2023: Shardeum Becomes a Powerhouse in The Year of Sphinx

2023 has been an eventful and vibrant year for Shardeum. Kicking off the year by hosting the world’s first Web3 event on a moving train certainly set the tone for a year brimming with community-driven initiatives. From organizing unique events to building a thriving ecosystem with over 150 projects, Shardeum’s journey has been marked by relentless progress and unwavering commitment to the community.

Here’s a glimpse into Shardeum’s remarkable achievements in 2023:

Shardeum Evolving Into a Powerhouse

Shardeum’s Alphanet ‘Liberty’ transitioned into Betanet ‘Sphinx’ after witnessing over 1.5 million transactions and 45,000 smart contracts. Sphinx launch garnered an overwhelming response, with over 2,500 people joining the live event as Shardeum trended on Twitter, marking the beginning of a series of noteworthy accomplishments. The network exploded with over 5,000 community-run nodes within days.

Tech Roadmap For Success

Upholding our commitment to democratize node operation, we launched a low-hardware-requirement GUI (and CLI), simplifying node operation to just a few clicks by average users. This innovation led to a peak of over 35,000 validators earlier this year, with the network consistently supported by tens of thousands of validators. We also began open-sourcing our codebase starting with Shardeum Validator. We are working to complete open-sourcing the entire protocol codebase by the time we launch the mainnet.

We launched an MVP version of Shardeum’s Tokenomics Dashboard. Given Shardeum’s unparalleled ability to scale linearly among other unique capabilities, we devised an issuance policy distinct from any seen before that ensures there’s always an equilibrium level of SHM supply (less than the maximum supply), low transaction fees forever, and profitability for validators irrespective of the bull and bear market. Moreover, the launch of Sphinx Dapp, a new, parallel testnet dedicated to developers and users – aside from the Sphinx Validator network  – highlighted the network’s potential for Dapp deployments at scale, particularly for those that demand exceptionally high TPS. 

We also released a comprehensive tech roadmap to provide transparency and clarity to the community in our path toward the mainnet launch. Shardeum Whitepaper’s launch in November signaled an encompassing and visionary blueprint for the network’s future.

Community At The Heart of Everything

Shardeum kicked off the year with the first Proof Of Community (POC) meetup on a train! Throughout the year, the community remained the driving force, with over 240 Proof of Community events organized in 9 countries across the globe, from India to Nigeria to New York City. Almost 310 contributors helped organize these events which witnessed over 15,000 attendees.

(Auto)Scaling New Heights

Shardeum’s commitment to scalability and decentralization shone through in its impressive testnet metrics. As of today, the Shardeum testnet network boasts over 35,000 validators at its peak, 549,000 smart contracts, and 5 million transactions, and arguably the largest permissionless testnet ever!

Shardeum Building a Borderless Web3

Our ‘Shardeum is Borderless’ initiative empowered the global community to contribute to the project in their native languages. Over 1000 blogs and video submissions in 35+ languages poured in from 45+ countries, solidifying Shardeum’s commitment to inclusivity. Shardeum boasts a diverse team of 59 members spanning across 9 countries and over 2,000 contributors from 70 countries.

Shardeum Secures Strategic Funding

Shardeum successfully raised a strategic round of $7.2 Million at a valuation of $248.9 Million from almost 50 ECA participants across 9 countries, demonstrating confidence in its vision for an accessible and scalable Web3 ecosystem.

Empowering the Next Generation

Initiatives like the “POC Backpacking India” and partnerships with LearnWeb3 DAO equipped thousands of students with the knowledge and resources to navigate the Web3 space through workshops on blockchain fundamentals and smart contract deployment among others.

The year concluded with India’s largest Proof of Community event and the launch of the Born to Build #ShardHat campaign, showcasing Shardeum’s commitment to nurturing talent and innovation. Throughout 2023, Shardeum’s guiding principles of openness, collaboration, and community empowerment shone brightly. 

With 2024 knocking at the door, Shardeum stands poised for an even brighter future. The mainnet launch, now on the horizon, marks the culmination of the team’s dedication and the community’s unwavering support. Shardeum’s commitment to OCC remains its guiding light, paving the way for a truly decentralized and accessible Web3 for everyone. Here’s to a year of exceptional growth and an even more extraordinary 2024 for the Shardeum ecosystem!

Join the Shardeum community and be part of the revolution:

• Website: https://shardeum.org/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/shardeum
• Telegram: https://t.me/shardeum
• Discord: https://discord.gg/shardeum
• Newsletter: https://shardeum.org/newsletter/

Let’s build a borderless and decentralized future together!

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