A recent discussion on social media about blockchain networks’ throughput capacity has drawn significant attention. Minus Wells, a vocal participant in the debate, questioned whether the current transaction per second (TPS) limits of 1,500 to 5,000 are sufficient to support the future of finance. He noted that these figures closely mirror the average daily transaction capacity of traditional systems like Visa.
Escalating TPS Concerns
VisaNet’s technical capacity reportedly tops out between 65,000 and 83,000 TPS, with an actual working average around 8,100 to 8,500 TPS. This has resonated within the XRP Ledger community, known for supporting approximately 1,500 TPS on standard hardware.
Minus Wells argued that 1,500 or 5,000 transactions per second are inadequate for emerging financial infrastructure, as these metrics align too closely with those of existing payment networks.
Wells clarified that his critique was not aimed exclusively at XRP. He highlighted that results from other blockchain platforms like Avalanche, Stellar, and Tezos show TPS figures falling below 5,000. He added that these tests are not directly comparable and may not reflect the current ceiling.
For market stakeholders, the crucial question remains: how will networks perform under increased demand, beyond just present-day speed metrics? Platforms like CryptoAppsy are facilitating real-time monitoring of such updates, particularly for XRP Ledger, by aggregating technical milestones and price reactions in a single view.
XRP Ledger Responds
Hussein Zangana, Community Director at the XRP Ledger Foundation, noted that blockchain scalability is a gradual process. According to Zangana, lower TPS figures in decentralized networks do not inherently indicate inefficiency, as not every transaction needs to finalize immediately.
Hussein Zangana stated, “For mass and microtransactions, solutions like payment channels and top-layer protocols such as Dassie offer a more optimal framework, while on the corporate front, batch settlement provides tangible advantages.”
Zangana further revealed that, following collaborative efforts with Mastercard at the Swell conference, initiatives are underway to hold more hackathons on XRP Ledger, powered by artificial intelligence. This indicates a focus not just on base layer performance, but also on expanding application and enterprise use cases.
Batch Processing and AI Integration
The batch processing feature introduced to the XRP Ledger mainnet in October 2026 emerges as a significant improvement within this context. This setup allows multiple transactions to be processed as a single package, potentially enhancing efficiency in enterprise settlement processes.
Zangana emphasized the broader scalability potential for first-layer networks, not limited to XRP Ledger. He noted that AI could accelerate development processes and indicated ongoing efforts to boost transaction capacity beyond current levels.
