Shardeum Token Sale is Live! Get Early Access to SHM
The native token on Shardeum is Shard and has SHM as its ticker symbol. SHM is the foundational monetary unit of Shardeum and serves a wide range of functions. Each SHM is divisible to 18 digits, similar to ETH on the Ethereum network.
SHM is a utility token with various uses, including:
● Staking: Network participants can stake their SHM, increase the network’s overall security and earn rewards for their active participation
● Governance: SHM is a governance token conferring stakers governance rights, allowing them to decide and vote on the future of the network. Shardeum will not use a 1 token 1 vote system
● Reward Token: SHM is given as a reward, for example: via airdrop, ecosystem rewards and network participation
● Gas Token: SHM is a gas token allowing network users to pay fees to execute the required compute units for transactions and other more complex transactions involving smart contracts on the network
● Transaction Fee Burning: All transaction (tx) fees on Shardeum are burned, allowing the network to remove the SHM from the circulating supply
● User Staking: We are considering the possibility of users staking during deflationary periods. Since Shardeum is not based on Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS), there are no delegation pools
Shardeum is launching mainnet on May 5, 2025.
SHM tokens are being sold only through official Shardeum channels. Please rely exclusively on information shared via our official website, blog, newsletter, and verified social media accounts. If someone claims to sell SHM tokens on behalf of Shardeum outside these platforms, it is likely a scam.
Always verify and double check links and announcements directly from our website to protect yourself. If you come across any suspicious activity, please report it immediately—especially via our official Discord channel.
As of March 10, 2025, Shardeum has adopted a dynamic supply model, similar to leading Layer 1s like Ethereum. At the Token Generation Event (TGE), an initial supply of 249 million SHM will be allocated for the foundation, team, sales, and ecosystem & airdrops. Post-mainnet, new SHM will be minted solely for node rewards, based on network security needs and staking participation.
Depending on network demand and economic factors, issuance can at any time be:
This flexible supply mechanism ensures that token issuance aligns with optimal economic conditions, promoting a balanced and efficient ecosystem. Shardeum’s tokenomics have been designed for controlled issuance, where scarcity increases
over time due to transaction fee burning and validator slashing, while maintaining sustainable validator
incentives.
You can write to invest@shardeum.org. Do include as much info and background as possible.
As noted in this blog, Shardeum is serious about decentralization from the get go and we had decided to raise funds across a large number of ECA participants and angels. Our goal here is to maximize the distribution of SHM and not to have a select few participants owning a majority of tokens. Our cap table so far includes diverse global institutional, VCs and angels that are motivated to help us build Shardeum and grow the Web3 ecosystem.
We also have already started our process to allocate airdrops for our ecosystem and community. All these factors along with SHM’s dynamic supply model are designed to make SHM not only scarce but also highly decentralized.
Further, Shardeum launched its token sale on March 19, 2025 that will run until May 4, 2025 – one day before mainnet launch. The sale is open to early supporters and public from $0.66 to $0.90 per SHM (which is much lower than our token sale reference price of $1.41). Individual users can participate with as little as $50 till $1 million. This presents a valuable opportunity for nearly anyone to accumulate SHM at early-stage, favorable pricing ahead of mainnet launch.
Yes, some fixed amount of SHM will be required to be staked (and could be slashed for misbehaving) to become a validator. However Shardeum’s low hardware requirement, and reasonable staking requirement will gradually democratize the process of operating a node on blockchain.
As of March 10, 2025, Shardeum has adopted a dynamic supply model, similar to leading Layer 1s like Ethereum. At the Token Generation Event (TGE), an initial supply of 249 million SHM will be allocated for the foundation, team, sales, and ecosystem & airdrops. Post-mainnet, new SHM will be minted solely for node rewards, based on network security needs and staking participation. Shardeum is designed to scale horizontally while maintaining its decentralization and security, necessitating a consistent and reliable number of nodes. To ensure the network can scale effectively when needed, it is crucial to maintain reasonable incentives for these nodes. Removing a fixed cap on node rewards enables the network to reward node operators forever – although of course we have designed our model to become deflationary over time through burning.
Additionally, we’ve announced our SHM airdrop campaign for Phases 1 and 2. Phase 1 is dedicated to our early contributors, who have played a crucial role in Shardeum’s growth since its announcement on February 2, 2022. Phase 2 is designed for incentivized testnet participants. We’ve just published a blog detailing both phases, including eligibility criteria, the registration process, important deadlines and how to claim your rewards.
Further, Shardeum launched its token sale on March 19, 2025 that will run until May 4, 2025 – one day before mainnet launch. The sale is open to early supporters and public from $0.66 to $0.90 per SHM (which is much lower than our token sale reference price of $1.41). Individual users can participate with as little as $50 till $1 million. This presents a valuable opportunity for nearly anyone to accumulate SHM at early-stage, favorable pricing ahead of mainnet launch.
We have future airdrop campaigns planned post-mainnet, with approximately 19 million tokens reserved for distribution.
Initial supply: 249 million SHM
Distribution:
Tokenomics/Issuance Policy:
It is important to note that Shardeum tokenomics has to be unique like the network itself since it scales linearly with the help of standby nodes concept. As of March 10, 2025, Shardeum has adopted a dynamic supply model, similar to leading Layer 1s like Ethereum. At the Token Generation Event (TGE), an initial supply of 249 million SHM will be allocated for the foundation, team, sales, and ecosystem & airdrops. Post-mainnet, new SHM will be minted solely for node rewards, based on network security needs and staking participation. Shardeum is designed to scale horizontally while maintaining its decentralization and security, necessitating a consistent and reliable number of nodes. To ensure the network can scale effectively when needed, it is crucial to maintain reasonable incentives for these nodes. Removing a fixed cap on node rewards enables the network to reward node operators forever – although of course we have designed our model to become deflationary over time through burning.
ULT will continue to coexist with SHM. To those who are unaware, Shardus will serve as the protocol layer of Shardeum and it has been in active development since at least 2017. The Shardeum project will obtain a license for the Shardus software by allowing Shardus token (ULT) holders to claim 1% of the 249m supply in proportion to the Shardus tokens they hold. The founders and several members of the team hold Shardus tokens.
