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Architecture overview

As a sidechain to the Ethereum blockchain, the Shibarium network acts as a solution to its throughput and speed issues, by inheriting the L1's security and separating the consensus and block production into two different layers. Here is a breakdown of how the Shibarium Network works:

  • Ethereum layer, where a collection of core contracts on the Ethereum mainnet handles the staking of the Bone token, among other features.
  • Heimdall layer, where a set of proof-of-stake Heimdall nodes run alongside the Ethereum mainnet.
  • Bor layer, where a set of Bor nodes are responsible for block production.

Ethereum smart contracts​

A series of staking management contracts live on the Ethereum mainnet. They allow anyone to stake Bone tokens on the Ethereum mainnet staking contracts and become a validator in the system. It is also possible to earn staking rewards for validating state transitions on the Shibarium Network.

Heimdall, the validation layer​

The Heimdall layer manages the aggregation of blocks produced by Bor into checkpoints and periodically publishes it to the Ethereum mainnet. Validators verify all blocks since the last checkpoint, create a Merkle tree of block hashes and publish its root hash on the Ethereum mainnet.

Read more about Heimdall Architecture.

Bor, the block producer layer​

Bor is Shibarium's sidechain block producer, responsible for executing transactions and aggregating them into blocks. Bor block producers, a subset of validators, are periodically shuffled by Heimdall validators.

Read more about Bor Architecture.