TL;DR From the Undefined Labs Interview with CEO Annabelle Huang

In a recent interview, Altius Labs’ CEO Annabelle Huang explained why the next generation of blockchain scalability won’t come from launching yet another L1 or L2, but from fixing the execution layer itself. Instead of spinning up new chains, Altius provides a high-performance execution layer that integrates into existing ecosystems, enabling them to scale with web2-grade speed, lower costs, and without fragmenting liquidity, tooling, or developer workflows.

The philosophy is simple: blockchains don’t need more blockspace - they need better compute.

Not Another Chain — A Modular Execution Layer for All Chains

Blockchain performance today is bottlenecked by how transactions are executed, not how they’re settled. Even with rollups, most ecosystems still rely on sequential execution, leading to:

• latency under load
• throughput ceilings
• rising infrastructure costs
• degraded UX
• poor developer experience

Altius takes a different approach. Rather than launching a competing chain, it offers a plug-and-play execution layer that can be embedded directly into:

• existing L1s
• Ethereum rollups
• appchains
• modular stacks

Ecosystems can instantly scale execution - without rewriting consensus, forking codebases, or migrating users and apps.

Parallel Execution for Real Workloads

Altius focuses on the execution bottleneck: the cost and compute required to run smart contracts.Its architecture introduces multi-threaded, parallel execution for smart contract workloads, including:

• instruction-level concurrency
• optimized state access
• efficient data read/write patterns

The result: dramatically improved performance using commodity hardware, not specialized machines - delivering scalability without centralization tradeoffs.

Built for a Modular, Multi-Chain Future

Annabelle argues that the future won’t be dominated by a few monolithic L1s.
Instead, ecosystems will combine modular components like Lego bricks:

• pick execution layer
• pick data availability layer
• pick consensus
• pick settlement

This shift enables app-specific chains without forcing teams to rebuild every layer of the stack. Altius positions itself as the execution layer powering that world - giving every chain top-tier performance, regardless of VM or environment.

Roadmap: From Engine to Network

The Altius vision unfolds in three stages:

1. Phase 1 - Engine:
   Build high-performance execution for major VMs, starting with EVM.
2. Phase 2 - Shared Layer:
   Horizontally integrate that performance into a shared execution layer powering multiple chains.
3. Phase 3 - Network:
   Decentralize it into an open execution network where validators contribute compute and earn incentives — enabling dynamic load balancing and shared infrastructure at scale.

The endgame: A global execution network powering the most performant blockchains, not by replacing them, but by upgrading them.

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Partnerships and Adoption

Altius is already working with:

• EVM-compatible L1s built on Cosmos
• Ethereum rollups
• modular infrastructure providers

As these integrations go live, developers and users, in Korea and worldwide, will benefit indirectly, you don’t need to “move chains” to experience the upgrade.

A Better Path to Scaling

Launching more rollups, sequencers, and blockchains often creates fragmentation.
Altius flips this dynamic:
make existing blockspace more performant.

Chains get:

• faster execution
• lower compute costs
• improved UX
• less fragmentation
• simpler developer lifecycle

Developers can finally build applications that behave like the internet - without wrestling with infrastructure limitations.

Want to Go Deeper?

Watch the full interview on the Altius Labs YouTube channel. We publish weekly breakdowns, AMAs, and technical explainers exploring the future of execution architecture, modularity, and multi-chain infrastructure.

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