Elrond (now MultiversX, rebranded November 2022) is a Romanian high-performance Layer 1 blockchain, founded by Beniamin Mincu, Lucian Mincu, and Lucian Todea, that launched mainnet on July 30, 2020 after a 2019 Binance Launchpad IEO (the ERD token, later converted 1000:1 to EGLD “eGold”), achieving theoretical throughput of 100,000+ transactions per second through its Adaptive State Sharding implementation (splitting state, transaction execution, and network across 3 parallel shards) and Secure Proof-of-Stake (SPoS) validator selection, with EGLD as the native staking and fee token (max supply: ~31.4 million, a reference to π × 10^7) and the MultiversX ecosystem expanding into a consumer-facing super-app wallet (xPortal, once one of the most downloaded crypto Super Apps in Romania and Central/Eastern Europe), a native DEX (xExchange, formerly Maiar Exchange), an NFT marketplace (xSpotlight), and enterprise blockchain tooling.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Ticker | EGLD |
| Price | $4.12 |
| Market Cap | $122.64M |
| 24h Change | +9.9% |
| Circulating Supply | 29.74M EGLD |
| Max Supply | 31.42M EGLD |
| All-Time High | $545.64 |
How It Works
- Adaptive State Sharding — Elrond/MultiversX implements three forms of sharding simultaneously: state sharding (each shard maintains only its subset of the global state), transaction sharding (transactions are assigned to shards based on sender addresses), and network sharding (network nodes are grouped into shards for communication). This allows linear throughput scaling with additional shards.
- Metachain — A specialized coordinator chain (the Metachain) handles cross-shard communication, validator coordination, and finality. The Metachain does not execute user transactions but finalizes shard blocks.
- Secure Proof-of-Stake (SPoS) — Validators are randomly selected from each shard using a VRF (Verifiable Random Function). The randomness from the previous block determines which validators sign the next block. A validator’s probability of selection is weighted by staked EGLD but randomized to prevent predictable attacks.
- Fisherman role — Elrond adds a “Fisherman” observer role: a validator from outside the block’s elected committee can challenge and invalidate invalid blocks during a challenge window, providing an additional fraud-proof layer.
- xPortal (consumer super-app) — A mobile app combining crypto wallet, DeFi access, NFT display, payments, and financial services — marketed as a consumer-facing portal into the MultiversX ecosystem. Features Elrond-to-fiat payment card integrations in some European markets.
- Smart contracts (Rust/WASM) — MultiversX contracts are written in Rust and compiled to WebAssembly (WASM), providing a high-performance execution environment. The Elrond WASM VM is faster than the EVM for most benchmarks.
Tokenomics
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Ticker | EGLD (eGold) |
| Chain | MultiversX (formerly Elrond) native |
| Max Supply | ~31,415,926 EGLD (π × 10^7, a mathematical tribute) |
| IEO | 2019 — Binance Launchpad ERD token; 1000 ERD = 1 EGLD conversion at mainnet |
| Staking | Validator staking (2,500 EGLD minimum) + delegation pooling |
| Annual inflation | ~6–8% initial, decreasing as ecosystem matures |
| ESDT tokens | MultiversX’s native token standard (like ERC-20 but built into the protocol) |
Use Cases
- Validator staking — EGLD staked by validators secures the network; staking rewards incentivize honest participation.
- Transaction fees — EGLD required to pay network fees for all operations.
- DeFi via xExchange — EGLD paired in liquidity pools on xExchange (the native DEX). MEX is the xExchange governance token.
- NFT marketplace — xSpotlight (NTF marketplace) uses EGLD for NFT transactions.
- xPortal payments — Consumer payments, DeFi access, and Earn products via the xPortal super-app.
- Enterprise (xFabric) — Businesses deploy private/consortium chains using MultiversX infrastructure.
History
- 2017 — Elrond founded in Romania. Co-founders Beniamin Mincu (former NEM and Metachain employee), Lucian Mincu, and Lucian Todea develop the sharding architecture and SPoS white paper.
- 2019-07 — Elrond IEO on Binance Launchpad. ERD token raises approximately $3.25M. This is one of the early Binance Launchpad IEOs. ERD trades on Binance immediately after the IEO.
- 2020-07-30 — Elrond mainnet launches “Genesis” block. The ERD ERC-20 → EGLD 1000:1 conversion occurs, reducing token count from 20B ERD to 20M EGLD (plus new issuance). EGLD listing on major exchanges follows.
- 2021 — Maiar DEX launches (now xExchange). EGLD price rises from <$10 at mainnet to over $500 ATH during the bull market peak. The Maiar consumer wallet/payment app launches, targeting Romanian and European crypto adoption with fiat on/off ramps.
- 2021-12 — Maiar DEX exploited: a critical bug in the MEX token contract allows an attacker to create 1.65 quadrillion MEX tokens and sell $1.65M worth before the network is halted. Elrond responds by rolling back the chain and compensating affected users — a controversial decision showing centralization of the network’s governance in practice.
- 2022-11 — Elrond rebrands to MultiversX. The rebrand encompasses the broader ecosystem (xExchange, xPortal, xSpotlight). The “MultiversX” identity reflects a metaverse and multi-application strategy.
- 2023 — MultiversX xPortal reports millions of downloads in European markets. The team focuses on consumer financial app features: savings, crypto-to-fiat cards, and on-ramp integrations. xFabric enterprise product launches.
- 2024 — MultiversX continues development. EGLD trades significantly below 2021 ATH but the network remains one of the more technically advanced L1 alternatives with an active developer community and real user apps in Romania and CEE.
Common Misconceptions
“Elrond was abandoned when it rebranded to MultiversX.”
The rebrand to MultiversX is a brand expansion, not a project shutdown. The same blockchain, the same EGLD token, and the same team continued. “Elrond” and “MultiversX” refer to the same network in different branding eras.
“Elrond’s 100,000 TPS claim is real throughput.”
The 100,000+ TPS is a theoretical maximum capacity under ideal conditions across all shards. Actual observed throughput at average network load in 2023 is significantly lower (thousands to tens of thousands TPS), still impressive among operational sharded chains.
Social Media Sentiment
Elrond/MultiversX has a passionate Eastern European core community (particularly strong in Romania) and a global following that tracked the 2021 EGLD bull run closely. The Maiar DEX exploit and emergency chain rollback (2021) generated sharp controversy, with critics pointing to the rollback as evidence of centralized control despite PoS decentralization claims. The 2022 rebrand was met with mixed reactions — some saw it as refreshing vision, others as a marketing distraction. Technical community members praise the sharding implementation and Rust/WASM smart contract environment. EGLD’s +50× return from IEO to ATH makes it one of the best-performing BNB Launchpad tokens historically.
Last updated: 2026-04