Solana has recently emerged as the fastest among large blockchains, processing an astonishing 91 million transactions in a single day. CoinGecko’s update on April 6 revealed that Solana achieved a record-breaking daily average of 1,504 transactions per second (TPS) during the memecoin frenzy, making it 46 times faster than Ethereum and over 5 times faster than Polygon. However, despite its speed, Solana has only achieved 1.6% of its maximum theoretical speed of 65,000 TPS, leading to network congestion and questions about future scalability.
Sui has been identified as the second-fastest blockchain, reaching a peak of 854 TPS in July 2023 due to the popularity of the on-chain game Sui 8192. Other notable non-EVM blockchains include TON with 175 TPS and Near Protocol with 118 TPS. Comparing non-EVM blockchains to EVM and EVM-compatible blockchains, the former outperformed the latter with an average peak TPS of 284 compared to just 74 TPS for the 17 largest EVM-based blockchains. Binance Smart Chain (BSC) led the EVM blockchains, achieving a real TPS of 378 on December 7, 2023, driven by increased on-chain activity.
Interestingly, Ethereum scaling solutions and layer 2 solutions have yet to surpass other layer 1 blockchains in terms of processing speed. This may be due to lower on-chain transaction volumes on Ethereum scaling solutions, resulting in slower realized TPS for these blockchains. Ethereum and its ten largest scaling solutions combined achieved a real TPS of 500, surpassing BSC but still falling behind Solana and Sui. Other scaling solutions that outpaced Ethereum in TPS included Arbitrum, Linea, Base, and Mantle.
Over the past year, 24 out of the 25 blockchains analyzed experienced their highest real TPS, indicative of increased on-chain activity fueled by the rise of inscriptions and memecoin speculation. The cryptocurrency market has seen over 1 million new tokens launched since the beginning of April, with Ethereum and Solana leading the token frenzy. Ethereum has hosted over 370,000 new tokens, while Solana boasts 640,000 new tokens, primarily consisting of memecoins. The surge in activity has raised questions about future scalability and network congestion, particularly for fast-moving blockchains like Solana.
In conclusion, the report highlights the impressive speed of Solana in processing transactions, outperforming other large blockchains and Ethereum scaling solutions. Despite its speed, Solana has only achieved a fraction of its maximum theoretical speed, which raises concerns about network congestion and scalability. The comparison of non-EVM blockchains to EVM and EVM-compatible blockchains shows that the former perform better in terms of TPS, with BSC leading the EVM blockchains. Ethereum scaling solutions have yet to surpass layer 1 blockchains in processing speed, indicating room for improvement in scalability and efficiency. Overall, the surge in on-chain activity driven by inscriptions and memecoin speculation has led to new heights in real TPS for many blockchains, showcasing the evolving landscape of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency markets.
