Electroneum (ETN): how it works, supply and reviews
In short
- Type
- Layer-1, EVM-compatible smart-contract chain (Solidity and Ethereum tooling)
- Maximum supply
- 21 billion ETN (stated for the legacy chain's emission schedule in 2020)
- Risks and caveats
- The validator set is small and permissioned: Electroneum picks and KYC-checks the validators rather than letting anyone join.
- Checked
- 31 October 2026
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Key facts
- Ticker
- ETN
- Official site
- electroneum.com
Key facts checked on 31 October 2026 against official sources.
What is Electroneum
Electroneum (ETN) is a layer-1 blockchain run by Electroneum Ltd, a UK company founded in 2017. Since March 2024 it runs as the Electroneum Smart Chain, an EVM-compatible chain based on Geth with IBFT consensus, a set of known validators and 5-second finality. ETN pays transaction fees on the network.
Network and consensus
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Type | Layer-1, EVM-compatible smart-contract chain (Solidity and Ethereum tooling) |
| Consensus | Istanbul Byzantine Fault Tolerance (IBFT) with a super-majority (about 66%) of validators signing each block |
| Block time | 5 seconds, with single-block finality |
| Validators | 32 known validators, KYC-checked, run by NGOs and universities (as of October 2025) |
| Launched | Smart Chain launched in March 2024; legacy chain balances moved over a bridge after a hard fork |
| Runs on | Own chain; mainnet chain ID 52014 (testnet 5201420) |
Supply and issuance
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Maximum supply | 21 billion ETN (stated for the legacy chain's emission schedule in 2020) |
| Fee burn | The base fee of every transaction is burned; validators receive the priority fee (tip) |
| Issuance | After the migration hard fork, legacy-chain coinbase emissions go to a burn address to keep the maximum supply |
| Initial distribution | Public token sale (ICO) in September 2017 selling over $40 million of ETN to more than 115,000 participants, per Electroneum |
What ETN is used for
- ETN is the only means of paying transaction (gas) fees on the Electroneum network.
- ETN is used in DeFi, NFT marketplaces and payments built on the chain.
Who develops and governs Electroneum
- Company
- Electroneum Ltd, registered in England No. 10845797, active, incorporated 3 July 2017
- Headquarters
- Registered office in Aylesford, Kent, United Kingdom
- Founders
- Richard Ells (founder and CEO)
- Governance
- Validators are known and KYC-checked by Electroneum; a contract owned by Electroneum Ltd grants priority (including zero-fee) transaction rights
- Open source
- Smart Chain client (electroneum-sc) on GitHub under LGPL-3.0
History
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 3 July 2017 | Electroneum Ltd is incorporated in England. |
| September 2017 | Electroneum holds its public token sale (ICO), selling over $40 million of ETN. |
| 1 November 2017 | Electroneum marks 1 November 2017 as the day of its inception. |
| 22 July 2020 | The V9 fork cuts ETN block rewards by 75% at block 862866. |
| 2021 | Proof of Responsibility goes live, replacing mining with a validator network of NGOs and universities. |
| March 2024 | The Electroneum Smart Chain (Aurelius) launches and users migrate over a bridge. |
| 12 July 2026 | The legacy Electroneum App and my.electroneum.com wallet close permanently. |
Security and audits
- Validators are a small, known, KYC-checked set; Electroneum says it can shut a validator down if it misbehaves.
- IBFT needs a super-majority of validators to sign each block, and blocks are final once added.
- The Smart Chain client is open source on GitHub.
Security incidents
Incidents are reported by third parties (press, incident databases) but are not confirmed in the company’s own channels, so none is listed here.
Risks and caveats
- The validator set is small and permissioned: Electroneum picks and KYC-checks the validators rather than letting anyone join.
- Electroneum Ltd controls a contract that lets listed entities send priority and zero-fee transactions.
- Electroneum's own consensus docs say IBFT suits consortium or private chains more than public ones.
- ETN left in the legacy Electroneum App or my.electroneum.com had to be moved out by 12 July 2026, when those services closed.
Official links
- Website: electroneum.com
- Docs: developer.electroneum.com
- Whitepaper: electroneum.com/overview-white-paper.pdf
- Source code: github.com/electroneum/electroneum-sc
- Block explorer: blockexplorer.electroneum.com
- Blog: blog.electroneum.com
Questions and answers
What is Electroneum?
Electroneum is a UK-based layer-1 blockchain whose coin, ETN, pays fees on the EVM-compatible Electroneum Smart Chain launched in March 2024.
Who created Electroneum?
Richard Ells founded Electroneum; it is run by Electroneum Ltd, registered in England (No. 10845797) on 3 July 2017.
What is the maximum supply of ETN?
Electroneum stated a maximum supply of 21 billion ETN in 2020; base fees on the Smart Chain are burned.
How does Electroneum reach consensus?
It uses IBFT with a set of 32 known, KYC-checked validators, giving 5-second finality.
Is the old Electroneum app still working?
No. The legacy Electroneum App and my.electroneum.com wallet closed on 12 July 2026; users had to export their private keys before then.
Sources
- Electroneum - Home
- Electroneum - About
- Electroneum - Green Credentials
- Electroneum Developer Resources - Intro to the Electroneum Smart Chain
- Electroneum Developer Resources - Intro to ETN
- Electroneum Developer Resources - IBFT
- Electroneum Developer Resources - Migration overview
- Electroneum Developer Resources - Gas and Fees
- Electroneum Developer Resources - MetaMask network settings
- Electroneum Blog - Aurelius fork live updates (March-April 2024)
- Electroneum Blog - 3rd anniversary (2 November 2020)
- Electroneum Blog - V9 fork (16 July 2020)
- Electroneum Blog - The Great Migration (9 June 2026)
- Companies House - ELECTRONEUM LTD (10845797)
- GitHub - electroneum-sc repository
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