Hemi frequently mentions a term called "Supernetwork" in its documentation and promotions, claiming to connect the Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems. This term sounds much grander than "L2." However, as a researcher, I must peel back the marketing terminology to see the essence: what exactly is Hemi's so-called "Supernetwork" technically? What fundamental differences does it have compared to the various "cross-chain bridge aggregators" we currently use (such as Bungee or LayerZero)? Or is it just Hemi wrapping its own "Tunnels" functionality?
A 'super network' or 'interoperability layer', in my view, must possess the capability beyond 'asset transfer'. It must achieve 'cross-chain state awareness' and 'cross-chain logic invocation'. Most of the 'bridges' we currently use are essentially 'asset transfer' tools: you lock on chain A, I mint on chain B. In this process, the contract on chain B does not understand the state of chain A.
Hemi's core differentiation returns to hVM (Hemi Virtual Machine).
1. 'Tunnel' vs 'Traditional Bridge'
Let's first look at its 'tunnels'. As mentioned earlier, the biggest difference between Hemi's 'tunnel' and traditional bridges is 'trustlessness'. It does not rely on 'multi-signature witnesses', but rather on the collective operation of Hemi's PoS validators' 'L1 observers' (part of hVM) to verify L1 deposits.
This is an improvement in the security model, replacing the trust in 'witnesses' (possibly 5/9 multi-signature) with the consensus trust of the 'Hemi chain' (for example, 2/3 of PoS validators). This is indeed more fundamental than a 'bridge', and closer to the form of a 'network'.
2. The real 'super network': the cross-chain 'reading' capability of hVM
But this is still not enough to be called a 'super network'. The real killer feature is that hVM allows smart contracts on the Hemi chain to 'read' the state of L1. This is the fundamental difference between Hemi and all other L2s or bridges.
Do you understand? This smart contract on Hemi has become a 'cross-chain state aggregator'. It simultaneously reads the state of Bitcoin L1 (BTC balance, UTXO age) and the state of Ethereum L1 (ETH balance, NFT ownership), and then executes internal logic on the Hemi chain (L2) based on these external states.
This is the true meaning of a 'super network'! Hemi plays the role of an 'intermediate layer for cross-chain computation' or 'state oracle network'. It is no longer a simple L2; it has become an 'L1.5' that can 'schedule' and 'respond' to multiple L1 states.
3. Challenge: The limitations of this 'supercomputer'
This vision is very grand, but the technical challenges are also immense.
The latency and cost of reading: What will the gas fee be for that hVM.getBTCBalance(..., 6) call? Contract execution is synchronous, but the L1 state is asynchronous. Hemi must 'cache' the L1 state in its own hVM state for contracts to 'synchronously' query. The update frequency of this 'cache' (is it every Hemi block or every 10 minutes?) and security (how to handle L1 reorganization?) will be extremely complex.
The 'breadth' of reading: When hVM observes L1, does it only observe the balance, or can it parse out the entire state of BRC-20 and ERC-1155? How many L1s can it support? If it can only read BTC and ETH, then it is a 'dual-core network'. What if it wants to support Solana, Aptos? Do Hemi's validator nodes need to run an additional Solana node? The operational costs of this 'super network' will be sky-high.
I believe that Hemi's narrative of a 'super network' is not unfounded. Its technological foundation is the 'cross-L1 state reading' capability of hVM.
The fundamental difference from 'multi-bridge aggregation' is:
Multi-bridge aggregation is 'A chain asset' -> 'transit station' -> 'B chain asset'. Its core is 'assets'.
Hemi super network is '(A chain state + B chain state)' -> 'Hemi chain (hVM)' -> 'C chain (Hemi) new state'. Its core is 'state'.
What Hemi really wants to do may not be 'another L2', but to become the 'smart contract middleware' and 'state query layer' for all L1 chains. This story is much larger than simply being a BTC L2, but also much more challenging. Its success or failure will depend on whether the hVM 'cross-chain state reading engine' can find that delicate balance between security, cost, and efficiency.
