Since 2026, the competitive dynamics in the Layer2 market have been shifting. Whereas the industry previously focused on TPS, gas fees, and concurrent performance, more projects are now revisiting a fundamental question: with a market already saturated by high-performance execution layers, what core challenges must public blockchains address in the next phase?
Against this backdrop, Fluent has been doubling down on its "Blended Execution" approach, advancing its testnet and builder ecosystem around cross-VM collaboration, unified execution environments, and developer toolchains. This has increasingly positioned the project within AltVM discussions. While many Layer2 solutions still emphasize performance metrics, Fluent aims to tackle the growing fragmentation across ecosystems in the multi-chain era.
Looking at the current market, Layer2 as a whole has entered a clear period of volatility. Relying solely on performance narratives is no longer a sustainable differentiator. Issues around developer experience, liquidity, and the complexity of cross-chain interactions are emerging as new focal points for the industry. In this context, "blended execution" is being viewed by some as a fresh attempt at execution layer innovation.
Fluent Continues to Update Its Product Strategy Around Blended Execution
Over the past few months, one of Fluent’s most significant moves has been its ongoing commitment to Blended Execution.
The team has been rolling out updates centered on "Expressivity" and "Cross-VM composability," steadily advancing its Public Testnet, Fluentbase SDK, and developer tools like gblend. Unlike traditional Layer2 projects that focus primarily on EVM compatibility, Fluent places greater emphasis on native collaboration between different execution environments.
According to the current roadmap, Fluent aims to enable EVM, Wasm, and eventually SVM to work together within a single execution layer. Developers will be able to build cross-VM applications in a unified environment.
This direction is gaining attention largely due to the present market structure. The multi-chain ecosystem has expanded rapidly in recent years, but the fragmentation between different VMs has become increasingly pronounced. Developers are forced to constantly switch languages, toolchains, and execution environments, while users must frequently bridge assets, switch chains, and manage multiple wallets.
Whereas the market previously focused on "how fast can a chain run," the industry is now asking, "can chains truly collaborate?"
Why AltVM Projects Are No Longer Competing Solely on Performance
Recent shifts in the AltVM market indicate a change in competitive priorities.
For a time, projects like Monad, MegaETH, and other new execution layers competed almost exclusively on performance metrics—TPS, latency, gas costs, and execution efficiency. However, as more high-performance chains enter the market, pure performance parameters are increasingly insufficient for long-term differentiation.
At the same time, the industry is becoming aware of another issue: even if chain performance continues to improve, advantages may not translate into lasting use cases unless developer ecosystems, cross-chain collaboration, and liquidity challenges are addressed.
Against this backdrop, some new execution layer projects are refocusing on "expressivity" and "developer freedom." Fluent’s emphasis on Blended Execution is essentially an attempt to answer this question.
Rather than simply boosting TPS, Fluent seeks to build a more open execution environment where applications across different VMs can work together directly, instead of remaining isolated within separate ecosystems.
How User Interaction Costs Have Changed After Multi-Chain Fragmentation
While the rapid expansion of the multi-chain ecosystem has fueled industry growth over the past few years, it has also made user interactions far more complex.
Most users are now feeling the effects of ecosystem fragmentation: frequent bridging between chains, poor wallet interoperability, fragmented liquidity, and increasingly convoluted asset transfer paths.
This problem has become especially pronounced with the proliferation of Layer2 solutions. While users benefit from lower gas fees and higher performance, operational complexity continues to rise.
Developers face similar challenges. Differences in toolchains, language switching, and ecosystem fragmentation across VMs make it difficult for applications to achieve true cross-ecosystem collaboration.
Recent market trends show more projects are exploring the possibility of a "unified interaction layer" and "unified execution environment." Fluent’s blended execution approach is gaining attention among developers in this context.
Why Cross-VM Composability Is Becoming a Developer Focus
While regular users are concerned with interaction experience, developers are increasingly focused on whether different execution environments can achieve genuine composability.
Historically, EVM, Wasm, and SVM have operated as entirely separate ecosystems. Developers must learn different languages and adapt to distinct toolchains, making it difficult for applications to share state and logic.
This structure has fostered independent ecosystem growth, but at the cost of increasing industry fragmentation. With the rise of AI agents, automated trading, and complex on-chain applications, the demand for cross-VM collaboration is growing.
Developer discussions now center on whether a "unified execution environment" can reduce development costs and enhance application composability. Fluent’s ongoing work on Blended Execution is essentially about integrating different execution environments into a single foundational framework.
Although this direction remains in its early stages, cross-VM collaboration is moving from a technical concept to a practical topic in developer circles.
What Execution Environments Do AI Agents and Automated Trading Require?
The expansion of AI agent applications is reshaping requirements for execution layers.
Previously, on-chain applications relied mostly on manual user interaction. As AI agents and automated strategies proliferate, many on-chain actions may shift from "human operation" to "programmatic automation."
This change brings new demands for execution environments. For example, AI agents may need to simultaneously access liquidity, data, and smart contracts across multiple chains. Traditional fragmented VM structures often struggle to support complex automation scenarios.
This is why more developers are discussing "cross-VM composability." For AI agents, the key isn’t single-chain performance, but whether different execution environments can collaborate efficiently and cost-effectively.
While the relationship between AI agents and blended execution is still emerging, some long-term developers are beginning to explore how the two can be combined.
Changing Market Expectations After Fluent’s Funding and Testnet Expansion
With the Public Testnet advancing and the builder ecosystem expanding, market expectations for Fluent are evolving.
Where earlier efforts were mostly conceptual, Fluent is now actively developing tools, SDKs, and a builder community. The growth of the Blended Builders Club and developer activities has strengthened the project’s "developer ecosystem first" strategy.
Additionally, Fluent’s backing from institutions like Polychain has brought it attention within the AltVM space.
However, investors remain cautious about AltVM projects. On one hand, the market recognizes the long-term value of execution layer innovation. On the other, the proliferation of Layer2 and AltVM projects has led to clear oversupply and fierce competition.
For Fluent, the real challenge is no longer just technical direction, but whether it can foster a sustainable developer ecosystem and real-world use cases.
Layer2 Liquidity Fragmentation Remains a Long-Term Challenge
Layer2’s rapid expansion has boosted on-chain activity in recent years, but liquidity fragmentation is becoming a serious issue.
Assets are now scattered across multiple Layer2 solutions and VM ecosystems. Bridging costs, cross-chain complexity, and user migration expenses are starting to impact overall ecosystem efficiency.
From a market perspective, this is why more projects are revisiting "unified execution environments" and "cross-VM collaboration."
As the number of chains continues to grow, the real determinant of ecosystem competitiveness may no longer be TPS, but who can best integrate liquidity and developer resources.
For Fluent, the long-term logic behind its blended execution approach is to reduce collaboration costs between VMs. However, this direction still requires validation through real applications and developer ecosystem growth.
Can Blended Execution Become the Next Infrastructure Paradigm?
At this stage, "blended execution" appears to be an emerging direction rather than a fully established industry trend.
While Layer2 competition was once all about performance, the industry is now entering a more complex phase. Developers are focusing on cross-chain collaboration, users on interaction experience, and AI agent scenarios are prompting a rethink of execution environments.
Fluent’s Blended Execution is essentially an attempt to redefine relationships between execution layers.
Yet, market opinions remain divided. Some believe cross-VM composability could be a key infrastructure direction in the next phase. Others argue that most developers may not need complex blended execution environments.
For Fluent, the most critical question is whether blended execution can generate sustained demand for real-world applications, rather than remaining a purely technical narrative.
Summary
Fluent’s push for blended execution is not just about strengthening the AltVM narrative—it reflects a broader shift in Layer2 market competition.
As multi-chain ecosystems become more fragmented, developer collaboration costs rise, and AI agent scenarios expand, discussions around unified execution environments and cross-VM composability are intensifying. The Layer2 market is moving beyond TPS and performance metrics into a more complex infrastructure phase.
For Fluent, the evolution from Blended Execution to builder ecosystem development and cross-VM toolchain construction marks a transition from a typical AltVM Layer2 project toward long-term blended execution infrastructure. Whether this direction will meet sustained developer demand remains to be seen and will require further real-world application validation.
FAQ
Why has Fluent recently attracted market attention?
Fluent is gaining market attention due to its Blended Execution strategy, cross-VM collaboration efforts, and ongoing testnet development. As Layer2 competition enters a new phase, blended execution is becoming a topic of renewed interest among developers.
What is Blended Execution?
Blended Execution is Fluent’s proposed approach to integrating multiple execution environments. Its core aim is to enable EVM, Wasm, and eventually SVM to collaborate within a single chain, reducing fragmentation in development and user interactions.
Why does Fluent no longer focus solely on performance metrics?
Fluent has moved away from emphasizing performance metrics because AltVM market competition has become homogenized around performance. Instead of only boosting TPS, Fluent aims for long-term differentiation through cross-VM collaboration and unified execution environments.
Why is cross-VM composability entering market discussions?
Cross-VM composability is gaining attention due to ecosystem fragmentation and the expansion of AI agent scenarios. Complex on-chain applications may require simultaneous access to different execution environments, prompting developers to revisit unified execution layer strategies.
What is Fluent’s biggest current challenge?
Fluent’s main challenge is that blended execution is still in its early stages. Whether cross-VM demand can foster a sustainable developer ecosystem and real-world applications remains to be proven.
