CoinGecko Report Reveals Fastest Blockchain by Transactions Per Second (TPS)

Which blockchain out there is the fastest? That was the question on the mind of researchers at crypto platform CoinGecko. Lo and behold, they found that Solana is actually the fastest of all blockchains right now, closely followed by Sui.

According to CoinGecko, the Solana blockchain reached a whopping real TPS (transactions per second) of 1,504 on 6 April 2024 – that’s a record in the blockchain world. Yet, the officially claimed TPS of Solana is more like 64,000, a number it has never reached in real-world use.

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CoinGecko states that the record TPS reached is only 1.6% of the potential speed of the blockchain. They said this makes Solana 46 times faster than Ethereum and five times faster than Polygon.

Other well-known blockchains that land in the top ten for speed are TON, Tron, NEAR and Avalanche.

Sui scored second place with a TPS of 854, while Bitcoin (10.7 TPS) and ThorChain (2.1 TPS) landed at the bottom of the list.

Cardano, PulseChain Excluded Due to Lack of Data

CoinGecko said the study assessed the processing speeds of the largest blockchains by examining the top 30 based on their total value locked as listed by DefiLlama on 15 May 2024. It measured processing speed using actual transactions per second, calculated as daily averages from data sourced from blockchain explorers and Dune Analytics.

This method aimed to standardise TPS across different chains, noting that the highest TPS might vary from other findings. Chains lacking sufficient data, including Cardano, Kava, PulseChain, Hyperliquid, and Rootstock, were omitted from the study.

TPS Comparison May Lack Relevance

When comparing blockchains people often focus on transaction speed, measured in TPS – however, there is a variety of opinions on its importance.

Proponents see high TPS as crucial for handling large volumes efficiently, enhancing scalability, and reducing delays and costs, which is vital during high transaction periods and makes the blockchain appealing to enterprises needing robust solutions.

However, some critics argue that TPS alone doesn’t fully determine a blockchain’s effectiveness. High TPS might compromise important qualities like decentralisation and security – as some systems might boost TPS by centralising more control, in effect undermining the core benefits of blockchain technology.

So, some say, while significant, TPS should be considered among a range of factors to truly assess a blockchain’s overall value and functionality.

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