Autonomys Network has officially activated Domains on mainnet!

This milestone introduces a new class of decoupled execution environments — beginning with the deployment of the Auto EVM Domain — that are secured by Autonomys’ consensus layer and optimized for scalability, specialization, and verifiability.

Auto EVM is now live and fully operational. Developers can deploy smart contracts and interact with the Domain using familiar tools like MetaMask, Foundry, and Hardhat.

What Are Domains?

Domains are decoupled execution environments that serve as native, sovereign Layer-2 chains, tightly integrated with Autonomys’ Proof-of-Archival-Storage (PoAS) consensus.

Unlike monolithic blockchains, where execution and consensus compete for the same resources, Domains offload computation to isolated environments. This architecture enables:

• Horizontal scalability
• Application-specific runtimes
• Permissionless Domain creation via a consensus-layer transaction

Each Domain inherits finality, transaction ordering guarantees, and data availability directly from the consensus layer, ensuring both performance and verifiability without sacrificing decentralization.

Roles and Responsibilities

Autonomys introduces a multi-role architecture that supports Domain execution and consensus with clearly separated responsibilities:

Farmers
Farmers commit SSD storage to store provably unique segments of blockchain history. They secure the consensus layer through PoAS, but do not participate in smart contract execution.

Operators
Operators execute transactions and run Domain virtual machines (e.g., Auto EVM). They:

• Register and stake $AI3 to join a Domain’s Operator Registry
• Compete in stake-weighted leader elections to produce Domain bundles
• Submit execution receipts and Domain bundles to the consensus layer
• Are slashable upon provable misbehavior

Operators are rewarded with execution and storage fees based on their work done for the network, which are automatically re-staked at each epoch transition.

Nominators
Any $AI3 holder can nominate trusted operators by staking to their pool. For more staking information, please visit: https://subspace.foundation/.

Auto EVM: The First Domain

Auto EVM is the first Domain deployed to mainnet and supports the Ethereum Virtual Machine runtime.

• Explorer: https://explorer.auto-evm.mainnet.autonomys.xyz/
• Tooling: Compatible with MetaMask, Foundry, Hardhat
• Token Support: $WAI3 (wrapped $AI3) now live for use in EVM-based DeFi and tooling
• Composability: Supports integration with Safe (multisig), Hyperlane-based bridge to Ethereum, and widely-used indexing tools

Auto EVM provides a familiar development experience while being backed by a fundamentally new and verifiable infrastructure.

Domain Lifecycle: From Creation to Execution

Each Domain follows a well-defined, permissionless lifecycle:

Domain Creation
A developer creates a Domain by submitting a single consensus-layer transaction, including the Domain runtime and its genesis configuration — defining parameters such as block size, weight, and bundle limits.

Operator Staking and Election
Registered operators enter the VRF-based leader election each time slot. Elected operators produce Domain bundles containing:

• A proof of election
• An execution receipt referencing the previous Domain block
• Valid extrinsics and associated storage fees

Bundle Verification and Inclusion
Farmer nodes verify and gossip valid bundles across the network. When a consensus block is produced, it includes as many Domain bundles as can fit.

Domain Block Execution
Operators build and execute Domain blocks. Extrinsics are deduplicated, grouped by sender, and cryptographically shuffled to minimize Maximum Extractable Value (MEV) opportunities before being executed. Execution receipts are submitted for verification.

Challenging Faulty Execution
If an invalid receipt is observed, any node can submit a fraud proof. If valid, the offending receipt is pruned, and responsible operators are slashed and risk being removed from the Operator Registry.
The challenge window is currently ~1 day (14,400 Domain blocks).

Fee Distribution
Once a Domain block is confirmed:

• Storage fees are partially refunded based on the actual storage utilized within each accepted Domain bundle
• Execution fees are pooled and split among eligible operators

Why This Matters

The launch of Domains and Auto EVM is a foundational leap forward for Autonomys:

• Modular Scaling: Each Domain scales independently, with no global bottleneck.
• Application Specialization: Builders can deploy chains with tailored runtimes and configurations.
• Verifiable Compute: All execution results are cryptographically validated via execution receipts and consensus inclusion.
• Economic Alignment: Incentives across farmers, operators, and nominators ensure long-term sustainability and trust.

This is the architecture needed to support next-generation workloads — whether DeFi, gaming, identity, or decentralized AI (deAI) agents — on a foundation designed from first principles to promote decentralization.

What’s Next?

With Domains now live:

• Developers can deploy to Auto EVM using existing, familiar EVM tooling
• Anyone can stake or nominate operators using $AI3
• Builders can begin designing custom execution environments tailored to specific use cases

The Autonomys Network is now a composable, horizontally scalable infrastructure stack — ready for the demands of AI3.0 and on-chain agents.

More Domains will emerge over time, each powered by the same permissionless and verifiable execution framework.

Explore: https://explorer.auto-evm.mainnet.autonomys.xyz/
Learn: https://academy.autonomys.xyz/autonomys-network/decoupled-execution/domains
Build: https://develop.autonomys.xyz/

For additional information on the Autonomys architecture, watch our 4-minute explainer video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jTBihUeq70

To learn more about and apply for a Subspace Foundation Grant, visit:
https://subspace.foundation/grants

About Autonomys

The Autonomys Network — the foundation layer for AI3.0 — is a hyper-scalable decentralized AI (deAI) infrastructure stack encompassing high-throughput permanent distributed storage, data availability and access, and modular execution. Our deAI ecosystem provides all the essential components to build and deploy secure super dApps (AI-powered dApps) and on-chain agents, equipping them with advanced AI capabilities for dynamic and autonomous functionality.

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