Elrond (EGLD) is a high-performance blockchain protocol designed to deliver fast, secure, and scalable transactions through innovative sharding technology. Positioned as a foundational layer for the new internet economy, Elrond supports decentralized finance (DeFi), fintech applications, and Internet of Things (IoT) integrations. With reported transaction speeds of up to 15,000 transactions per second (TPS), a finality time of just 6 seconds, and minimal transaction fees at $0.001, Elrond aims to solve the long-standing scalability challenges faced by earlier blockchain networks.
At the heart of the Elrond ecosystem is its native cryptocurrency, EGLD, which powers network operations such as paying transaction fees, staking, and rewarding validators. The project launched publicly in August 2019, with its mainnet going live in July 2020.
Founders and Background
Elrond was co-founded in 2017 by brothers Beniamin Mincu and Lucian Mincu, alongside technology entrepreneur Lucian Todea. Their shared vision was to address blockchain scalability—a critical bottleneck limiting widespread adoption.
Before Elrond, Beniamin served as CEO of MetaChain Capital, a digital asset investment fund, while also playing key roles in marketing and community development for the NEM blockchain between 2014 and 2015. He has been an early investor in prominent projects like Zilliqa (ZIL), Tezos (XTZ), Brave, and Binance.
Lucian Mincu, with a strong technical background, held engineering and cybersecurity roles at companies such as Uhrenwerk 24, Cetto, and Liebl Systems. Together, the brothers also founded ICO Market Data, a platform aggregating information on initial coin offerings.
Co-founder Lucian Todea brings extensive entrepreneurial experience, having led Soft32, a software review and download site, and co-developed mobilPay, a mobile payment solution. As an angel investor, he has backed innovative ventures including biometric authentication firm TypingDNA and accounting platform SmartBill.
What Makes Elrond Unique?
Elrond distinguishes itself through its advanced Adaptive State Sharding architecture—one of the first implementations to shard not only transactions but also network and state data. This tripartite sharding model enables unprecedented scalability without compromising security or decentralization.
The network operates with 2,169 validator nodes, distributed across four shards:
- Three execution shards, each capable of processing 5,400 TPS
- One coordination shard known as the Metachain, responsible for consensus and cross-shard communication
This design allows Elrond to scale horizontally—new shards can be added dynamically when demand increases. In a real-world test involving 1,500 nodes across 29 countries organized into 50 shards, the network achieved an impressive throughput of 263,000 TPS.
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To encourage developer participation, Elrond offers a 30% royalty on smart contract fees generated within dApps built on its platform. This incentive fosters ecosystem growth while aligning developer success with network expansion.
Additionally, during its first year, Elrond maintained a continuous issuance of EGLD tokens for staking purposes, offering validators annual rewards of up to 36%, making it highly attractive for node operators.
Elrond (EGLD) Token Supply and Distribution
The Elrond network employs a deflationary economic model with a capped maximum supply of 31,415,926 EGLD tokens—a number inspired by the mathematical constant π (pi). Initially, 20 million EGLD were made available, with additional tokens minted over time as staking rewards. However, as transaction volume grows, the protocol reduces new token emissions, ultimately leading to a decrease in total supply.
Initial Token Distribution
EGLD’s distribution was carefully structured to ensure long-term sustainability and broad ecosystem support:
- 19% sold privately: With 7.5% immediately available and the remainder released quarterly
- 25% via Binance Launchpad IEO: Fully unlocked upon sale
- 7% for ecosystem incentives: Half released immediately, half after six months
- 8.5% for marketing and DApp accelerator programs: Over 81% released upfront; rest phased every six months
- 2% community fund: Released in three tranches over 12 months
- 2.5% allocated to advisors: Fully unlocked after one year
- 19% to founders and core team: Released gradually over 42 months
- 17% reserved for ecosystem support: One-third released immediately (but restricted to staking in Year 1); remaining two-thirds distributed over three years post-Year 1
This strategic vesting schedule prevents market flooding and aligns stakeholder interests with long-term network health.
Token Swap: From ERD to EGLD
Originally launched on Binance Chain under the ticker ERD with a total supply of 20 billion tokens, Elrond underwent a major token migration in September 2020. During this process:
- 5 billion ERD were burned
- Remaining tokens were converted into ERC-20 versions on Ethereum
- A 1,000:1 swap ratio was applied during the migration to the Elrond mainnet, reducing total supply to 20 million EGLD
This reduction significantly increased token scarcity and strengthened investor confidence.
How Does Elrond Ensure Security?
Elrond utilizes a consensus mechanism called Secure Proof of Stake (SPoS)—an enhanced version of PoS that improves security and fairness.
Key security features include:
- Validators must stake EGLD to participate
- Each validator receives a reputation score based on performance; low scores result in disqualification and penalties
- Malicious actors risk being slashed (losing part of their stake) or expelled from the network
- Validator selection is random and unpredictable
- Regular reshuffling of validators across shards prevents collusion
- Inter-node communication uses modified BLS multi-signature cryptography, ensuring robust encryption
This combination of economic incentives and cryptographic safeguards creates a resilient and trustless environment.
Where Can You Buy Elrond (EGLD)?
EGLD is listed on major cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance, Bitfinex, and BitMax. It can be traded using:
- Fiat currencies (e.g., USD, IDR)
- Major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and BNB
- Stablecoins including USDT and BUSD
Trading is available in both spot and derivatives markets.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: What is the maximum supply of EGLD?
A: The total supply is capped at 31,415,926 EGLD, making it a deflationary asset over time.
Q: Is EGLD a good investment?
A: While past performance isn’t indicative of future results, EGLD’s strong technology, experienced team, and growing ecosystem make it a compelling option for long-term investors.
Q: How does sharding work in Elrond?
A: Elrond uses adaptive state sharding, splitting transaction processing, network traffic, and data storage into parallel chains (shards) to boost speed and efficiency.
Q: Can I stake EGLD?
A: Yes. Users can stake EGLD to earn rewards—historically up to 36% APY—by becoming validators or delegating to existing ones.
Q: What’s the difference between ERD and EGLD?
A: ERD was the original token on Binance Chain. EGLD is the upgraded native token on Elrond’s mainnet, resulting from a 1,000:1 burn-and-swap process.
Q: Does Elrond support smart contracts?
A: Yes. Elrond has a full smart contract platform compatible with WebAssembly (WASM), enabling developers to build scalable dApps.
Core Keywords
Elrond (EGLD), EGLD token supply, sharding technology, blockchain scalability, Secure Proof of Stake, adaptive state sharding, high-speed blockchain, decentralized finance (DeFi)
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