Who to Watch in the Next-Gen VM Race?

I stumbled upon a tweet by (@ayyyeandy) that got me really excited about the future of blockchain virtual machines. Here are some key players to watch:

• Fuel network: FuelVM & Sway language are set to go live on mainnet this summer, offering native account abstraction and a UTXO-based model.
• LUMIO: They are developing a modular VM abstraction framework that can bring Solana (and other VM) apps to different execution environments. Their testnet is already live.
• Fluent: Known for "blended execution," which combines the best aspects of different VMs in one place. More updates coming soon.
• Movement: MoveVM focuses on formal verification and enhanced security for users and builders. A public testnet should be available soon.
• Cartesi: They are integrating LinuxVM/Risc-V into blockchains with app-specific rollups. This is already live with ongoing experimentation.

Other noteworthy mentions include:

• Eclipse: SVM
• Arbitrum: Stylus
• Initia: PoL
• Berachain: Polaris EVM with PoL
• Dymension: Cosmos SDK PoS

To achieve the best outcomes, a combination of Solana’s parallelization and local fee markets, Ethereum’s security, Cosmos’s interoperability, and Aptos’ programmable security is essential. This must be executed in a state-minimized manner to prevent state bloat.

While I believe the EVM is here to stay, the innovation in the next-gen VM space is truly thrilling.

What are your thoughts on this?