In today's rapidly evolving blockchain landscape, scalability remains one of the greatest challenges. Despite the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies and decentralized applications, high transaction fees and limited throughput have hindered their widespread adoption. Shardeum offers a groundbreaking solution to these issues. Its revolutionary technology provides unprecedented scaling capabilities for blockchain networks while maintaining decentralization and security.
Shardeum is an EVM-based Layer 1 blockchain that uniquely achieves network expansion through horizontal scaling by adding more nodes and supports the simultaneous processing of multiple transactions while maintaining permanently low transaction fees. By using dynamic state sharding and auto-scaling technology, Shardeum solves the fundamental limitations of existing blockchains in matching Web2 scalability. SHM is the native token of the Shardeum network, used to pay transaction fees, for staking validation, for governance participation, and for reward distribution.
Shardeum refers to the entire blockchain platform and its infrastructure, while SHM is the network's native cryptocurrency, similar to the relationship between Ethereum and ETH. SHM serves multiple functions in the Shardeum ecosystem, including acting as the primary medium of exchange, paying for transaction and gas fees, facilitating network governance, and providing staking and reward mechanisms for validators.
1)Dynamic State Sharding: Shardeum divides the network at the protocol layer into multiple shards, each processing transactions independently. Unlike traditional blockchains that process transactions sequentially on a single chain, Shardeum enables parallel transaction execution, significantly increasing network throughput while preserving atomic composability.
2) Auto-scaling Capability: As an industry first, Shardeum features auto-scaling that adjusts capacity based on real-time network demand. When transaction volume increases, Shardeum dynamically expands additional shards to handle the load, ensuring high performance without affecting speed or cost. The system measures network load every 60 seconds and automatically adjusts the number of validator nodes required.
3) Linear Scalability and Low Transaction Fees: By combining blockless transaction processing with dynamic state sharding, Shardeum achieves true linear scalability. For example, if 100 nodes deliver 50 TPS, then 200 nodes will deliver 100 TPS. Because of its auto-scaling, Shardeum maintains low network maintenance costs under any demand, consistently providing low fees for end users.
4) Cross-Shard Atomic Composability: Unlike many sharded networks, Shardeum retains the ability to call and link multiple smart contracts within a single transaction, even when these contracts are distributed across different shards. This provides a better user experience and lower transaction costs, allowing users to execute complex operations in one transaction.
5) EVM Compatibility and Low Validator NodeRequirements: Shardeum is based on EVM and is compatible with Ethereum's tools, wallets, and smart contract functionality. This compatibility allows developers to easily port Ethereum applications to Shardeum without needing to learn a new programming language or framework. Additionally, Shardeum reduces the hardware requirements for running validator nodes, enabling more community members to participate and enhancing decentralization.
Following the Token Generation Event (TGE) in early 2025, Shardeum adopted a dynamic responsive supply model with an initial supply of 249 million SHM, distributed as follows:
Sale: 91,440,000 SHM (36.72%) – 3-month cliff then 2-year daily linear vesting
Team: 76,200,000 SHM (30.6%) – 3-month cliff then 2-year daily linear vesting
Foundation: 55,880,000 SHM (22.44%) – Unlocked at TGE
Ecosystem & Airdrops: 25,480,000 SHM (10.23%) – Unlocked at TGE
SHM Token Functions in the Shardeum Ecosystem
Staking: Validators stake SHM to participate in the network. If a node misbehaves, the staked amount can be slashed to ensure network security.
Transaction Fees: SHM is used to pay for transaction and gas fees on the Shardeum network, with all fees being burned to create a deflationary mechanism.
Governance: SHM holders can participate in network governance by voting on proposals and changes to network parameters.
Rewards: SHM is distributed as rewards for network participation, including validator rewards and ecosystem incentives.
About Shardeum
Shardeum represents a breakthrough in blockchain technology, offering a solution to achieving scalability without sacrificing decentralization or security. Its ability to maintain consistently low transaction fees regardless of network congestion opens the door to previously impractical applications. As it progresses toward its mainnet launch, Shardeum stands poised to become a leading platform for next-generation decentralized applications – a truly scalable, secure solution supporting Web3's growth to billions of users.
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