Alephium (ALPH) stands out as a sharded Layer 1 blockchain that integrates a powerful virtual machine, optimized for DeFi and smart contract applications. Unlike traditional blockchains, Alephium employs sharding to enhance scalability, enabling the network to handle a higher volume of transactions efficiently. This sharding mechanism divides the blockchain into smaller, manageable segments, allowing parallel processing and reducing congestion. The platform introduces Proof of Less Work (PoLW), a novel consensus mechanism that combines physical work and coin economics to dynamically adjust mining difficulty. This approach significantly reduces energy consumption, using only 1/8 of the energy required by Bitcoin under similar network conditions. This makes Alephium a more sustainable option in the blockchain ecosystem.