- EVM developers migrating to Hedera: Understand key differences in Hedera’s architecture, tokenomics, and tooling, including ED25519 key management and native system contracts (introduced in HIP-632).
- Hedera-native developers adding smart contract functionality: Learn how EVM contracts interact with Hedera’s native services (HTS, HCS, HFS) and how to bridge both worlds.
High-Level Differences: Hedera vs. Ethereum
| Feature | Hedera | Ethereum |
|---|---|---|
| Consensus Mechanism | Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance (aBFT), Proof of Stake (PoS) | Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT), Proof of Stake (PoS) |
| Transaction Fees | Low and predictable fees | Variable gas fees; can spike during network congestion |
| Governance Model | Governed by the Hedera Governing Council, comprising leading global organizations | Decentralized; governed by the Ethereum community |
| Native Token | HBAR | ETH |
| Token Standard | ERC-20 and ERC-721 supported; Hedera Token Service (HTS) enables native token issuance and management without smart contracts | ERC-20 and ERC-721 |
| Network State | Virtual Merkle Tree | Merkle Patricia Trie |
| Historical Data | Off-chain mirror nodes provide access to historical data and state queries | On-chain stateRoot |
| Key Management | Supports ED25519 (Hedera-native accounts), ECDSA (secp256k1), and complex keys (keylist and threshold) | ECDSA (secp256k1) only |
| Network Upgrades | Proposed through HIPs; governed by the Hedera Governing Council; backward compatible, not forks | Proposed and implemented through EIPs |
Jumbo Ethereum Transactions
Hedera supports jumbo Ethereum transactions (introduced in HIP-1086), allowing largercallData payloads to be included directly in the ethereumData field of EthereumTransaction. This aligns Hedera’s EVM behavior more closely with Ethereum’s, enabling seamless deployment of complex contracts.
📣 To learn more, including size limits, gas calculation, and limitations, see the Ethereum Transaction SDK documentation.
Pectra Compatibility
Hedera adopts the applicable EIPs from Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade under HIP-1341, so Ethereum tooling that targets Pectra (Prague EVM execution layer) works on Hedera with no special handling:| Pectra capability | EVM-equivalent on Hedera | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| BLS12-381 precompiles (EIP-2537) | ✅ | Seven new precompiles at addresses 0x0b–0x11. Callable via call/staticcall exactly as on Ethereum. See Gas and Fees. |
| Calldata gas floor (EIP-7623) | ✅ | Same formula: 21000 + 10 × (zero_bytes + 4 × non_zero_bytes) floor. Most contract calls (where execution gas dominates) are unaffected. |
| EOA Code Delegation (EIP-7702) | ✅ | Hedera accepts Type 4 EthereumTransaction payloads carrying an authorization_list. Account delegation can additionally be configured via native HAPI (CryptoCreate / CryptoUpdate). See EOA Code Delegation and HIP-1340. |
| Blob transactions (EIP-4844, EIP-7691) | ❌ | Hedera does not support blobs (HIP-866). Type 3 transactions are rejected. Use jumbo EthereumTransactions for large payloads. |
Type 4 transactions and smart accounts
Type 4 transactions enable smart-account patterns (transaction batching, sponsored gas, session keys, privilege de-escalation) without migrating funds to a new contract wallet. The EOA’s address, balance, NFTs, and tokens stay put; only the execution is delegated to a contract’s code running in the EOA’s storage frame. Two important Hedera-specific behaviors apply:- HAS precedence. When an EOA has a code delegation set, calls whose 4-byte selector matches a Hedera Account Service facade function (
hbarAllowance,hbarApprove,setUnlimitedAutomaticAssociations) are routed to HAS and take precedence over the user’s delegation. - Account-type applicability. Only ECDSA accounts with a public-key-derived alias can configure delegation via Type 4 transactions (same rule as for submitting any Ethereum transaction). ED25519 accounts and ECDSA accounts with a long-zero alias must use the native HAPI path (
CryptoCreate/CryptoUpdate).
EVM Developers: What Changes on Hedera
The following topics cover the most common differences when coming from Ethereum:| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
| Hedera Account Model & Aliases | How Hedera’s account structure differs from Ethereum’s: ED25519 vs. ECDSA keys, dynamic key rotation, and aliases for EVM compatibility. |
| Decimal Handling | How to handle the difference between EVM’s 18-decimal standard and Hedera’s 8 decimals for accurate token calculations and conversions. |
| Key Rotation | Strategies for designing smart contracts that work with Hedera’s dynamic key rotation model. |
| HBAR Transfers | Explicit handling of HBAR in Solidity contracts for native token flows. |
| JSON-RPC Relay | How Hedera’s JSON-RPC relay differs from standard EVM RPC APIs. |