Hyperledger Blockchain Consortium Reveals Hybrid 'Sawtooth Ethereum' Tech

Ethereum developers could soon have another way to build enterprise-grade implementations of the open-source technology.

Revealed today on Hyperledger's website, a proof-of-concept called Sawtooth Ethereum, or "Seth" for short, has been completed. The proof-of-concept looks to enable the use of ethereum smart contracts on Hyperledger Sawtooth, Intel's addition to the Linux-led consortium's code.

And while the technological hybrid has technological implications, Brian Behlendorf, the executive director of Hyperledger, chose to describe it more broadly as a success for the consortium itself.

Behlendorf told CoinDesk:

"[Hyperledger] isn't just a collection of farm animals in one big barn. There really is a point to bringing these communities together and having them work out organically how they might sit on top of one another and be components into a broader architectural vision."

Other open-source frameworks within Hyperledger include Hyperledger Fabric, contributed by IBM; Hyperledger Iroha, contributed by Soramitsu; and Hyperledger Indy, contributed by the Sovrin Foundation.

Key collaborations

Elsewhere, there's other evidence to suggest Sawtooth Ethereum is proof that Hyperledger is growing organically in the way Behlendorf described.

Hyperledger Sawtooth’s interchangeable consensus mechanism enabled the platform to be more easily integrated with Burrow, Monax’s implementation of the ethereum virtual machine.

Because of this integration, ethereum developers with existing smart contracts are expected to be able to "transition their work to the Hyperledger Sawtooth platform" eventually, according to the blog post on the launch.

Monax co-founder, Casey Kuhlman, said in the post:

"Hyperledger Burrow has long been positioned to provide a core EVM that would then be utilized by other Hyperledger projects. This integration validates that positioning, and establishes a strong upstream-downstream relationship between the Sawtooth and Burrow projects."

Code image via Shutterstock