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Layer 1 Blockchain

The Complete Guide to MultiversX

Formerly Elrond, MultiversX is a sharded Layer 1 blockchain delivering 15,000+ TPS with 6-second finality. Discover EGLD staking, the xPortal wallet, and the full ecosystem.

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What is MultiversX?

A next-generation blockchain built for scalability, speed, and low cost.

From Elrond to MultiversX

Founded in 2017 by Beniamin and Lucian Mincu alongside Lucian Todea, Elrond launched its mainnet in July 2020. In November 2022, the project rebranded to MultiversX to reflect its expanded vision beyond just a blockchain -- encompassing metaverse, DeFi, and real-world adoption through the xPortal super-app.

Adaptive State Sharding

MultiversX is the first blockchain to implement all three types of sharding simultaneously: state sharding, network sharding, and transaction sharding. This adaptive approach splits the network into parallel processing units that dynamically scale based on demand, enabling linear scalability without sacrificing security or decentralization.

How MultiversX Works

The technical architecture behind the performance.

01

State Sharding

The blockchain state (account balances, smart contract storage) is partitioned across shards. Each shard maintains only its portion of the global state, reducing storage requirements per node and enabling parallel processing of transactions belonging to different shards.

02

Network Sharding

Nodes are organized into shards based on their address, optimizing communication. A metachain coordinates cross-shard operations and finalizes blocks. Nodes can be reshuffled between shards every epoch (roughly 24 hours) to prevent collusion.

03

SPoS Consensus

Secure Proof of Stake (SPoS) selects validators using a randomness source derived from the previous block's signature via BLS (Boneh-Lynn-Shacham) multi-signatures. This makes the selection unpredictable and unbiasable, with block proposers chosen in under 100 milliseconds.

Key Features

What makes MultiversX stand out among Layer 1 blockchains.

15,000+
Transactions Per Second

Scales linearly with each shard added

6s
Block Finality

Transactions confirmed in a single block round

$0.001
Average Fee

Negligible cost for standard transfers

3,200+
Validator Nodes

Distributed across 3 shards + metachain

The EGLD Token

The native currency powering the MultiversX network.

Tokenomics

  • Max supply: 31,415,926 EGLD

    Capped supply inspired by the mathematical constant pi, making EGLD a deflationary asset.

  • New issuance decreases over 10 years

    Inflation gradually reduces from the initial rate, approaching the max supply asymptotically.

  • 30% of fees burned

    Transaction fees are partially burned, creating deflationary pressure as network usage grows.

Staking Rewards

10-12% APY

Current estimated staking rewards for delegators.

  • Minimum delegation: 1 EGLD
  • 10-day unbonding period
  • Validators require 2,500 EGLD stake
  • Rewards distributed every epoch (~24h)

MultiversX Ecosystem

A growing ecosystem of DeFi protocols, wallets, and applications.

xExchange

The main DEX on MultiversX. Swap tokens, provide liquidity, and farm yields with concentrated liquidity pools and energy-based boosting mechanics.

xPortal

The MultiversX super-app. A mobile wallet for managing EGLD and ESDTs, staking, swapping tokens, and accessing a built-in Visa debit card for spending crypto.

Hatom

The leading lending and borrowing protocol on MultiversX. Offers liquid staking with sEGLD, a stablecoin (USH), and money market pools for earning yield.

AshSwap

A stable-swap DEX optimized for low-slippage trades between correlated assets. Uses Curve-style pools and ve-tokenomics for governance and yield boosting.

How to Stake EGLD

A step-by-step guide to earning staking rewards with xPortal.

1

Download xPortal

Install the xPortal app from the App Store or Google Play. It is the official MultiversX wallet and super-app, supporting EGLD and all ESDT tokens.

2

Create or Import a Wallet

Set up a new wallet and securely store your 24-word recovery phrase. If you already have a MultiversX wallet, import it using your seed phrase or keystore file.

3

Acquire EGLD

Purchase EGLD directly in xPortal using a credit card or bank transfer. Alternatively, buy EGLD on a centralized exchange (Binance, Kraken, Crypto.com) and withdraw to your xPortal address.

4

Navigate to Staking

Open the Earn section in xPortal. You will see a list of staking providers (validators) with their APY, delegation capacity, and performance metrics.

5

Delegate Your EGLD

Choose a staking provider with good uptime and reasonable fees (typically 5-15% service fee). Enter the amount (minimum 1 EGLD) and confirm. Rewards accrue every epoch and can be claimed or re-staked.

MultiversX vs Solana vs Avalanche

How MultiversX compares to other high-performance Layer 1 blockchains.

Feature MultiversX Solana Avalanche
Consensus Secure PoS (SPoS) Proof of History + PoS Snowman Consensus
TPS (Theoretical) 15,000+ 65,000 4,500
Finality ~6 seconds ~12 seconds ~2 seconds
Avg. Fee $0.001 $0.025 $0.10
Architecture Sharded Monolithic Subnets
Smart Contract VM WASM SVM (Sealevel) EVM / Subnets
Staking APY 10-12% 6-8% 8-10%
Network Downtime None Multiple outages None

Smart Contracts on MultiversX

WASM-based contracts with Rust as the primary language.

WASM Virtual Machine

MultiversX runs smart contracts on a WebAssembly (WASM) virtual machine, enabling near-native execution speeds. WASM is a W3C standard supported by major tech companies, making it a future-proof choice for blockchain computation.

Rust & C++ Support

Developers write contracts primarily in Rust using the MultiversX Rust framework (mx-sdk-rs). C++ is also supported. The framework provides macros, testing tools, and a debugger. Rust's memory safety guarantees reduce common smart contract vulnerabilities.

Composability

MultiversX supports asynchronous cross-shard smart contract calls, allowing complex DeFi composability even across different shards. The metachain coordinates these interactions, ensuring atomic execution and consistent state across the network.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is MultiversX (formerly Elrond)?
MultiversX is a Layer 1 blockchain that uses adaptive state sharding and Secure Proof of Stake (SPoS) to achieve over 15,000 transactions per second with 6-second finality and fees under $0.001. It rebranded from Elrond in November 2022.
What is EGLD used for?
EGLD is the native token of MultiversX. It is used to pay transaction fees, stake for network security (earning 10-12% APY), deploy smart contracts, and participate in governance. EGLD has a capped supply of 31.4 million tokens.
How does MultiversX sharding work?
MultiversX uses adaptive state sharding, which splits the network into parallel shards that process transactions simultaneously. It combines state sharding, network sharding, and transaction sharding. Shards dynamically merge or split based on network demand.
Is MultiversX better than Solana?
Both are high-performance blockchains, but they differ in architecture. MultiversX uses sharding for horizontal scalability (15,000+ TPS) while Solana uses a monolithic design. MultiversX has lower fees ($0.001 vs $0.025) and has never experienced network outages, while Solana has higher real-world throughput but has faced downtime events.
How do I stake EGLD?
You can stake EGLD through the xPortal mobile wallet or the MultiversX Web Wallet. Download xPortal, create or import a wallet, purchase or transfer EGLD, navigate to the staking section, choose a validator or staking provider, and delegate your EGLD. The minimum delegation is 1 EGLD.

Learn More About MultiversX

Official resources and further reading.

Official Website Documentation Block Explorer Our Article

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