Shardeum is set to launch its mainnet on April 15. The protocol has revealed that it will be distributing the mainnet’s native token, SHM, on April 13.
This innovative network, built on the world’s first Ethereum (ETH) Virtual Machine-based autoscaling architecture, will officially debut its mainnet this month, alongside the release of the SHM token. The launch date was shared in a recent announcement on the protocol’s official social media account.
In their latest message, Shardeum stated that the mainnet launch is scheduled for April 15, 2025.
The upcoming mainnet has successfully navigated multiple testnet phases, including Alphanet “Liberty,” Betanet “Sphinx,” and the most recent incentivized testnet known as “Atomium,” as detailed on the project’s website.
Throughout the testnet phase, over 171,000 validators actively participated by running nodes, processing more than 81 million transactions in the process.
The mainnet’s launch is timed to occur just a day after the airdrop of SHM takes place. Users are informed that the second phase for airdrop registration will remain open from March 22 until April 13, 2025. Those who register prior to April 14 will have their airdropped tokens delivered on June 13, 2025.
According to a blog post from the project, Shardeum’s mainnet is designed to tackle the “scalability trilemma,” a challenge highlighted by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. This trilemma addresses the difficulty most blockchains face in balancing security, scalability, and decentralization simultaneously.
Shardeum argues that many blockchains tend to compromise on scalability to maintain security and decentralization. With its new mainnet built on an EVM framework, Shardeum aims to provide a fully autoscaling solution, enabling an increase in transaction capacity as more nodes join the network.
The mainnet will also feature Dynamic State Sharding. This functionality allows the network to divide its workload into smaller units or shards, facilitating parallel transaction validation. This innovative approach helps maintain lower gas fees while enhancing scalability.
Moreover, Shardeum promotes a decentralized and community-oriented approach, making it possible for nearly anyone to operate validator nodes. The lightweight requirements for nodes allow participation from individuals in emerging markets, thereby strengthening network security through a more widely distributed validator base.
