All terms
Splitting a blockchain into parallel pieces to increase capacity.
Sharding divides the network so different validators process different subsets of transactions simultaneously, rather than every node processing everything.
It multiplies throughput but makes cross shard communication complex, which is the hard part of every sharding design.
NEAR uses sharding in production. Ethereum shifted from execution sharding toward rollups plus data sharding.
That sharding multiplies capacity without cost. Splitting the network means transactions across shards need coordination, and the security of each shard is a fraction of the whole unless it is carefully designed. It is a hard engineering problem, not a switch.
Common questions
Did Ethereum ever ship sharding?
What is the downside of sharding?
Where this comes up on the site
The guides that actually use this word, rather than a list of everything we have written.
Where to go next
More technology terms
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