Indian Crypto Exchange WazirX’s Co-Founder Nischal Shetty Raises Funding for Blockchain Startup Shardeum
Nischal Shetty, the co-founder of Indian crypto exchange WazirX, is in advanced stages of talks to raise a maiden funding round for his new blockchain startup, Shardeum. According to sources familiar with the matter, Shetty is raising $20 million to $30 million in a seed financing round, valuing the startup at about $200 million.
Investors Participating in the Round
Some of the investors participating in the round include The Spartan Group, Struck Crypto, Big Brain Holdings, and Cogitent Ventures. Shetty has confirmed that the startup is in talks to raise funding but said that the round hasn’t closed yet.
"We are currently working with top VCs in an ongoing funding round. While it has not yet closed, we expect to see great support for Shardeum and our mission of making blockchain technology faster, smarter, and easier to use for everyone," he said in a statement through a spokesperson.
Shardeum’s Mission
Shardeum is attempting to solve the trilemma affecting most blockchains where they have to prioritize among scalability, security, and decentralization. The startup employs a technique called sharding that partitions the network into shards, resulting in more transactions being processed, verified, and validated in parallel.
EVM-Compatibility and Proof-of-Stake Consensus Mechanism
The startup’s eponymous blockchain aims to be EVM-compatible and use proof-of-stake and proof-of-quorum consensus mechanisms to reduce the cost of running the network. The blockchain will also rely on three types of nodes — validator, archival, and standby — in its network.
Performance Capabilities
Shardeum anticipates that it will be able to process more than 100,000 transactions per second with 100,000 nodes and maintain a latency of 10 seconds. The L1 blockchain will also provide ways to help Ethereum developers transition to Shardeum and maintain stable gas fees.
Initial Target Markets
The startup plans to initially target Indian and emerging markets. It aims to perform mainnet launch in the quarter starting October and launch over 500 million SHM tokens.
WazirX’s Disagreement with Binance
It is worth noting that Nischal Shetty’s WazirX has been involved in a dispute with Binance, another leading crypto exchange. The two companies had announced a deal to merge their businesses but have since disagreed over ownership issues.
Conclusion
Shardeum’s innovative approach to solving the trilemma and its potential for high-performance capabilities make it an exciting addition to the blockchain ecosystem. With Nischal Shetty at the helm, Shardeum is likely to receive significant support from investors and developers alike.
Key Highlights of Shardeum:
- Attempts to solve the trilemma affecting most blockchains
- Employing sharding technique for high-performance capabilities
- EVM-compatible blockchain with proof-of-stake consensus mechanism
- Plans to initially target Indian and emerging markets
Shardeum’s Technical Specifications:
- Capable of processing more than 100,000 transactions per second
- Maintains a latency of 10 seconds
- L1 blockchain provides ways for Ethereum developers to transition
- Stable gas fees maintained through proof-of-stake consensus mechanism
Investors Participating in the Round:
- The Spartan Group
- Struck Crypto
- Big Brain Holdings
- Cogitent Ventures
