EVM

The EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) is the software environment that runs smart contracts on Ethereum; chains that copy it are called EVM-compatible and can use the same wallets and addresses. ethereum.org describes the EVM as a decentralized virtual environment that executes code consistently and securely across all Ethereum nodes, using gas to measure the computational effort of each operation. Many other networks run the same environment: Blast calls itself an EVM-compatible optimistic rollup, and ethereum.org's layer 2 page lists OP Mainnet as EVM-equivalent.

For airdrop hunters the practical effect is that one wallet address works across EVM networks. ethereum.org's networks page notes that an Ethereum account works on different networks but its balance and transaction history do not carry over, so activity on one network says nothing about another. A leaked seed phrase, revoke.cash warns, exposes tokens across multiple chains at once.