There is plenty of innovation in the Web3.0 ecosystem, with protocols like Shardeum looking to make a difference. Shardeum brands itself as an EVM-based autoscaling blockchain that can bring decentralization to everyone.
In reality, attaining scalability, decentralization, and speed is the trilemma most protocols try to solve. BGECrypto interviewed Chris Chabot, the VP of Developer Relations at Shardeum, to uncover how the blockchain hopes to solve this trilemma and compete in the highly competitive Layer-1 ecosystem.
BGECrypto: Please give our readers a brief overview of your background, experiences, and how you joined the Shardeum team.
Chris: I joined Shardeum in 2023 as Vice President of Developer Relations. I was initially intrigued by Shardeum due to its prioritization of enabling participation, from its open-source ecosystem, ease of running and staking a node, and low transaction fees. As a key player on the development team, it’s clear that Shardeum stays true to its values and remains passionate about fostering a decentralized future for everyone.
Throughout my career, I have built and led product and developer teams, including serving as the Head of International Developer Relations at Twitter and holding leadership roles at Google focused on developer platforms, and building out developer platforms at Memgraph, Senbird, and R3.
Driven by a passion for societal change through technological innovation, I have advised numerous startups and shared my insights as a speaker at various industry conferences and events.
BGECrypto: What are you trying to achieve with Shardeum, your current advances and limitations?
Chris: Ultimately, our goal with Shardeum is to make decentralization accessible to everyone, moving blockchain from a niche technology to an everyday tool that empowers people and businesses. We aim to achieve this by creating a scalable, low-cost, and easy-to-use platform while also leading educational initiatives to bring more people into the Web3 space. Shardeum’s unique linear scalability ensures that as demand grows, the network’s capacity increases proportionally, maintaining high performance and predictable fees even during peak usage.
Right now, we are very focused on ensuring our network operations are as efficient, secure and seamless as possible ahead of Mainnet, but once Mainnet is achieved, we can then shift gears to expanding our community even further and using our technology to create a decentralized future for all.
BGECrypto: Sharding is a concept that has been introduced previously in blockchain technology. How does Shardeum’s sharding implementation differ from that of Ethereum 2.0 or other blockchain platforms like Zilliqa?
Chris: Sharding, as a concept, is not new in blockchain, but Shardeum’s approach is unique compared to Ethereum 2.0 or Zilliqa. In Shardeum, sharding is applied dynamically and at the transaction level, meaning that each transaction is assigned to a specific shard, avoiding the need for cross-shard communication in most cases.
This approach allows Shardeum to scale linearly with the addition of more nodes, whereas Ethereum 2.0 utilizes beacon chain sharding, which introduces more overhead as new shards require synchronization across the network. Zilliqa, on the other hand, assigns entire transactions to shards in a static manner, which can still face bottlenecks as demand increases. Shardeum’s architecture focuses on minimizing latency and maximizing throughput by implementing state sharding that dynamically adapts to network conditions.
BGECrypto: Shardeum relies on the Proof-of-Quorum (PoQ) consensus mechanism. Can you discuss how this can solve validator manipulation or centralization risks?
Chris: Proof-of-Quorum (PoQ) is designed to mitigate the risks associated with validator manipulation and centralization by leveraging quorum-based decision-making. In PoQ, a consensus is reached when a majority, or a “quorum” of nodes, agree on the validity of a transaction, making it difficult for any single entity to influence the process.
The system randomly assigns validators to transactions, which further reduces the chances of collusion. Additionally, validator rewards are designed to incentivize a diverse and decentralized node network, ensuring that even small nodes can participate meaningfully, unlike in some traditional Proof-of-Stake systems where larger stakes may lead to dominance.
BGECrypto: Auto-scaling is one of Shardeum’s key features. Can you explain the technical intricacies behind auto-scaling in blockchain and how Shardeum manages potential bottlenecks in data synchronization across shards?
Chris: Shardeum’s auto-scaling capability allows it to adjust the number of active nodes based on network demand, automatically expanding the network when transaction volume increases and contracting during low traffic. This elasticity is achieved by dynamically creating and merging shards.
To manage potential bottlenecks in data synchronization, Shardeum employs an efficient state synchronization mechanism that ensures that only the necessary data changes are propagated across shards, rather than replicating entire states. Additionally, Shardeum uses a technique called “blockless architecture” that avoids traditional block-based processing delays, allowing for real-time validation and faster finality even in a multi-shard environment.
BGECrypto: The Mainnet launch is a critical point for any blockchain project. What steps is Shardeum taking to ensure the network’s security and stability post-Mainnet launch, and how are potential bugs or attacks mitigated before that stage?
Chris: Ahead of Mainnet, we have already launched 2 Bug Bounties and we are currently on Stage 3 of our Incentivized Testnet (ITN). These steps have allowed participants to stress-test the network and flag any vulnerabilities. They have both gone extremely well and we are excited to see so much progress being made, especially on the security front.
Post-Mainnet, security will still be a top priority to ensure the safety and integrity of the network, and we will continuously test the network for vulnerabilities through community engagement. Of course, our own tech team will also continuously monitor for any issues as any other network would.
BGECrypto: What potential legal or regulatory safeguards are in place for the SHM token and the decentralized nature of its validator network?
Chris: The SHM is regulatory-compliant in Switzerland as a utility token where its Foundation is based and is fully regulatory-compliant as per MiCA (EU) US legal opinion has been granted and is available on request.
In addition, there is a file that defines a list of one time genesis accounts and what value they will start with. The first node will create these accounts as starting data for the network and this data is also sent to archivers, making this entirely transparent and inspectable. Additional tokens are created later by the network as active nodes earn rewards.
BGECrypto: Given that Shardeum is EVM-compatible, how does it plan to compete with other EVM-based chains regarding developer adoption and dApp migration?
Chris: Shardeum’s EVM compatibility ensures that developers can deploy existing Ethereum-based dApps with minimal changes, making migration straightforward. However, Shardeum goes beyond just compatibility by focusing on offering superior scalability and lower costs. Its auto-scaling capabilities ensure that transaction throughput increases as the network demand rises, providing a consistent, high-performance environment for dApps even during peak usage.
What this means is that dApps will be able to transact faster, and cheaper than ever before, greatly expanding the total addressable market and utility, fueling their business growth.
Additionally, Shardeum’s approach to sharding and transaction-level processing allows developers to optimize performance while benefiting from lower fees than many other EVM chains. By providing comprehensive developer resources, tooling, and grants, Shardeum is actively cultivating an ecosystem that goes beyond technical compatibility, making it an attractive option for developers seeking a scalable, affordable, and user-friendly platform.
BGECrypto: Shardeum focuses on offering low transaction fees. In high-demand situations, how does Shardeum ensure that transaction fees remain low, and what does the protocol do differently to mitigate fee spikes?
Chris: Shardeum’s design prioritizes keeping fees low by using a linear scaling approach, where additional nodes are automatically added to handle increased demand. This elasticity prevents network congestion that could otherwise drive up transaction fees. By scaling transaction processing power in real-time, Shardeum reduces the likelihood of bottlenecks that lead to fee spikes, unlike traditional blockchains that have fixed throughput. Furthermore, Shardeum’s fee structure is predictable, ensuring that transaction fees remain stable regardless of demand fluctuations. This predictable fee model is achieved by decoupling gas fees from network congestion and tying them to resource usage, thus providing a more reliable and cost-effective environment for users.
BGECrypto: As Shardeum moves towards decentralization, how does it balance decentralization with performance? Can you discuss any trade-offs between ensuring maximum decentralization and maintaining high transaction throughput?
Chris: Shardeum aims to strike a balance between decentralization and performance by designing a system that maintains a large number of validators while still achieving high throughput.
The Proof-of-Quorum (PoQ) consensus mechanism allows for efficient transaction validation across distributed nodes, and auto-scaling ensures that performance can be optimized by adding more nodes to the network as needed.
There are trade-offs, of course—achieving maximum decentralization can sometimes mean a larger communication overhead among nodes, which might slightly affect latency. However, Shardeum mitigates this by using state sharding and blockless architecture, which reduce the communication requirements between nodes while still preserving the benefits of a decentralized network. The protocol is built to evolve over time, continuously refining its approach to balance these factors as the ecosystem grows.
BGECrypto: What are the latest advances in your community campaigns and your testnet?
Chris: We recently launched Stage 3 of our ITN. This is most likely the last stage of the testnet and the last major hurdle ahead of Mainnet, which we are all excited about. In addition to our Testnet, we have also deployed 2 Bug Bounties alongside our partner Immunefi. Both the Bug Bounties and Testnet are used to strengthen and stress-test the network and check for vulnerabilities ahead of Mainnet, while also encouraging and facilitating community engagement.
Both the Bug Bounties and ITN Stages 1 & 2 performed even better than expected with thousands of participants working to make the network as safe and efficient as possible before we go live. It was great to see those within and outside our community come together to get these projects off the ground.
Lastly, what message do you have for your prospective users?Shardeum is different from any other protocol or project I have worked on due to its complete dedication to community-driven efforts. I am a huge proponent of open-source technology and Shardeum embodies those values and I believe this is critical to a truly decentralized future, where not just the network is run by the community, but the source code of the project is run by the community as well.
If you want to take part in a project that welcomes all with open arms and is driving the future of decentralized technology, I encourage you to become a member of our community.
