Rome Protocol

Rome Protocol is an EVM execution layer built to run natively inside the Solana runtime. Rather than bridging between two separate chains, Rome creates a single shared state where EVM smart contracts and Solana programs coexist and interact directly. Solidity code deployed on Rome can call Solana programs via Cross-Program Invocations (CPI), and Solana programs can read from and write to EVM accounts without any bridge infrastructure or asynchronous synchronization.

Core Architecture

Rome's design rests on three core components:

Rome EVM is the execution engine. It processes Solidity contracts within Solana's validator network, inheriting Solana's block times (~400ms) and atomic finality. Contracts run on Solana's state machine rather than on a separate chain, meaning settlement is Solana L1 — not a separate rollup with its own validator set.

CPI Engine handles cross-environment calls. When an EVM contract calls a Solana program (SPL Token, Meteora, or any other on-chain program), the CPI Engine routes and executes that invocation atomically within the same transaction. There are no asynchronous message queues or optimistic assumptions.

Towers is the transaction ordering layer. It sequences incoming transactions and feeds them to the execution environment, supporting both atomic and iterative execution patterns.

For teams building Ethereum Layer-2s, Rome also exposes a shared sequencing model under components named Rhea (fair, blind first-come-first-served sequencing), Remus (atomic cross-rollup transactions as a premium service), Romulus (atomic operations spanning Solana and rollups), and Hercules (which accepts ordered blocks from Solana and delivers them to rollup clients).

What Developers Get

Rome supports standard Ethereum tooling out of the box — Hardhat, Foundry, viem, and MetaMask all work without modification. Developers can point existing Solidity projects at Rome's RPC endpoints and deploy unchanged.

Four integration pathways are defined:

1. EVM chains deploy Solidity contracts that atomically access Solana's DeFi ecosystem.
2. Solana programs become callable from EVM accounts, making existing Solana liquidity accessible to EVM developers.
3. Native dapps can build across both environments simultaneously from inception.
4. Any EVM chain can route through Rome to gain access to Solana markets.

Rome also offers app sovereignty: teams can launch isolated EVM chains with their own configurable gas token and fee revenue model, while still settling on Solana.

Live Networks and Applications

Rome operates two public test environments:

• Hadrian (devnet) — Chain ID 200010
• Martius (testnet) — Chain ID 121214

As of mid-2025, several applications were running on devnet: a fork of Compound v3, Aave v3, a custom decentralized exchange, Cardo (a Solana-program interface for EVM users), and Appia (a multi-chain access layer). Rome describes itself as "live software" at this stage. Mainnet launch was targeted for mid-2025, though the devnet/testnet framing persisted on official pages into 2026.

Team and Backing

Rome was co-founded by Anil Kumar and Sattvik Kansal and incorporated around September 2023. The project raised a pre-seed round led by Portal Ventures in January 2024, followed by a $9 million seed round announced in July 2024. The seed was led by Hack VC, with participation from HashKey Capital, Polygon Ventures, Bankless Ventures, Robot Ventures, P2 Ventures, LBank, Anagram, TRGC, and Perridon Ventures. Notable angel investors include Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, Austin Federa, Nick White, Santiago Santos, and Jason Yanowitz.

Positioning

Rome positions itself as a solution to two distinct problems: EVM-Solana fragmentation, and Ethereum rollup fragmentation. For the first, it eliminates bridges by making Solana the execution host for EVM code. For the second, it offers shared sequencing and data availability services — leveraging Solana's 50,000+ TPS capacity to give Ethereum Layer-2s a fast, low-cost ordering layer without their own validator overhead.

There is no native protocol token announced. Custom chains launched through Rome's sovereign chain feature can designate any token as the gas asset.

No security audits are publicly listed in Rome's official documentation or on the project website.