SHM Token

SHM is the ticker/currency symbol of Shardeum’s native token. 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 Functionality: Network participants can stake their SHM, increase the network’s overall security and earn rewards for their active participation
• Rewards: SHM is given as a reward for technical services, e.g. securing of the network via airdrop, ecosystem rewards and network participation
• Gas Functionality: 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

SHM trading is live on leading crypto exchanges including Bitget, Kucoin, LBank and MEXC. For full list of exchanges, please visit this webpage.

1. Trade, Deposit, or Withdraw on Exchanges: SHM is available on major centralized exchanges (CEXs) where you can buy, sell, deposit, or withdraw tokens. Some platforms also offer yield-generating services like staking or liquidity pools, managed by the exchange.
2. Transfer SHM Globally for Less Than $0.01: Use SHM for peer-to-peer transactions or cross-border payments. Transfers on the Shardeum network settle instantly, with transaction fees less than $0.01—regardless of the amount you transfer.
3. Withdraw to Self-Custodial Wallets: Withdraw SHM to wallets like MetaMask to take full control of your funds and experience the benefits of decentralization, such as censorship resistance and ownership without intermediaries.
4. Stake SHM and Run a Node: You can stake SHM directly from your wallet to run a validator node on Shardeum. The setup requires minimal hardware and offers a simplified user interface, allowing you to earn SHM rewards for securing the network.
5. Hold SHM as a Long-Term Asset: Choose to HODL SHM in your exchange account or self-custodial wallet. Since SHM is still newly listed, this is a great opportunity to accumulate the token at an early stage.

More use cases are on the way as we roll out new features and partnerships—leveraging Shardeum’s autoscaling infrastructure to deliver greater benefits to end users.

Any EVM-compatible wallet will work on Shardeum.

Initial supply: 249 million SHM

Distribution:

• Sale 91,440,000 SHM (36.72%) – 3 month cliff then 2 year daily linear vesting*
• Team 76,200,000 SHM (30.6%) – 3 month cliff then 2 year daily linear vesting
• Foundation 55,880,000 SHM (22.44%) – unlocked at Token Generation Event (TGE)
• Ecosystem & Airdrops 25,480,000 SHM (10.23%) – unlocked at TGE

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.

You can find the latest tutorials here. Advanced users can check our developer docs if needed.

Besides self-hosting, you can run your node using one-click setups, and VPS providers. However, please note that Shardeum does not endorse or take responsibility for any third-party services. Always Do Your Own Research (DYOR).

Thanks to its novel architecture and features — including dynamic state sharding, and autoscaling — Shardeum can process transactions efficiently without congestion or resource strain. As a result, the network maintains consistently low fees (under $0.01), regardless of demand.

Because Shardeum can scale linearly by adding more shards as new nodes join, it avoids the fee spikes common in other blockchains. This ensures transaction costs remain stable, predictable, and accessible for everyone—permanently.

SHM uses 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:

• Inflationary, when required to incentivize network growth and participation.
• Disinflationary, when issuance remains positive but at a declining rate over time, ensuring controlled
  expansion of the supply.
• Deflationary, when demand results in burning mechanisms reducing the circulating supply.

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.

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 concluded airdrops for our ecosystem and community members for the pre-mainnet period.  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 public token sale on March 19, 2025 that ran until May 4, 2025. The sale was open to early supporters and public from $0.66 to $0.90 per SHM. The community was enabled to participate with as little as $50 and up to $1 million.