WazirX Founder Launches Shardeum – A New Scalable Blockchain

Founder of India-based crypto exchange WazirX, Nischal Shetty, has announced the launch of a new blockchain called Shardeum to compete with both Ethereum and Solana. 

New Multi-Chain Blockchain 

The Shardeum blockchain is going to be one of the first layer-one blockchains being built out of India. According to Shetty, Shardeum will be focused on providing scalability solutions along with lowering transaction fees. Additionally, the new blockchain will focus more on maintaining a high level of decentralization that is absent in most blockchains of today, according to Shetty. 

The Shardeum blockchain will be EVM compatible. This will ensure that apps built on other blockchains can be easily transferred to it. 

Shetty pointed out –

“I think as you go deeper, you’ll realize it’s going to be a multi-chain universe. I want to make sure that for anyone who’s looking for a decentralized scalable blockchain, Shardeum is the answer.”

A Sharding Blockchain

This blockchain is based on the concept of sharding, which is the breaking down of a network into multiple pieces such that each shard can execute transactions. This creates a faster network as more and more systems can join in to create more shards. 

Talking about the core of the Shardeum blockchain, Shetty said,

“If you are looking at 200 million people today in crypto worldwide, this will go to a billion people in the future. There is no way the existing blockchains will be able to support that. Sharding is a known solution to solve this problem, which is what Shardeum is built on.”

Raising Capital

The Shardeum blockchain has been bootstrapped by Shetty and Omar Syed, who had started building the network in 2017. Shetty has been in touch with him over the project since 2019, and only recently joined as a cofounder. The duo is planning funding around April and launching the beta in Q3 of 2022. The blockchain itself will be opened for public use by the end of the year. The initial development of the blockchain will be funded by capital collected by selling a portion of the native token SHARD to private investors. A nonprofit organization will oversee the project, which will be detailed in an upcoming white paper. 

Going Forward

Despite being deeply involved in both Shardeum and WazirX, Shetty has declared that the two projects are not related in any way. He has also clarified that he will continue working for both, with his priority at the moment being Shardeum. 

The recent announcement of the 30% crypto tax in the 2022 Budget Speech has given industry players legitimacy and a much-needed regulatory framework. Based on what WazirX reported last year and the legalization of crypto as an asset class, the industry will be booming in India. A sharding-based EVM-compatible blockchain will most likely pull in sufficient investors. 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.