Solana’s meteoric rise in transaction speed has positioned it as the fastest blockchain in the world. According to a detailed report by CoinGecko, Solana averages an impressive 1,053 transactions per second (TPS). This speed surpasses its competitors, solidifying its reputation despite previous concerns over network reliability.
In the race of blockchain speeds, Solana leads the pack with Sui trailing at 854 TPS, Binance Smart Chain (BSC) at 378 TPS, and Polygon at 190 TPS. Other notable networks include TON with 175 TPS, Tron at 159 TPS, Near at 117 TPS, and Avalanche at 89 TPS. Established giants like Bitcoin and Ethereum lag significantly behind, with peak TPS averages of 10.7 and 22.8, respectively.
CoinGecko’s analysis, which included the top 30 blockchains by total value locked (TVL) as of May 15, 2024, used the actual or realized TPS metric. This methodology provided a uniform comparison across different blockchains, highlighting Solana’s superior performance. On April 6, 2023, Solana hit a peak of 1,504 TPS, driven by a surge in meme coin transactions, showcasing its capability to handle high-demand periods efficiently.
Market confidence and performance
Solana’s exceptional transaction speed has not gone unnoticed. At the time of writing, SOL, the native cryptocurrency of the Solana network, was trading at $175, reflecting a 2.7% daily gain and an 18.2% weekly increase. This positive market performance indicates strong investor confidence in Solana’s potential to revolutionize digital transactions.
The “Ethereum Killer” is on its way
Since launching its mainnet in March 2020, Solana has aimed to address Ethereum’s scalability issues with a claimed throughput of 50,000 TPS. Unlike Ethereum, which depends on layer-2 scaling solutions to manage higher transaction volumes, Solana offers built-in scalability for a decentralized ecosystem. However, this approach has faced scrutiny due to past network outages.
In early April, the network experienced a significant hiccup when approximately 76% of Solana transactions failed due to high demand for meme coins. Additionally, a five-hour block production halt earlier required developers and validators to quickly implement fixes. These incidents have raised questions about Solana’s reliability despite its impressive speed.
Despite these challenges, Solana’s achievements in speed are undeniable. CoinGecko’s study highlighted that Solana has only reached 1.6% of its theoretical maximum TPS of 65,000. This suggests a vast potential for future growth and enhancements.
Is it fast enough to kill Ethereum? It will probably need more to get the job done.
Featured image credit: Shubham’s Web3/Unsplash
