Upgrading a Nation: How Liberland Became EVM-Compatible Without a Relaunch

About the Client

Our client is Liberland, a self-proclaimed virtual country aiming to build an independent, transparent, and decentralized government system. Liberland operates at the intersection of governance and blockchain technology, striving to define all its administrative rules and citizen interactions on-chain.

We began working with Liberland three years ago, establishing a custom blockchain to support their national infrastructure. Currently, our collaboration continues on a project basis, with each initiative adding new capabilities to the evolving platform.

The latest project arose from a key limitation: Liberland's existing blockchain is Substrate-based and incompatible with Ethereum Virtual Machines (EVMs). To improve interoperability with broader Web3 ecosystems, Liberland sought to evolve their chain to support EVM compatibility.

The Business Landscape

The broader blockchain ecosystem is increasingly centered around Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility. EVMs are the most widely adopted and interconnected blockchain environment, serving as the foundation for countless decentralized applications and multi-chain integrations.

In this context, Liberland's existing Substrate-based blockchain was becoming a constraint. As the country planned new Web3-driven services and partnerships, EVM compatibility emerged as a strategic requirement—not just a technical preference.

The need was amplified by external pressure: Liberland's vision of a decentralized but globally connected digital nation was at odds with its isolated infrastructure. A key example was its partnership with Tron, an EVM-based blockchain. Seamless collaboration with Tron and other ecosystem partners required moving toward an EVM-compatible architecture.

The Challenge

The upgrade to EVM compatibility had to be performed on a live blockchain, which significantly raised the technical stakes. Liberland's chain was already operational—supporting national infrastructure and financial systems—so introducing EVM support couldn't follow a typical greenfield approach.

Although Frontier is production-ready in many cases, it isn't designed to be used when a blockchain is already live. In Liberland's case, it couldn't simply be plugged in; integrating it required numerous upstream modifications to ensure compatibility with the existing Substrate codebase.

To make matters more complex, there was limited guidance—no well-documented paths for post-launch EVM upgrades. This project became a hybrid of development and R&D, involving significant exploration into what was technically feasible and how to implement it safely. With Liberland's core systems and token economy on the line, ensuring security and continuity, especially around token transfers, was absolutely critical.

The Solution

Our role was to identify and implement the most reliable, forward-compatible method of adding EVM support to an already-live blockchain—without disrupting any existing data, rules, or functionality. After evaluating several options, we chose to integrate Frontier, adapting the Liberland blockchain's codebase to make it fully EVM-compatible while preserving the integrity of all historical transactions and blocks.

One of the core challenges we tackled was the mismatch between Substrate and EVM account formats: Substrate uses 32-byte addresses, while EVM operates with 20-byte addresses. This required thoughtful design to bridge the two formats securely.

Additionally, because the upgrade occurred post-launch, we had to simulate an EVM genesis block that could be recognized by third-party tools and platforms—a non-trivial task given that most such tools assume the EVM genesis exists from the start.

This was by far the most extensive upgrade since Liberland's blockchain was launched, with over 20,000 lines of new code. Ensuring nothing broke—and that all original protocols remained enforced—was mission-critical.

The upgrade was delivered in just two months by a small but deeply experienced team of two Substrate/Polkadot experts. Their tight collaboration and deep domain expertise were essential to navigating this technically delicate transformation.

The Results

The successful upgrade unlocked a new phase of growth and interoperability for Liberland. By enabling full EVM compatibility, the blockchain is now open to seamless integration with the vast ecosystem of EVM-based tools, platforms, and applications—from DeFi protocols and wallets to governance frameworks and smart contract platforms.

While measurable business outcomes will take time to materialize, the strategic value is immediate and substantial. Liberland can now adopt or collaborate with existing EVM protocols out of the box, without requiring any changes to their codebases. This drastically reduces integration friction and opens the door to a wide range of innovation, public services, and partner-driven initiatives.

For decision-makers, the business case is clear: this upgrade transformed Liberland's blockchain from an isolated infrastructure into a fully interoperable digital nation, ready to plug into the global Web3 economy.

Conclusion

This project illustrates that even a live Substrate-based blockchain can evolve toward full EVM compatibility—if you have the right team and mindset. While Substrate offers flexibility, it also introduces significant constraints, especially when modifying a chain post-launch. Overcoming those constraints demands deep technical expertise and a willingness to navigate undocumented territory.

The decision to align with EVM standards was not just technical—it was strategic. EVM has become the de facto standard in blockchain development, and embracing it allowed Liberland to instantly tap into a broader ecosystem of tools, protocols, and partnerships.

For digital governments or anyone building blockchain-based infrastructure, the key lesson is clear: mainstream compatibility can accelerate adoption, reduce integration overhead, and open up new possibilities faster than trying to go it alone.