SHM token is on its way as Shardeum eyes long-awaited mainnet debut following technical milestones and team changes.
Shardeum, the layer 1 blockchain project co-founded by WazirX founder Nischal Shetty, has officially scheduled its token generation event (TGE) for May 5, 2025. The announcement came via an Apr. 17 post on X, where the team confirmed that more details will follow regarding its token sale, SHM exchange listings, and a much-anticipated airdrop campaign.
The launch date brings renewed momentum to a project that has experienced multiple delays since its original timeline — a common hurdle in high-profile blockchain deployments.
April Launch Pushed Due to Market Sentiment
Earlier this month, Shardeum had communicated plans for an April 15 launch, but those were postponed to May due to what the team described as unfavorable market sentiment. On April 10, the project released an update explaining that while the technology stack was ready, a short delay would provide a stronger and more strategic entry into the market.
“The foundation is complete,” the team noted, “but timing is key in crypto — and we’re making sure we launch into strength, not uncertainty.”
Testnets Prove Shardeum’s Scalability Vision
Shardeum’s technical credibility has been built through a series of testnet rollouts — Liberty, Sphinx, and the incentivized Atomium testnet. These helped developers and early users validate performance under load and test real-world application scenarios.
The results were promising: Shardeum says the Atomium testnet handled over 81 million transactions and onboarded more than 171,000 validators, putting it among the most active testnets in the industry. These metrics suggest Shardeum is aiming for strong decentralization and high throughput from day one.
Team Restructures Amid Progress
However, progress hasn’t been without friction. As reported by The Economic Times, over the past year, several key personnel from the business and community-facing teams exited the company — a sign of internal restructuring during critical development stages.
Shardeum addressed these concerns by pointing to recent hires, most notably Srinivasan Parthasarathy, who joined as Chief Technology Officer, signaling a commitment to stronger leadership and technical oversight ahead of the mainnet launch.
Three-Stage Airdrop Campaign Begins
Shardeum also confirmed a three-phase airdrop program aimed at rewarding those who supported the network in its early stages. The first round will distribute 3.6 million SHM tokens to contributors from its development, validation, and community tracks.
Future phases will include rewards for participants in the Atomium testnet and the upcoming mainnet launch efforts, allowing long-term supporters to benefit directly from their contributions.
Tokenomics: Utility and Deflationary Design
The SHM token is set to power the Shardeum ecosystem through multiple roles — including gas payments, staking, and on-chain governance. A key highlight of the network’s economic design is that all transaction fees will be burned, reducing circulating supply over time.
The total token supply is capped at 508 million SHM, with more than 50% reserved for the community, emphasizing Shardeum’s decentralized-first approach to token distribution and ecosystem growth.
With May 5 now confirmed, Shardeum’s mainnet launch will be closely watched as one of the biggest layer 1 rollouts in 2025.
