ShimmerFAQs

A rapid innovation playground for those who dare to innovate
General questions
How do I follow updates on Shimmer?

Follow us on Twitter and join our Discord.

What is the Shimmer roadmap?

Shimmer will accompany IOTA on its path to become a fully decentralized, programmable multi-asset ledger. The series of upgrades that will first be introduced on Shimmer are:

  • Programmable multi-asset ledger, with the introduction of output types and tokenization on the base layer,
  • Smart Contracts, with the introduction of IOTA Smart Contracts; agnostic multi-chain smart contracts are fully EVM-compatible
  • Full decentralization, with the IOTA 2.0 protocol and its leaderless consensus algorithm, currently live on a public testnet
  • Sharding and further optimizations, such as Layer 1 DeFi and more sophisticated output types.
What is IOTA 2.0?

It's the fully decentralized IOTA protocol with a revolutionary leaderless consensus. You can learn all about it on v2.iota.org.

I want to try out IOTA 2.0. What can I do?

Awesome to hear! You can already read up on IOTA 2.0 on the official website and join the IOTA 2.0 DevNet. We encourage you to join our Discord to be part of the community, join the network by deploying a node or to ask any questions you may have.

Will the Shimmer network be based on the GoShimmer node?

No, the GoShimmer node software currently used for the IOTA 2.0 DevNet is a research implementation meant to validate the IOTA 2.0 modules. The Shimmer network will be based on the Hornet and Bee nodes, which will receive iterative upgrades to accommodate the IOTA 2.0 protocol.

What is the purpose of Shimmer?

The Shimmer network is an incentivized staging network for the IOTA mainnet. This means that features are added to Shimmer for testing in production before they are later released on the IOTA mainnet. It will launch as the first testing ground for our upcoming tokenisation and smart contract features, before later upgrading to the IOTA 2.0 protocol.

Why rapid innovation and staging network?

Shimmer is a pre-production staging network of IOTA. It will enable anyone to iterate quickly and deploy fast. It means that features will become available quickly, but also might evolve fast and break things. It allows to speed up the development process, because breaking changes are expected and accepted in order to gain velocity and reach a stable version faster - without much waiting time or delays.

How is the Shimmer network incentivized?

Shimmer is an open and permissionless network, providing anyone with the opportunity to participate, contribute and even attack the network. While there will be dedicated bug bounty programs and DAOs to help fund development, it will ultimately be up to the community to realize the full potential and possibilities of Shimmer.

Token & Economics
When does staking of IOTA tokens start in order to receive Shimmer tokens?

The SMR token distribution for staking IOTAs has been completed and there will be no further staking periods.

How do I get access to my tokens on the Shimmer network once it's live?

Claiming your Shimmer tokens once the network is live will be a simple process of issuing a transaction from the wallet that you staked with. Make sure to not lose access to your wallet and keys!

Will Shimmer tokens be integrated into the Firefly wallet?

Yes

Will the Shimmer token be traded on exchange?

There are no promises on any markets being developed for trading Shimmer tokens.

When can I transfer my Shimmer tokens?

The Shimmer tokens can be fully accessed when the Shimmer mainnet launches.

How about taxes?

Since tax obligations differ from country to country, please consult your local tax advisor.

Other
My question is not listed here, where can I ask it?

Please join us on Discord and ask any question you might have there.