Shardeum Launches Delegators Program With an Estimated 218 Percent APY, Bringing Scalable Community Staking to Mainnet

India, Dec 13th: Shardeum today announced the official launch of its Delegators Program, enabling SHM holders to secure the network and earn staking rewards through a streamlined, non-custodial experience. This marks a major advancement in Shardeum’s decentralization roadmap and arrives at a time when more than 430 million SHM are already staked on the network. Early participants can currently earn an estimated 218% APY, reflecting the network’s initial staking dynamics and inflation schedule.

With the launch, SHM holders can now delegate their tokens directly through Keplr Wallet, with MetaMask support soon to follow. Delegation allows users to participate in consensus without operating a validator node. Delegators simply choose a Foundation Validator, delegate their SHM, and begin accruing rewards immediately. All delegation and reward activity is handled non-custodially — validators never gain control over user funds, and rewards are automatically sent to the delegator’s wallet.

Shardeum’s staking design emphasizes transparency and user control. The network also applies a mandatory 21-day unbonding period for undelegated SHM, during which tokens remain locked to protect network security. Once the period ends, tokens become fully available to the user. Each delegation-related action carries a small network fee

At launch, Shardeum is encouraging delegators to stake with Foundation Validators, which currently provide the most reliable uptime and predictable earnings. As the validator ecosystem grows, delegators will be able to diversify across additional operators. Staking rewards are expected to adjust organically as more SHM enters the bonded set, a standard behavior seen across Proof-of-Stake networks. While today’s projected APY is approximately 218% with monthly compounding, longer-term estimates reflect normal dilution based on total network participation. Users seeking to maximize returns can manually restake their earned rewards to create compounding effects over time.

“Delegation is how our community becomes an active part of Shardeum’s security model. The Delegators Program gives every SHM holder, regardless of technical background, a meaningful role in maintaining decentralization and ensuring the network remains resilient as it scales.” said, Nischal Shetty, CoFounder, Shardeum

Delegation also plays an important role in shaping validator composition. In Proof-of-Stake systems, validators with higher stake including delegated stake have a greater chance of participating in block production. By choosing where to delegate, the community directly influences decentralization, voting power distribution, and overall network health. Shardeum encourages users to evaluate validator uptime, commission rates, and performance, and to gradually spread stake across multiple validators to reduce risk as the ecosystem matures.

The launch includes a simple reward calculator to help delegators estimate potential earnings. A comprehensive validator dashboard is also available, allowing users to review validator performance, commission details, reward history, and delegation status in real time.

Shardeum will release updated documentation soon for those interested in operating independent validators. Until then, delegation remains the recommended method for participating in network security during this early phase of mainnet.