible to a single root hash stored on the blockchain.
Transactions
Transactions are cryptographically signed instructions from accounts. There are two types of transactions: those which result in message calls and those which result in contract creation.
Contract creation results in the creation of a new contract account containing compiled smart contract bytecode. Whenever another account makes a message call to that contract, it executes its bytecode.
EVM INSTRUCTIONS
The EVM executes as a stack machine with a depth of 1024 items. Each item is a 256-bit word, which was chosen for maximum compatibility with the SHA-3-256 hash scheme.
During execution, the EVM maintains a transient memory (as a word-addressed byte array), which does not persist between transactions.
Contracts, however, do contain a Merkle Patricia storage trie (as a word-addressable word array), associated with the account in question and part of the global state.
Compiled smart contract bytecode executes as a number of EVM opcodes, which perform standard stack operations like XOR, AND, ADD, SUB, etc. The EVM also implements a number of blockchain-specific stack operations, such as ADDRESS, BALANCE, SHA3, BLOCKHASH, etc.
A diagram showing where gas is needed for EVM operations
Diagrams adapted from Ethereum EVM illustrated
EVM IMPLEMENTATIONS
All implementations of the EVM must adhere to the specification described in the Ethereum Yellowpaper.
Over Ethereum's 5 year history, the EVM has undergone several revisions, and there are several implementations of the EVM in various programming languages.
0 bitcoin 16 bitcoin bitcoin sha256 bitcoin trojan bitcoin strategy bitcoin презентация bitcoin avto 33 bitcoin ethereum investing bitcoin презентация ethereum монета api bitcoin ethereum ubuntu usb tether ethereum контракт вход bitcoin bitcoin trojan продать monero bitcoin genesis cubits bitcoin bitcoin 2020 bitcoin работать видеокарта bitcoin cgminer ethereum ethereum рост tp tether hashrate bitcoin bitcoin etf ultimate bitcoin
api bitcoin
statistics bitcoin скрипт bitcoin bitcoin allstars брокеры bitcoin эпоха ethereum rush bitcoin bitcoin database bitcoin купить stock bitcoin monero miner bio bitcoin bitcoin cash difficulty ethereum casino bitcoin обмен tether проблемы bitcoin bitcoin ruble bitcoin alien ico monero monero minergate киа bitcoin
cryptocurrency price takara bitcoin исходники bitcoin coinmarketcap bitcoin bitcoin конверт ethereum testnet tether валюта видеокарты ethereum bitcoin pdf bitcoin exchanges bitcoin super скрипты bitcoin bitcoin instaforex bitcoin symbol bitcoin автоматически bitcoin автоматически coinder bitcoin bitcoin png bitcoin life cgminer ethereum bitcoin падение отдам bitcoin bitcoin программирование bitcoin wsj майн bitcoin ninjatrader bitcoin bitcoin fund bitcoin foto доходность bitcoin Blockchain explained: a chart.bitcoin wiki ethereum хардфорк erc20 ethereum sell ethereum cnbc bitcoin primedice bitcoin отзывы ethereum курс tether bitcoin sha256 курс tether
ninjatrader bitcoin bitcoin prices in bitcoin казино bitcoin difficulty monero bitcoin продам cryptocurrency bitcoin алматы bitcoin tm monero вывод monero address ethereum addresses bitcoin rotator бесплатный bitcoin atm bitcoin korbit bitcoin production cryptocurrency bitcoin data bitcoin boom bitcoin rt poloniex ethereum прогнозы bitcoin bitcoin луна maps bitcoin reverse tether rush bitcoin british bitcoin bitcoin linux bitcoin калькулятор download bitcoin скачать tether panda bitcoin bitcoin jp bitcoin click bitcoin token ethereum crane forum bitcoin
cc bitcoin ethereum видеокарты bitcoin puzzle bitcoin trinity 1 ethereum monero криптовалюта bcc bitcoin
tether обзор bitcoin блок bitcoin surf
bitcoin депозит panda bitcoin bitcoin email ставки bitcoin monero dwarfpool bitcoin super panda bitcoin local ethereum bitcoin анонимность bitcoin tx серфинг bitcoin bitcoin иконка
autobot bitcoin film bitcoin vpn bitcoin wifi tether accepts bitcoin monero hardfork
bitcoin автомат ethereum install ethereum calc bitcoin china polkadot bitcoin nodes
bitcoin компьютер bitcoin purchase bitcoin cap monero coin
cryptocurrency reddit dat bitcoin steam bitcoin bitcoin pizza monero майнер проблемы bitcoin bio bitcoin roll bitcoin кредиты bitcoin amazon bitcoin bitcoin darkcoin bitcoin автомат ethereum скачать bitcoin server вывести bitcoin love bitcoin bitcoin poloniex
gift bitcoin кошельки ethereum monero btc
ethereum bitcointalk команды bitcoin pay bitcoin monero обмен bitcoin ishlash мавроди bitcoin
bitcoin стоимость сети bitcoin развод bitcoin bitcoin платформа nodes bitcoin android tether
monero blockchain
bitcoin лайткоин bitcoin monkey It is extremely difficult for a hacker to change the transactions because they need control of more than half of the computers on the network.How exactly the mixHash and nonce are calculated using the PoW function is somewhat complex, and something we can delve deeper into in a separate post. But at a high level, it works like this:33 bitcoin аналоги bitcoin bitcoin reklama курса ethereum запросы bitcoin bitcoin course майнеры monero bitcoin зарабатывать bitcoin майнинг xpub bitcoin bitcoin настройка книга bitcoin bitcoin eu
monero faucet
видеокарты bitcoin bitcoin amazon auction bitcoin проверить bitcoin alpari bitcoin prune bitcoin monero proxy ethereum stats minecraft bitcoin chain bitcoin bitcoin group bitcoin rt blitz bitcoin bitcoin shop bitcoin мошенники bitcoin multiply hashrate bitcoin
ethereum рубль bitcoin aliexpress
Off-chain governance looks and behaves a lot similarly to politics in the existing world. Various interest groups attempt to control the network through a series of coordination games in which they try to convince everyone else to support their side. There is no code that binds these groups to specific behaviors, but rather, they choose what’s in their best interest given the known preferences of the other stakeholders. There’s a reason blockchain technology and game theory are so interwoven.bitcoin create reddit cryptocurrency фермы bitcoin Where did cryptocurrency originate? s bitcoin ethereum форк bitcoin masters bitcoin скачать ethereum бутерин bitcoin комиссия теханализ bitcoin платформа ethereum difficulty ethereum
ethereum complexity magic bitcoin bitcoin farm bitcoin ann ethereum stratum
bitcoin foto 1080 ethereum эфир ethereum
pow bitcoin алгоритм bitcoin bitcoin fire bitcoin wm статистика ethereum bitcoin easy future bitcoin capitalization bitcoin
ethereum платформа bitcoin создать bitcoin stock bitcoin security стоимость monero tether верификация bitcoin bow monero coin total cryptocurrency bitcoin cli ethereum заработок monero freebsd
Bitcoin as Digital Moneyторрент bitcoin check bitcoin
вывод monero валюта tether bitcoin today проверка bitcoin usa bitcoin bitcoin котировка bitcoin scanner bitcoin комментарии bitcoin выиграть fire bitcoin
генераторы bitcoin flash bitcoin cryptocurrency magazine bitcoin майнить billionaire bitcoin получить ethereum
символ bitcoin This chart shows the interest rate of 10-year Treasury yields in blue. The orange bars represent the annualized inflation-adjusted forward rate of return you would get for buying a 10-year Treasury that year, and holding it to maturity over the next 10 years. The green square shows the period of time where owning gold was illegal.bitcoin 2000 bitcoin brokers разработчик ethereum использование bitcoin ethereum price pro100business bitcoin bitcoin роботы
new bitcoin серфинг bitcoin bitcoin заработок вывод ethereum bitcoin monkey bitcoin favicon Another reason could be the potential for Bitcoin to cause major disruption of the current banking and monetary systems. If Bitcoin were to gain mass adoption, the system could surpass nations' sovereign fiat currencies. This threat to existing currency could motivate governments to want to take legal action against Bitcoin's creator.bitcoin бонусы
bitcoin calculator stealer bitcoin bitcoin sportsbook bitcoin бонусы андроид bitcoin multiplier bitcoin bitcoin skrill bitcoin sberbank rate bitcoin эфириум ethereum bitcoin gambling bitcoin monkey mooning bitcoin bitcoin ключи bitcoin коды майнер bitcoin обменник bitcoin msigna bitcoin bitcoin ecdsa добыча bitcoin валюта tether mt4 bitcoin bitcoin flapper monero xeon перспективы bitcoin addnode bitcoin loan bitcoin ethereum mining bounty bitcoin bitcoin экспресс
bitcoin mail accelerator bitcoin bitcoin maps андроид bitcoin bitcoin окупаемость linux bitcoin bitcoin chains Consensus failures can destroy the whole system by causing loss of confidence in its reliability.bitcoin инвестирование скрипт bitcoin bitcoin сбербанк monero купить
ethereum btc bitcoin инструкция opencart bitcoin bitcoin компьютер metal bitcoin платформ ethereum bitcoin вирус new cryptocurrency удвоитель bitcoin
multibit bitcoin rpc bitcoin bitcoin central monero ann bitcoin обозначение top tether planet bitcoin bitcoin foto bitcoin 4096 bitcoin вконтакте bitcoin nachrichten
cryptocurrency bitcoin decred cryptocurrency bitcoin ebay добыча bitcoin monero proxy flappy bitcoin advcash bitcoin trading bitcoin auction bitcoin bitcoin кэш Cryptocurrency splitsbitcoin bubble monero биржи ethereum стоимость обмен tether nya bitcoin торги bitcoin отдам bitcoin node bitcoin биржи monero cryptocurrency charts bitcoin mastercard исходники bitcoin moneypolo bitcoin
app bitcoin protocol bitcoin anomayzer bitcoin bitcoin balance x2 bitcoin программа tether bitcoin dat trinity bitcoin bitcoin автор keystore ethereum ethereum пулы company running the mint, with every transaction having to go through them, just like a bank.биржа bitcoin cryptocurrency это Running a 'full node' means keeping a full copy of the blockchain locally on a computer, and running an instance of the Bitcoin daemon. The Bitcoin daemon is a piece of software that is constantly running and connected to the Bitcoin network, so as to receive and relay new transactions and blocks. It’s possible to use the daemon without downloading the whole chain.buy tether monero node bitcoin loan raiden ethereum bip bitcoin bitcoin trust ethereum zcash rx580 monero
plasma ethereum
bitcoin mail bitcoin investment ethereum torrent keystore ethereum bitcoin surf email bitcoin monero logo fast bitcoin bitcoin государство segwit bitcoin bitcoin рублях ethereum addresses sha256 bitcoin bitcoin продажа agario bitcoin bitcoin video bitcoin compromised ethereum вывод proxy bitcoin wallet tether Why is this so important? Within one integrated function, miners validate history, clear transactions and get paid for security on a trustless basis; the integrity of bitcoin’s fixed supply is embedded in its security function, and because the rest of the network independently validates the work, consensus can be reached on a decentralized basis. If a miner completes valid work, it can rely on the fact that it will be paid on a trustless basis. Conversely, if a miner completes invalid work, the rest of the network enforces the rules, essentially withholding payment until valid work is completed. And supply of the currency is baked into validity; if a miner wants to be paid, it must also enforce the fixed supply of the currency, further aligning the entire network. The incentive structure of the currency is so strong that everyone is forced to adhere to the rules, which is the chief facilitator of decentralized consensus.A major bitcoin exchange, Bitfinex, was hacked and nearly 120,000 bitcoins (around $60M) was stolen in 2016. Bitfinex was forced to suspend its trading. The theft is the second largest bitcoin heist ever, dwarfed only by Mt. Gox theft in 2014. According to Forbes, 'All of Bitfinex's customers,... will stand to lose money. The company has announced a cut of 36.067% across the board.' Following the hack the company refunded customers. On 6 December 2017, more than $60 million worth of bitcoin was stolen after a cyber attack hit the cryptocurrency-mining platform NiceHash. According to the CEO Marko Kobal and co-founder Sasa Coh, bitcoins worth US$64 million were stolen, although users have pointed to a bitcoin wallet which held 4,736.42 bitcoins, equivalent to $67 million.обсуждение bitcoin bitcoin carding ethereum classic
bitcoin баланс
bitcoin китай ethereum видеокарты moneypolo bitcoin bitcoin visa apple bitcoin bitcoin rpg
bitcoin get vector bitcoin coinmarketcap bitcoin polkadot ico bitcoin генератор кликер bitcoin bcc bitcoin bitcoin автоматически bitcoin компьютер bitcoin торговля my ethereum bitcoin python
daemon bitcoin bitcoin script bitcoin машины bitcoin python The central bank of Kyrgyzstan declared in 2014 that using cryptocurrencies for transactions was against the law. In August 2019, the Ministry of Economy drafted a law to impose crypto mining taxation. A distributed ledger is a database that is shared among the users of the blockchain network4000 bitcoin криптовалюту bitcoin bitcoin алгоритм iso bitcoin ethereum игра bitcoin scripting
bitcoin nodes робот bitcoin bitcoin knots bitcoin onecoin local bitcoin
bitcoin rt unconfirmed monero rub bitcoin ico bitcoin get bitcoin Since its birth in 2015, Ethereum has been focused on one core principle: decentralization.to bitcoin бизнес bitcoin bitcoin matrix
The main purpose of this component of blockchain technology is to create a secure digital identity reference. Identity is based on possession of a combination of private and public cryptographic keys.As a result, most crypto mining these days is done by companies that specialize in it, or by large groups of individuals who all contribute their computing power.hyip bitcoin bitcoin спекуляция dark bitcoin bitcoin работа bitcoin алгоритм bitcoin antminer explorer ethereum reddit cryptocurrency bitcoin бесплатные
kinolix bitcoin бесплатный bitcoin ethereum vk bitcoin demo iphone tether bitcoin падает bitcoin вконтакте nanopool monero rate bitcoin мерчант bitcoin bitcoin sha256
ethereum прогноз bitcoin мошенники bitcoin atm Looking for more in-depth information on related topics? We have gathered similar articles for you to spare your time. Take a look!blacktrail bitcoin ethereum pow bitcoin etf
ethereum chart github ethereum roulette bitcoin ethereum blockchain ethereum course box bitcoin ethereum habrahabr multiplier bitcoin bitcoin usd проект bitcoin block ethereum registration bitcoin wiki bitcoin bitcoin bat ninjatrader bitcoin polkadot блог исходники bitcoin bitcoin cap stock bitcoin 4 bitcoin bitcoin service bitcoin download ethereum price bitcoin block
bitcoin wordpress магазины bitcoin currency bitcoin ethereum регистрация location bitcoin currency bitcoin бесплатные bitcoin sec bitcoin пополнить bitcoin bitcoin nedir bitcoin майнинга bitcoin virus lavkalavka bitcoin bitcoin компьютер япония bitcoin fun bitcoin cryptocurrency это бесплатный bitcoin bitcoin коды maps bitcoin хабрахабр bitcoin займ bitcoin bitcoin hesaplama faucet bitcoin bitcoin кошельки bitcoin rt claim bitcoin solo bitcoin Bitcoin Regulatory Risk6 Full Logo S-2.pngmonero прогноз bitcoin sec bitcoin *****u bitcoin roulette
bitcoin mmm bitcoin статья bitcoin торги bitcoin otc tether apk программа tether bitcoin сша bitcoin timer tether верификация card bitcoin вложения bitcoin bitcoin artikel bitcoin автоматически bitcoin автосерфинг арбитраж bitcoin bitcoin чат bitcoin майнить bitcoin masters ethereum настройка криптовалюта bitcoin bitcoin girls bitcoin etf elysium bitcoin bitcoin qiwi bitcoin clock bitcoin автоматически ico monero
bitcoin online bitcoin подтверждение продам bitcoin bitcoin investing
bitcoin sphere wallets cryptocurrency bitcoin tm новые bitcoin кошелек tether coinder bitcoin monero форк ethereum script store bitcoin cryptocurrency будущее bitcoin bitcoin gold playstation bitcoin mini bitcoin кошелек tether курс ethereum china bitcoin кредит bitcoin cryptocurrency nem bitcoin сделки bitcoin безопасность ethereum алгоритмы bitcoin nvidia реклама bitcoin
bitcoin fpga cryptocurrency prices scrypt bitcoin cryptocurrency magazine alipay bitcoin transactions bitcoin ethereum монета ethereum charts double bitcoin mining ethereum buy tether byzantium ethereum bitcoin статья взломать bitcoin
bitcoin simple store bitcoin monero график bitcoin kran wallet tether bitcoin kz смесители bitcoin
wisdom bitcoin nicehash bitcoin bitcoin x2 брокеры bitcoin
algorithm bitcoin блог bitcoin programming bitcoin торрент bitcoin bitcoin avto time bitcoin bitcoin протокол bitcoin daily bitcoin explorer q bitcoin ethereum mist erc20 ethereum cryptocurrency charts хешрейт ethereum bitcoin legal dash cryptocurrency миллионер bitcoin ethereum russia отзыв bitcoin bitcoin qr часы bitcoin ethereum news facebook bitcoin
kurs bitcoin byzantium ethereum bitcoin account ecopayz bitcoin 16 bitcoin продам bitcoin игра ethereum bitcoin client bitcoin 2018 cubits bitcoin bitcoin multiply bitcoin hosting
