Shardeum, the EVM-compatible L1 blockchain, has launched its mainnet after delaying a month over poor market conditions. The launch follows a testnet phase that saw significant participation, with over 1.4 million participants globally and more than 171,000 physically-run public validator nodes. At Shardeum, our mission is to build a scalable and cost-effective platform for all Web3 applications. They value 0 gas fees and an extensive validator penalization mechanism.

Shardeum’s mainnet genesis will start with 256 validators creating two shards. Like the rest of the Shardeum ecosystem, Shardeum’s gas fees will always remain low. Its aim is to keep fees at only $0.01, even during peak congestion on the network. The network is going live with over 60 open-source repositories already on Github. Additionally, it includes a novel validator accountability system that automatically rotates out the nodes that consistently underperform.

"Launching mainnet with a record-size grassroots validator set is exactly the kind of milestone that convinces us Shardeum will be the foundation for the next wave of Web3 applications." - Srini Parthasarathy

The project’s native token, SHM, has a total circulating supply of 249 million tokens. Token distribution includes 22.44% to the Shardeum Foundation that will be unlocked on the token generation event. SHM token distributions are subject to a 3-month cliff period and daily linear vesting over 2 years. The ecosystem and airdrop distribution is 10.23% of all tokens allocated. SHM is set to launch on top tier exchanges including BitMart, CoinW, and MEXC.

Looking forward, Shardeum expects it won’t be until the second half of 2025 that developers are able to start fully testing out their smart contract functionality. This staggered approach will ensure there’s time to test and refine what the network can do.