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Elrond is a smart contract-wielding public blockchain on which developers can build decentralized applications (DApps), deploy nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and more. The Elrond blockchain touts significant scalability in line with security, utilizing a consensus mechanism called secure proof-of-stake (SPoS) and sharding. The blockchain has its own coin called Elrond eGold (EGLD). The Elrond project was initiated in 2018, and its mainnet launched in mid-2020. 

Diving deeper into the Elrond crypto and blockchain project

In the years since its inception, the crypto and blockchain industry has battled several roadblocks, including scalability, fees and security, to name a few. The Elrond blockchain’s technical makeup focuses on scalability and security, among other aspects. 

The Elrond blockchain aims to process in excess of 100,000 transactions per second (TPS). Elrond reports that its testnet has tapped 263,000 TPS and its mainnet has achieved 15,000 TPS. The Elrond blockchain also reportedly requires just $0.001 in fees per transaction on average and produces a block in a matter of six seconds. In contrast, the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain processes around seven TPS, with block times of approximately 10 minutes. 

The Elrond blockchain incorporates sharding in tandem with network, transaction and data layers as a focal point of its makeup— forming a system it calls “Adaptive State Sharding.” This specific sharding setup gives the Elrond blockchain versatility, with the ability to adapt depending on validator counts and blockchain demand. Essentially, the concept of sharding divides responsibility on a blockchain so that it can handle larger loads at a time.

The Elrond blockchain also has its own WebAssembly-based virtual machine (Elrond WASM VM) that provides flexibility in terms of compatible programming languages, among an array of other technical points around the overall Elrond blockchain framework.

EGLD coin 

EGLD is Elrond’s coin — the native asset of the blockchain. The crypto asset has multiple roles within the Elrond blockchain, including as fee payment for transactions and a requirement to become a validator. Being a validator on the Elrond blockchain garners rewards but requires staking 2,500 EGLD.

Price action for EGLD acts similarly to other crypto assets, constantly fluctuating in U.S. dollar (USD) value. The EGLD to USD live price is available at the top of the page, in addition to EGLD market cap and coin supply figures.