Shardeum has unveiled its mainnet after a testnet phase that attracted more than 1.4 million participants from across the globe, setting a new record for Layer 1 testnet validator nodes.
According to the official press release sent to crypto.news, the EVM-based autoscaling network recently launched its mainnet after a month-long delay. Its testnet phase generated more than 171,000 physically-run public validator nodes, the highest number of validator nodes ever recorded on a Layer 1 testnet.
The protocol’s mainnet is designed to solve the “scalability trilemma,” which essentially allows global users and developers to maintain decentralization, scalability, and affordability without sacrificing a single aspect in favor of another.
The network is equipped with a unique ability to breakdown its workload into smaller parts, known as “shards,” which enables the project to ensure transaction validation run in parallel. Initially, the mainnet genesis will begin with 256 validators combining together to form two shards.
Due to its shard-like approach, the mainnet offers a number of features including the ability to run nodes in under one minute through a single-command install, without requiring participators to employ heavy hardware or a large stake. Moreover, Shardeum’s approach keeps gas fees as a minimum, remaining as low as $0.01, even when network congestion is high.
Upon launch, the mainnet will be support by a number of industry players including treasury operations firm PrimeVault, validator and operator service Mintair and airdrop and token vesting manager Tokensoft. The network is launching with more than 60 open-repositories along with an innovative validator accountability system that involves automatic rotation of consistently under-performing nodes.
Shardeum’s token distribution
Shardeum’s native token, SHM, will also be launched alongside its mainnet, with a total circulating supply of 249 million tokens. According to the project’s tokenomics, around 36.72% will go to the community token sale while 30.6% of the tokens will be allocated to the team. Both token distributions come with a 3-month cliff period and a two-year daily linear vesting timeline.
Meanwhile, 22.44% of tokens will go to the project’s foundation and will be unlocked during the token generation event. The same applies for 10.23% of tokens allocated to the ecosystem and airdrop distribution. The protocol’s token will be used for various on-chain functions, including governance, staking, and gas payments.
So far, SHM is set to be listed on major crypto exchanges including BitMart, CoinW and MEXC. On the other hand, the mainnet will be integrated into EVM-supporting wallets, such as MetaMask, OKX Wallet, and Trust Wallet.
Chief Technology Officer of Shardeum, Srini Parthasarathy said the launch of the project’s mainnet is not just a technical milestone, it is also proof that it is possible to solve what many deemed as the “blockchain trilemma,” which often resulted in a trade-off.
“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,” said Parthasarathy.
In the later half of 2025, Shardeum expects developers to start testing smart-contract functionality, followed by stable dApp deployments soon after.
As previously reported by crypto.news, Shardeum’s mainnet launch was originally slotted for April 15. However, it was eventually delayed to May due to unfavorable market conditions.
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