Modulax vs ETH, Arbitrum, Optimism, Solana, BNB — A Developer's Perspective on Performance, Costs, and Future-Proofing

In today’s multi-chain landscape, developers face tough choices between performance, cost, and decentralization. Modulax was built to combine Ethereum-grade security with Solana-like efficiency, while staying future-proof with quantum-resistant cryptography. This article compares Modulax against Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Solana, and BNB, from a builder’s perspective.

Execution Time

Modulax matches Ethereum L1 in raw timing (~12s) while providing consistent behavior across transactions. Unlike rollups that rely on Ethereum finality, Modulax ensures immediate compute-state reflection. This is now live on mainnet.

Chain	Finality Time	Notes
Modulax	~12s	Direct onchain execution (Mainnet live)
Ethereum	12–15s block, minutes to finality	Highly secure but slower
Arbitrum	0.25s (optimistic), 7d finality	Rollup delays for settlement
Optimism	2s block, 7d withdrawal	Not instant finality
Solana	~0.4s block, ~2s finality	Fast but often unstable
BNB Chain	~3s	Centralized validators

Gas Fees

Modulax mainnet gas for standard ERC-20 mint was 21,000 gas with 8 wei price, leading to a cost of ~0.0000000000000168 MDX. This level is comparable to Solana but without requiring custom VM logic or specialized tooling.

Chain	Avg Tx Fee	Notes
Modulax	Near-zero	Mainnet values, comparable to Solana
Ethereum	$1–$50	Based on congestion
Arbitrum	~$0.01–0.1	Still tied to ETH gas
Optimism	~$0.01–0.1	Variable costs
Solana	~$0.00025	Lowest but centralization risk
BNB Chain	~$0.05–0.2	Low but less open infra

Architecture Comparison

Modulax uses a modular Golang client architecture, fully EVM-compatible, with libp2p networking and Proof-of-Stake consensus. Its roadmap includes Kyber/Dilithium post-quantum cryptographic primitives.

Chain	VM	Language	Consensus	PQ Support
Modulax	EVM	Golang	PoS	Planned (Kyber/Dilithium)
Ethereum	EVM	Geth/Go	PoW→PoS	No native PQ yet
Arbitrum	EVM Rollup	Various	Inherits ETH	No
Optimism	EVM Rollup	Various	Inherits ETH	No
Solana	Custom	Rust	PoH	No
BNB Chain	EVM	Geth	PoSA	No

Indexing & Wallet Integration

Modulax’s mainnet onchain output is clean and standard-compliant. Zerion picked up MDX automatically. A fully operational Blockscout instance indexes all internal transactions and smart contract metadata, validating infrastructure parity with leading L2s.

Tool	Modulax Support	Method
Blockscout	✅ Native Instance	Self-hosted explorer
Zerion	✅ Auto-indexed	No manual integration
Solscan	❌ N/A	Not EVM-compatible
BscScan	✅ Centralized	Forked from Etherscan

Developer Workflow (Modulax)

git clone https://github.com/Modulax-Labs/go-modulax.git
cd go-modulax
go build -o modulax ./cmd/modulax
./modulax run --network testnet

// Sample ERC-20 Token
contract MDX {
    string public name = "Modulax";
    string public symbol = "MDX";
    uint8 public decimals = 18;
    uint256 public totalSupply = 1_000_000_000 ether;
    mapping(address => uint256) public balanceOf;

    constructor() {
        balanceOf[msg.sender] = totalSupply;
    }
}

Mainnet TX: https://explorer.modulax.org/address/0xafF0CA253b97e54440965855cec0A8a2E2399896