2025: The Year Shardeum Mainnet Went Live
Shardeum’s 2025 journey from testnet to mainnet - covering the token-only launch, EVM smart contracts, governance milestones, and community-led...
Shardeum’s 2025 journey from testnet to mainnet - covering the token-only launch, EVM smart contracts, governance milestones, and community-led...
Some years mark progress. Others mark permanence.
For Shardeum, 2025 was the year the L1 network crossed from preparation to reality. From community-driven testnets to a live mainnet, from governance at scale to India’s hunger for on-chain footprint, this was the year Shardeum became real.
What follows is a look back at the milestones that defined Shardeum in 2025 – and the people who made it possible.
The foundation for mainnet was laid early in the year with the conclusion of Atomium Incentivized Testnet 4. By the end of the incentivized testnet, the network had processed over:
From developers and node operators to everyday community members, all played an active role in shaping the network’s journey to mainnet launch.
And then, it happened.
Shardeum’s token-only mainnet went live on May 5, 2025 – marking a historic moment for the ecosystem. Named Golden Gate by the community, this milestone validated the vision by delivering low fees and unprecedented validator accessibility. In the token-only network,
Alongside mainnet, SHM – Shardeum’s native token – began trading across major exchanges. By December 7, SHM had crossed $327.7 million in cumulative CEX trade volume, reflecting strong market participation and liquidity.
The launch was celebrated through Shardeum’s flagship Proof of Community events, held live across the globe. Across 63 cities in 18 countries, the community came together through meetups, watch parties, and grassroots events – reinforcing a core belief that has guided the project from day one: Community is the CEO of Shardeum!
Soon after, Shardeum reached an important regulatory milestone with formal acknowledgement under the European Union’s MiCA framework. In an industry where regulatory clarity is still emerging, this marked an important step toward long-term legitimacy and global readiness.
Ahead of the smart contract launch, Shardeum introduced a focused four-day EVM Testnet Quest to onboard builders and stress-test EVM functionality. In just a few days:
With this foundation in place, Shardeum launched its EVM-compatible smart contract network on an unsharded architecture, integrating open-source EVM software to accelerate adoption and ecosystem liquidity.
Shardeum’s EVM roadmap is intentionally phased and metrics-driven. Phase 1 focuses on onboarding 10 million users, primarily in India – the world’s largest untapped on-chain market. Phase 2 will bring Shardeum’s core innovations to market, scaling its network for global adoption.
Driving adoption in a market like India takes two parts: a reliable network and a token people can actually use with ease. The EVM delivers the first; the SHM token split delivers the second. On October 6, 2025, we invited the community to vote on redenominating SHM supply from 249 million to 60 billion. 85% of the community voted in favor of redenomination.
The 1:240 redenomination increased the token count and adjusted the per-token price without changing overall supply for improved affordability, stronger retail participation, and better alignment with fast-growing markets like India.
As a Proof-of-Stake network committed to decentralization, Shardeum launched its Delegation Program to enable broader community participation. The response exceeded expectations. Within just two weeks:
The numbers reflected more than participation. They reflected trust – capital committed voluntarily by community members to secure the network.
Shardeum’s Proof of Community initiative reached a major milestone in 2025 – crossing its 500th meetup globally. Proof of Community 2025 at a glance:
From campus tours and workshops to hackathons and coffee meetups, the India On-Chain Tour further brought students, developers, and creators together – laying the groundwork for India’s Web3 decade.
Shardeum’s growth in 2025 was powered by its community, and that contribution was recognized through multiple airdrop programs.
In total, over $20,000 was awarded across contests and campaigns, supported by more than 3700 community contributions - including Shardeum Ambassadors.
In 2025, the Super Shardian initiative evolved into a full-fledged Ambassador Program – bringing together creators, developers, translators, moderators, narrators, and community leaders.
Program performance on X (Twitter) within the first month:
Shardeum’s progress did not go unnoticed. In 2025, the project was featured across 159 media stories, including coverage by Economic Times, Fortune India, Business Line, YourStory, Yahoo Finance, 99Bitcoins, Analytics Insight, CoinPasar, and more.
2025 was the year Shardeum launched. 2026 will be the year India builds on-chain.
The roadmap ahead includes:
Backed by its community, delegator economy, and smart contract functionality, Shardeum is ready to bring millions of new users to Web3. You can now partner with Shardeum by clicking the button below, gain direct access to its massive community, and capture first-mover advantage in India with a scalable Layer 1 blockchain.
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