Sharding

Sharding is a way of splitting a blockchain's data and transaction processing across multiple parallel chains, called shards, instead of forcing every node to handle every transaction. It matters because it lets a network process more transactions at once without needing each validator to run more powerful hardware, which is one path toward cheaper fees and faster confirmations. Ethereum's long-discussed roadmap included sharding to boost throughput, though the team later shifted focus to rollups and "danksharding," a lighter version that shards data availability rather than full execution. Without sharding or a similar scaling trick, a single chain processing every transaction in one place tends to get congested as more people use it, the way Ethereum did during the 2021 NFT boom when fees spiked past $50 per swap.