Crypto glossary
Sharding
Sharding is a scaling technique that splits a blockchain's workload into parallel pieces, called shards, so no single node has to process every transaction.
In a sharded blockchain, the network is divided into groups, and each group of validators processes only its own share of transactions and state. Because shards work in parallel, total capacity can grow with the number of shards instead of being capped by what a single node can handle. A coordination layer keeps the shards secure and lets them pass messages to each other.
Near Protocol and MultiversX are examples of networks built around sharding. Ethereum's early roadmap planned dozens of execution shards, but the plan shifted toward rollups. What remains is danksharding, in which the main chain offers cheap data space to layer 2 networks, starting with the blobs introduced by EIP-4844 in March 2024.
Sharding adds complexity. Transactions that touch several shards are slower and harder to design, and splitting validators into smaller groups can make each shard easier to attack unless they are assigned randomly and rotated often.
Example
A network with 4 shards that each handle 1,000 transactions per second could, in theory, process about 4,000 per second, minus the overhead of cross-shard messages.
Related terms
Latest articles on Sharding
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